At Tamron, our quest has always been to make the ideal zoom lens. As a result of this ongoing challenge, we have introduced the concept of our high-power zoom lens in the AF18-200mm XR Di II for exclusive use with digital SLRs. Tamron’s original development of proprietary core technologies such as Aspherical element production, Multiple Cam Mechanism and Integrated Focus Cam design lend to the creation of the world’s lightest, most compact 11.1X zoom lens made for digital SLR cameras.

The 18-200mm (28-300 when converted to 35mm) provides the digital photographer with the versatility of a true wide to ultra tele zoom in an amazingly easy to use design.

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Reviews

Tamron AF 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II LD Aspherical (IF) XR macro – Review / Test Report by photozone.de

There’s no such thing as a free lunch and the Tamron is no exception here. The extreme zoom range combined with the small lens dimensions comes at cost of some compromises. One is the rather slow max. aperture which limits the creative potential regarding shallow depth-of-field and the other compromise is, naturally, optical quality. In absolute terms the lens shows rather extreme distortions at the 18mm and vignetting as well as border quality don’t impress either. The latter is also true for the 200mm setting. Nonetheless the lens is capable to deliver decent quality images under controlled conditions – reads: f/8 (see also the sample shots). In the field the Tamron AF 18-200mm XR felt far more convincing than the Sigma AF 18-200mm DC thanks to a decent AF performance so if it has to be such an extreme zoom lens the Tamron is the better bet. For critical applications you should consider to split the zoom range into at least two lenses though.

Tamron AF 18 – 200 mm F/3.5-6.3 XR Di II LD IF Review Test by KenrockWell

This is a pretty good lens if you want a do-it-all lens. For the same money you can get both the Nikon 18 – 55 and 55 -200 lenses and get much less distortion for the same price, but you have to carry two smaller lenses and change them as needed. Personally I use the two lens solution and not accept the optical compromises, especially in distortion, that you do with any lens of this type.