Tamron 18-200mm for E-mount
Introduction
First, a disclaimer. I am an amateur photographer and you cannot expect a typical review from me – this article just serves as an informal review for all of you who love NEX cameras and are considering buying this lens. It makes me nervous trying to write this!
This lens is the first native E-mount lens with autofocus not produced by Sony, who manufacture the NEX line. Before its announcement, Sony already has its own SEL18200 superzoom; the newer Tamron variant – 18-200mm Di VC III (whatever it means) has several characteristics which distinguishes itself from the former, including:
- Black color! This “professional” look will satisfy the NEX-7 users to go with their camera bodies
- Lightweight at 460g (vs 528g on the SEL18200)
- Compact size with 62mm filter (vs 67mm on the SEL18200)
- Comparable optical quality from most reviews
Personally I think the compact size and the lighter weight is a winner for me. I bought a NEX camera for its compactness and ability to shoot with a low profile. Even when the Tamron superzoom is attached on my NEX-3, it is not too bulky and I have carried it around as my primary lens during my whole-day hiking trips. I do not find it much of a burden.
Early adopters have noticed a few quirks including:
- Failure to use “panorama” mode (I disagree)
- No in-camera lens correction in ?older models (this I cannot confirm)
- Sony superzoom is better for video (faster and smoother focusing – again I cannot confirm)
- Tamron is less sharp at the telephoto end (just search sonyalphalab for a comparison-review)
Size and build quality
You can see the Tamron superzoom is considerably larger than the 18-55mm kit lens, as expected from a universal zoom lens. All I want to show in the images below is one very important thing. The Tamron 18-200 lens fits extremely well with the original flash that comes with your NEX cameras. The Sony SEL18200 on the other hand, requires you to buy another flash specifically for this purpose (because the bigger Sony lens will obstruct the operation of the default flash). This further saves you money if you buy the Tamron!
Build quality is superb. There is no wobbling and the metallic finish looks professional. The zoom ring is tighter than the kit zoom lens but it is sturdy enough. There is a lock switch to lock the lens at the wide end (for travelling). The focusing ring is very smooth and I find it useful for minor adjustments using DMF.
Sharpness and color
Center sharpness is usually very good and when using larger apertures on the NEX-3 the corner performance is acceptable. I find it sharper than the kit zoom lens under repeated testing. Center sharpness is great on these flower shots:
For edge sharpness, when stopped down I find the lens sharp enough for every day use. Below are two examples, one is a long exposure shot at a small aperture (f13) and the other is taken on a cloudy day at around f4.
Sharpness and color are satisfactory with this lens, but not as stellar as the manual focus Contax G lens that I own. When used for landscape and portrait (which I have no samples to show you :-) shots, the Tamron delivers good to great performance. For example, the left pic below portrays the broken root of the tree very well, I like the rendering a lot. There is also a sense of depth on the lower right picture.
Vibration Control
Sony calls this OSS, Tamron calls it VC; all it means is just anti-hand shake function on the lens. This is an image taken hand-held on a cloudy day, the focal length set at 200mm and I limited the ISO to 400; the lens does a great job dealing with the vibration control.
Chromatic aberration
I feel that I am not experienced enough to comment on this, but I do find a moderate amount of fringing in my images in the corners particularly when there is not enough light and there is a high contrast. Just zoom in to the images below to look over the tree tops to see the fringing!
Bokeh
Bokeh is on the harsh side but not acceptable. When zoomed to 200mm at f6.3 it already offers a good subject separation from the background. Of course, it is not a prime lens, I know, but you also benefit from saving the hassle of changing from one wide-angle prime to a portrait/macro/telephoto lens on a hiking trip! Let’s look at some indoor and outdoor tests below:
Panorama mode
Updated on 5 June 2012:
Please visit the collection of panorama images taken with this lens (there are 10 of them) during my trip in Japan to see the cherry blossoms. Follow the link here.
Previously, there had been reports that the Panorama mode does not work at all on this lens. It was suspected that, due to a communication problem between the lens and the camera, the shutter speed could not be shortened in panorama mode and hence the image becomes blurry and unusable. Tamron admitted this problem and offered to fix the lens if you send it back to them. However, I bought my copy in late February 2012, and I can assure you that my copy has no problems with panorama mode at all; I just use it in the same way as I use the kit lens without any problem. Here are the panoramic shots to prove it. Actually, the first picture below is one of my recent favorites!
Sunstar
For those of you who are interested, this is what it looks like when the lens is pointed directly into the sun!
Conclusions
On the whole, I am very satisfied with this lens. It is a gift from White Bear. We chose a silver version to fit the color scheme of my silver NEX-3. To me, it is the ideal travel lens that covers a wide range of focal lengths with great edge to edge sharpness across the field. The lens is compact and light too. There are not many things I can criticize, but the lens is amazing for what it does – a universal super zoom (11x). Below are my favorite two pictures taken with this lens:
A small PS: To be updated soon with more contents
Please click here for the photos taken with this lens.
Well written …
Thanks for stopping by and for your generous compliment!
Looks good! I’d like one of those mirrorless cams to put my dx format lenses on it via tilt adapter. Have you tried that?
Thanks for commenting! Unfortunately I have not tried a tilt adapter before… I think there is a nikon mount for E-mount adapter with tilt shift function … but you have to check it yourself! I may try it some other day… Thanks again.
Taking a break from your doot doot doot doot doot?
Seems everyone loves a good bokeh effect.
Thanks for the comment!
great information and written as well… So, is this lens for Sony cameras or is it universal for nikond80 as well?
It is only for Sony NEX mirrorless cameras (E-mount)
ok, cool. Thxs for the info!
On par with Ken Rockwell, minus the snarky comments and with better pictures :). Thanks for the hard work!
That’s a huge compliment! Thanks for your appreciation.
Very nice review! I appreciate all the info. I just can’t decide if I should try the native e-mount lenses or just go with an adapter to get more lens choices??..?? (NEX-7)
For native E-mount lenses you can enjoy autofocus and the EXIF data are loaded correctly on to the camera. But the NEX system is quite versatile and you can use any legacy lenses or lenses for DSLR or rangefinder via adapter, and I can tell you it is great fun using adapters too. Some people actually “revive” the old lenses from their parents’ era and put it on these new mirrorless cameras and got spectacular results.
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Hi Thanks for the awesome review. It made me buy the lens which should arrive tomorrow. ;)
I just wanted to ask though, when using the Tamron with the Flash, do you get any shadow in the photo at close range? Would you suggest purchasing the flash extender?
Also you mention you have no problems with the panoramic shots, have you tried the panoramic mode in low light?
and finally does the lens come with a hood?
Cheers.
Thanks for the message, great to know someone who shares the same interest in the lens!
1) Yes it does cast a shadow in the wide end at close range, some people have reported that the shadow disappears when focal length is longer than 50mm. I don’t have the flash extender… essentially I just tolerated the slight shadowing… I just do some post-processing like cropping to make the shadow disappear. It is not too bothersome for me :)
2) The panorama works poorly in low light, with the image captured very dark and not usable, but I think the kit lens does not work well in low light either.
3) Yes it does come with a hood if I remember correctly.
Cheers!
Thanks for your reply. I guess for portrait shots and close ups I will soon have the 50mm prime lens, so it won’t be too bad.
I recently saw your panorama shots and was really impressed with the detail and quality on them, Great job ;). It makes me feel a bit better that I bought the Tamron instead of the huge Sony 18-200. If my lens is capable of making decent panoramic shots in the day time then I’ll be a happy man.
Great Blog btw and I hope you can review all other future lenses I want to buy haha.
Cheers.
Excellent review, I have just brought the lens for my nex c3. Thanks Steve keep it up
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Some have said that Tamron fixed the panorama mode problem by forcing the camera to take all panoramas at 1/500th of a second. Is this what you found with your panoramas? Thanks much.
I was wondering when I would get to see a review of the Int’ble lenses here. I was toying with the idea of getting the HD cam that these lenses can be used for. Alas, I went with the Canon XF100 for my documentary work.
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Great info and thanks for stopping by my blog!
Thank you so much! I will have to get to the camera shop and try this out. I’ve been waiting for a good zoom to become available for this camera!
My wife uses a sony hx200v and I am quite frustrated that her pictures are so much better than pictures taken with my fujifilm S100FS. Of course she might just be the better photographer!
Anyhow I am looking for a new camera and the Sony range certainly is in my focus so to speak. I am looking at the sony hx300v but in a way I think the sensor size of the NEX range (APS-C) would be my preference. With the Tamron lens that you review here, this might be just the way to go. There would be quite a difference in price, but I might be able to stretch it to a NEX-7 with a tamron 18-200mm. Not quite the superzoom of the hx300v, but I think the sensor size would outweigh the advantage of the superzoom lens.
Excellent pitch!
Thanks for sharing this post with us,its really very nice ….good luck .