Digital Photographer - UK (2019-08)

Above

16mm, f8

It delivers a wider

maximum viewing

angle than any of the

lenses on test, with

impressive sharpness

but heavy barrel

distortion and fringing

Above

It looks and feels a

quality item

Smartly turned out, the Tamron

is the only lens in the group to

feature a focus distance scale

beneath a viewing window

Left

300mm, f8

Sharpness across the

frame is only marginally

better than from the

Nikon lens at the long

end of the zoom range,

with slightly worse

colour fringing

this tamron lens matches most

leading superzooms for telephoto

reach but goes large on wide-

angle potential, while adding some

neat design flourishes

For over a decade, Tamron seems to have

been intent on pushing the boundaries in

superzoom design, repeatedly launching

lenses with world-first zoom ranges. The

current line-up includes a particularly

compact and ultra-lightweight 18-200mm

lens, an older 18-270mm zoom, and the two

lenses featured in this test group.

This 16-300mm superzoom is unique in

delivering unmatched wide-angle potential.

Taking the 1.5x and 1.6x crop factors of

Nikon and Canon APS-C format cameras

into account, the effective minimum focal

length is 24mm and 25.6mm respectively.

That gives you a very noticeably wider

maximum viewing angle than with other

superzooms on test, where it works out to

27mm for Nikon and 28.8mm for Canon.

It can be a major advantage for shooting

landscapes and interiors, as well as for

creatively exaggerating perspective.

Build quality feels of a similar standard

to the Sigma lens on test, although the

Tamron adds a rubber weather-seal ring in

its mounting plate. Another similarity is that

both lenses have an ultrasonic motor-based

autofocus actuator. Unusually for this type

of system, however, the Tamron’s design

enables the focus ring to remain stationery

during autofocus, as well as giving the

option of full-time manual override. It’s

also the only lens in the group to feature a

focus distance scale mounted beneath a

viewing panel.

There are 16 elements in the optical

path. The arrangement includes LD (low

dispersion), XR (extra refractive) and ASL

(hybrid aspherical) elements, along with

multi-coatings. On test, the 4-stop vibration

compensation system proved marginally

more effective than the Sigma’s optical

stabiliser for static handheld shooting, but

was of less value when panning.

At the shortest focal length of 16mm,

centre-sharpness is very good but drops off

more noticeably than with the Sigma lens

at longer zoom settings. The Tamron’s edge

and corner sharpness are less impressive

throughout the entire zoom range. Lateral

chromatic aberration and distortions are

also much more noticeable.

Tamron

16-300mm f/3.5-6.3

Di II VC PZD Macro

Price: £499/$629

x2 © Matthew Richards

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