Tamron B008 18 mm-270 mm F/3.5-6.3 Di-II PZD VC Lens For Nikon

A friend of a friend recommended this camera. My main use for this lens was for sporting events. And do to the strict policies for allowing certain length lenses in to the stadiums she suggest this lens. Because of it's great zoomm,stabilizer, with light weight and short length this lens was suggest highly for those events. So, I would be able to zoom in for those amazing shots.

This is a great lens! I bought the lens based on the recommendation of a Penn Camera salesman and after trying it out in the store. I am most impressed with the metal construction of the attach point and the speed of focas! I have been a Nikon lens user and have missed many shots because the lenses do not focus quickly enough. This lens rocks! One of my nephews is a beliver now too. I constantly was able to get shots which he missed at our recent family reunion because of this lens. I saved $100 on the in-store cost so that is a major bonus also. The other major selling point is getting a 18-270mm lens over an 18-200, a double bonus! Tamron has made me a believer.

This lens is light and compact for a 15x zoom. The picture quality is good for general everyday use. Some barrel distortion at 18mm and chromatic at the longer end. The lens seems to have difficulty focusing even in good to great lighting. Once it does it seems to focus quickly and quietly. I use this lens on a Nikon D300. I will probably only use this lens for a walkaround lens but because of the focusing issue I may still return it. Maybe I just got a bad copy?

MAKE SURE YOU GET THE PZD--otherwise, it's a totally different lens. Also, eBay may automatically populate the title with PZD, so double check before you buy it. Once you get the PZD (NOT the original version), it's a great, all-in-one lens. A little slow focusing in low light, but for an everyday-use lens, it's perfect, because it is compact enough to haul around and is super versatile.

I'm an amateur photographer that does children's party photography. Switching between my zoom lens and my regular lens was just not practical in a party setting when every second means the difference between getting the kid smiling and happy or dull-faced or sad. When I heard about this lens, I knew I had to have it. Many of the professional photographers that wrote reviews online when I researched said that because it was a "jack of all trades" that it wasn't good at any one thing. I disagree. I think that the lens is excellent for what I use it for. I love being able to take a zoomed in shot with a blurry background and zoom out for an all-encompassing shot while standing in the same spot and not being too invasive to the kids. It's pretty heavy compared to my other lenses (although it says it's lighter than the 2008 model!) and I wasn't able to get accidental coverage on it since I bought it on ebay. I also noticed that it's ever so slightly slower to focus than my other lenses, but it's so slight that it's not a deal-breaker. I would say those are the only drawbacks!