Tamron 18-270/3.5-6.3 DiII VC PZD lens review
The Tamron 18-270/3.5-6.3 DiII VC PZD is a 15x zoom lens designed to cover everything from landscapes, though portraits and travel, to wildlife and sports. It's small, light and versatile. Like most Tamron lenses, it comes supplied with a lens hood and it carries a 6-year warranty, both features not found on all lenses in this class. To make the lens even more useful, Tamron have equipped it with their VC (vibration control) system. This is similar to Canon's IS (Image stabilization) in that both use gyro sensors to detect lens movement and servo systems to move an optical group around inside the lens to compensate for motion and stabilize the image on the sensor. In another similarity with Canon, the Tamron 18-270/3.5-6.3 DiII VC PZD uses a piezo-electric drive (PZD) for focusing. This seems to be similar to Canon's micro-USM motor. It uses a small ultrasonic driven motor to focus the lens through a conventional gear system. The advantage of using such a motor is that they can be made small, light and quiet.
The "DiII" in the Tamron 18-270/3.5-6.3 DiII VC PZD name indicates that this lens is designed only for use on APS-C crop sensor DSLRs. It does not have full frame coverage, though it can physically be mounted on a full frame DSLR.
The Tamron 18-270/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD is smaller and lighter than Tamron's similarly named 18-270/3.5-6.3 Di II VC (without the PZD) as shown below:
The Tamron 18-270/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD is available in mounts for Canon and Nikon, and a non-stabilized version is (or soon will be) available in a Sony mount. The Sony version isn't stabilized because Sony use an in-body sensor shift system for image stabilization.
| Canon Mount | Nikon Mount | Sony Mount |
Tamron 18-270/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD Specifications
| Model | B008 |
|---|---|
| Focal Length | 18-270mm |
| Maximum Aperture | F/3.5-6.3 |
| Minimum Aperture | F/22-40 |
| Angle of View (diagonal) | 75° 33’ - 5° 55’ |
| Lens Construction | 16 elements in 13 groups |
| Diaphragm Blades | 7 |
| Filter Size | 62mm |
| Minimum Focus Distance | 0.49m (19.3in) |
| Max. Magnification Ratio | 1 : 3.8 (at f=270mm : MFD 0.49m) |
| Length | 88mm (3.5 in) |
| Diameter | 74.4mm (2.9 in) |
| Weight | 450g (15.9 oz) |
| Standard Accessorise | Flower shaped lens hood |
| Compatible Mounts | Canon, Nikon, Sony |
NEXT:-> Focus, Zoom, Aperture and stabilization
