Tamron 18-400 : revolution at 400mm or evolution of super zooms?

The Tamron 18-400 is available for pre-order at about 650$

Who's interested?

I might be very interested depending on the IQ at 400mm. But I am not holding my breath.

It'll definitely find a market among those who aren't as IQ-concerned as the typical POTN crowd.

It wasn't all that long ago that a 5-7x zoom was a novelty. I remember what a splash Canon made when they announced the 35-350L.

Mike

Sounds like a perfect lens for someone like my wife
She is always on green full auto and never changes lenses so our 70-300L might as well be epoxy glued to her 60D. This would give her the wider angle perspective. For family and random travel shots it could be perfect for her usage as she only uses JPEGS and doesn't pixel peep. I bet there are plenty of Rebel and D shooters like my wife that would use this lens as the price is acceptable.
Going to have to order one so I can get my 70-300L back from her. I love love love that lens.

Seeing how the 6d2 is going to be announced very shortly and the leaked specs so far look promising, I would rather have seen this be more of a competitor to the Sigma 100-400 for use on full frame and not some crop only mega zoom. So for me too bad its not a 70-400 or something like that.

Why bother? SH60HS.

I could see it being a good travel lens...i'd probably want to pair it with a wider angle as well personally...but still that's 2 lenses...throw in a prime, and ive got it all in a small bag

DreDaze wrote in post #18385207
I could see it being a good travel lens...

My very personal opinion is that it doesn't make any sense in 2017 to buy a heavy APS-C reflex and a huge 18-400 zoom still weighting 710g, with obvious image quality compromises.
I'd rather get a mirrorless camera with a couple compact and light primes, but there could be a niche for people who really need 400mm when traveling, and can't afford a proper 400/5.6 prime (my walkaround 400mm lens ).

I'll buy it just to have a cheap, small zoom for a single solution when I want to travel and focus on the travel rather than photography. I've had some flavor of the Tamron superzoom for this purpose since the 2nd version of the 18-270 hit the market; I'll just Craigslist the current one to offset it; the extra reach will be nice.

This lens is perfect for those rebel(and nikon equivalent) owners wanting to upgrade their 18-55 and 55-250 plastic mounted lenses into 1 bigger better zoom. They don't care about it's slow aperture, they're used it. I can't wait to see the images with the flash while the lens is extended out to 400. 'Um, what's wrong with my images???'

I think this lens will surprise a few people. No it's not going to be class leading, but I bet it holds it's own. If it comes anywhere near Sig's new 1-4 I would WAY rather have this lens on my 7d2(more likely 77D I plan on buying next year when canon drops them on the refurb site). Think about it. $150 cheaper and has 18-99mm more. Beach, parks, 2nd cameras for wildlife when the big white is on a tripod, travel when you only have space to bring a camera and 1 lens in your carry-on.

This is the first super zoom I've ever been interested in.

I have to give Tamron some props on the direction of their new lenses. They seem to be creating new lenses for prosumer/amateurs. Their f1.8 primes are great and with much more approachable price points while still having some form of weathersealing AND VC. Their 70-200 g2 released at a cheaper price, these are great times to be a photographer.

CheshireCat wrote in post #18387856
My very personal opinion is that it doesn't make any sense in 2017 to buy a heavy APS-C reflex and a huge 18-400 zoom still weighting 710g, with obvious image quality compromises.
I'd rather get a mirrorless camera with a couple compact and light primes, but there could be a niche for people who really need 400mm when traveling, and can't afford a proper 400/5.6 prime (my walkaround 400mm lens ).

huge is all relative...i'm bringing my 120-300f2.8 on a trip this week...this thing would be like nothing compared to that...the reason it makes sense to buy something like this is if you are already heavily invested in lenses, and don't want to spend more money investing into another camera set-up just for travel purposes...although i have an eos-m i don't really think of my 70D as huge...the mirrorless is more for when i'm going to be drinking, can afford to possibly break a camera

ma11rats wrote in post #18387865
This lens is perfect for those rebel(and nikon equivalent) owners wanting to upgrade their 18-55 and 55-250 plastic mounted lenses into 1 bigger better zoom. They don't care about it's slow aperture, they're used it. I can't wait to see the images with the flash while the lens is extended out to 400. 'Um, what's wrong with my images???'

I think this lens will surprise a few people. No it's not going to be class leading, but I bet it holds it's own. If it comes anywhere near Sig's new 1-4 I would WAY rather have this lens on my 7d2(more likely 77D I plan on buying next year when canon drops them on the refurb site). Think about it. $150 cheaper and has 18-99mm more. Beach, parks, 2nd cameras for wildlife when the big white is on a tripod, travel when you only have space to bring a camera and 1 lens in your carry-on.

This is the first super zoom I've ever been interested in.

I have to give Tamron some props on the direction of their new lenses. They seem to be creating new lenses for prosumer/amateurs. Their f1.8 primes are great and with much more approachable price points while still having some form of weathersealing AND VC. Their 70-200 g2 released at a cheaper price, these are great times to be a photographer.

The one thing I'll say is that given past performance and the tradeoffs necessary to make a super zoom, there is almost zero chance that it's going to hold its own against the Sigma 100-400 at 400. The glass, materials, etc just aren't going to be there for a $650 lens. But, as far as super zooms go, it should be plenty passable for incidental use; just don't expect to be able to crop much.

I'll agree with you. I don't think it's going to be great at 400. 500-600 is where the 1st gen Tam 150-600 started to fade. This is an even more strenuous range for high expectations.

But, I still think this lens will surprise some folks. I'm looking forward to Dustin Abbott's review. He mentioned he'd be getting one in a few weeks and he posted up a few images taken by Tamron and, for a superzoom, I'd be happy with those images when you think it's get those shots vs not gets those shots.

I would never expect this to be something I'd use on paid gigs. I'm hoping it's something that I can use while the family's at the park, or on the beach, and I can get shots from the blanket out to the shore. Or while at a national park, walking along a trail snapping shots of the whole area, then notice a deer or something and grab a quick shot across a field or creek, etc. Or visiting a local zoo, not knowing what lens I'd need to get everything from close up monkeys to big cats/bears off in their habitat. New gen VC is an added plus.

Usually I'm pessimistic about these types of things, but I'm definitely optimistic on this one.

Snydremark wrote in post #18387903
The one thing I'll say is that given past performance and the tradeoffs necessary to make a super zoom, there is almost zero chance that it's going to hold its own against the Sigma 100-400 at 400. The glass, materials, etc just aren't going to be there for a $650 lens. But, as far as super zooms go, it should be plenty passable for incidental use; just don't expect to be able to crop much.

Yes, given the 22x zoom ratio, I would be quite surprised if this lens at 400 could do better than an average 70-300 shot at 300mm and then rescaled to match.
Users should be prepared to shoot at f/8 or even f/11, and correct huge amount of distortion.
My educated guess is that color rendering will probably be crappy too.

You get what you pay for, and replacing 6 primes with a $650 zoom, means you get the performance of a bunch of ~$100 ($650/6) primes, just in a more convenient and portable package

CheshireCat wrote in post #18387913
You get what you pay for, and replacing 6 primes with a $650 zoom, means you get the performance of a bunch of ~$100 ($650/6) primes, just in a more convenient and portable package

Except as my gut tells me at this point: this lens will not have the IQ of the $110 50/1.8 STM or even the cheaper Yongnuo knock off lenses