Tamron 18-400mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC HLD Review

Tamron 18-400mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC HLD Performance

18mm sees the best of the lens. Centrally, sharpness is excellent from f/3.5 to f/8, very good at f/11 and f/16 and still good at f/22. The edges are very good from f/3.5 to f/11, good at f/16 but becoming soft at f/22.

At 50mm central sharpness is excellent from f/5 to f/8, very good from f/11 to f/16, good at f/22 and fair at f/32. Edges are soft at f/5, good at f/5.6, very good at f/8 to f/16, softening beyond that at f/22 and f/29.

100mm starts off soft at f/5.6, is good by f/8 and becomes very good from f/11 to f/16. f/22 is still good, but f/22 and beyond are quite soft.

Centrally at 200mm, f/6.3 starts off as very soft. By f/8 results are good, very good at f/11 and f/16, good at f/22 and soft at f/32 and f/40. The edges are soft from f/6.3 to f/11, good at f/16 and again soft at f/22 to f/40.

400mm shows a general softness to the images, but centrally it does raise to a good standard of sharpness at f/11 and f/16. At the edges, results are soft throughout.

CA (Chromatic Aberration) is controlled centrally very well indeed. However, the edges throughout the range show very obvious fringing. This can be tackled in software as required.

The -3.21% of barrel distortion measured at 18mm is quite noticeable. This moves towards pincushion and by 50mm it measures +2.77%. The pincushion distortion continues, measuring +2.14% at 100mm, +1.450% at 200mm and +1.17% at 400mm. Overall, this is a good set of figures for such a complex lens and of course, further correction can be made using software.

Despite the complex construction and the 16 elements, resistance to flare is very good. The petal lens hood provided is suitable to prevent vignetting at the widest end and its efficiency will be compromised as we zoom into longer lengths. The only solution to this would be some sort of variable length hood, but the complexity of this lens is high enough without adding more complications. Flare is not a problem.

Bokeh is very smooth and enhances those out of focus areas. This could be ideal for portraiture, where we want the background to be nicely diffused.

Value For Money

The Tamron 18-400mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC HLD is priced at £649 and it is on its own if we want a zoom that extends from 18mm to 400mm.

For comparison, alternative superzooms would be the Nikon AF-S DX 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3 G ED VR (£629), SMC Pentax-DA 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 ED SDM (£599), Sigma 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM C (£369), Sony 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 DT (£499) and the Tamron 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 AF Di II VC PZD (£299).

The new lens is only available in Canon and Nikon mounts, but the other marques are included as an overview of general pricing levels.

For more options have a look at the Top 12 Best Tamron lenses or the Top 10 Superzoom Lenses.

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