Tamron Tamron Di II Tamron AF 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di II LD Review

Look, if you need one lens to do everything on a trip and you don't want to think about it, this Tamron 18-200mm is your pick. It's the Swiss Army knife of lenses, covering everything from wide-angle shots to decent telephoto reach. But here's the one thing you need to know: you're trading away sharpness and low-light performance for that convenience. It's a compromise lens, and it knows it.

The stabilization is surprisingly good, landing in the 85th percentile, which helps a lot since the aperture is slow. But the optical performance is in the bottom third, so don't expect tack-sharp images corner to corner, especially at the extremes of the zoom range. It gets the job done, but it won't win any awards for clarity.

At nearly $600, it's a tough sell. You're paying a premium for convenience, not quality. If your budget is tight, you'd get better image quality by buying two cheaper, sharper prime lenses.

The Panasonic Lumix 14-140mm is a more direct competitor for Micro Four Thirds shooters, offering similar all-in-one convenience but likely better optics for its system. For Pentax DSLR users, the Canon EF-S 17-85mm is a more sensible choice if you can live with less reach, as its image quality is generally better. If you care about sharp photos, skip this superzoom and look at a prime like the Viltrox 35mm F1.7 for a fraction of the price.

Only buy this lens if you absolutely cannot carry more than one lens and you shoot mostly in good light. For everyone else, the optical compromises are too great for the price. Get a standard kit zoom and a cheap telephoto instead, and you'll have better photos.