Image:^©^Gettyjoy of any interchangeable lens
camera is that you can fit the
right kind of optic for the task at
hand. The drawback is that a
big bag of lenses can eat into
your baggage allowance when
travelling, as well as weighing
you down when you’re out. A
superzoom aims to satisfy your
travel needs, offering everything
from wide-angle coverage to serious
telephoto reach, without the need to
carry additional lenses, or to swap the
lens that’s fitted to your camera body.The majority of superzooms on the
market are designed for DX format
cameras, and typically start with
an 18mm focal length. The Tamron
16-300mm is an exception, giving
even wider coverage. The long end of
the zoom range is a more moveable
feast, with various other lenses
offering maximum focal lengths of
200mm, 300mm and even 400mm!
The last two of these stretch into
super-telephoto territory, once you
take into account the 1.5x crop factor
of DX format cameras.A
Matthew Richards puts eight top superzooms
to the test to see which can be your all purpose
travel lens, just in time for the summer holidays!
Superzoom
shootout
The contenders
1 Tamron 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC £199/$199
2 Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM | C £279/$399
3 Sigma 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM | C £369/$399
4 Nikon AF-S DX 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II £429/$647
5 Tamron 16-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD Macro £499/$629
6 Tamron 18-400mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC HLD £649/$649
7 Nikon AF-S DX 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3G ED VR £669/$697
8 Nikon AF-S 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR £929/$947104 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com
BIG TEST