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Canon 350D + Tamron Di II AF 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 ?

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ugri21

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I am currently using a Fuji 7000 and I want to move to the next level at digital photography and I found the Canon 350D to be a very good camera at a good price.

The only thing I have read about and heard is that kit lens isin't the best. I love the big zoom of the fuji and I am looking for someting similar in DSRL.

I have been advised to get the Tamron Di II AF 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 lens because it is a powerful zoom lens and also a good lens at 18mm. I am just learning what the lenses can do. Before on digital I was familiar with the term optical zoom :)

All in all I would like to ask you all about all you can tell me about this lens, maybee together with the canon 350d. I would like to make portraits, maybee some macro kind fotos and also landscapes with great zoom.

If you know of any similar lens at around the same price category I am also very curious.

Waiting for all replies

Thanks,
Gabor
 
Many generally regard the Sigma 18-200 as being slightly superior to the Tamron. I have the Sigma and am happy with it. Note that neither are macro lenses, however, so if you are looking to do extreme closeups, you should look elsewhere. They are both decent, general purpose, convenient carry around lenses, with decent image quality.
 
I originally wanted to get the Tamron 18-200 but when I read through this forum, the general concensus seems to be that the Sigma 18-200 has a very slight edge in image quality. The price of the Sigma is slightly lower as well where I live. Don't know that if you would use this lens for serious portraits but for a general all purpose, walk around lens, it is a great value. I just ordered the Sigma 18-200 myself.

Peter
 
Thanks both for the replies. I will look ino the Sigma 18-200 as well.

I don't really want to do macro with it but I thought at 18mm it can be possible to do a certain macro as well. Basically I want a good allround lens which has some great zoom :)
 
I have used the Tamron 18-200mm on my 350D since the lens first became available in March. It's up on eBay right now. Here are some test pictures I took when I first bought it.

http://www.dwoodworks.com/Tamron

The pictures will give you a good idea of the results you can expect. It's a little too soft for me. So I'm selling it.
 
Thanks a million!
You helped a lot. Now I can compare the pics with the Tamron lens!
Thanks again
 
Let us know how the lens works for you as I am in a similar situation to yourself. I have bought the 350D and am now looking at this lens. Either the Tamron or Sigma.
 
I took a look at the test, are those done with hand held ?

thanks

alien
WoodWorks said:
I have used the Tamron 18-200mm on my 350D since the lens first
became available in March. It's up on eBay right now. Here are some
test pictures I took when I first bought it.

http://www.dwoodworks.com/Tamron

The pictures will give you a good idea of the results you can
expect. It's a little too soft for me. So I'm selling it.
Click to expand...
 
alien3333 said:
I took a look at the test, are those done with hand held ?
Click to expand...
The outdoor shots were. But I guess you didn't read the explanatory text I included on the page right next to the first test pattern:

All tests shot under controlled (if dim) lighting, RAW, ISO 100, Tungsten WB, on a tripod using a wired remote shutter release and the mirror lock up feature. No in-camera or post-processing except resizing and saving as JPEG.
 
sorry Woodworks, thanks for the info.
The chart look very soft in your copy of it.
I had the same lens, but did not see that soft even compare
with 50mm f1.8 II.

thanks again

alien
WoodWorks said:
alien3333 said:
I took a look at the test, are those done with hand held ?
Click to expand...
The outdoor shots were. But I guess you didn't read the explanatory
text I included on the page right next to the first test pattern:

All tests shot under controlled (if dim) lighting, RAW, ISO 100,
Tungsten WB, on a tripod using a wired remote shutter release and
the mirror lock up feature. No in-camera or post-processing except
resizing and saving as JPEG.
Click to expand...
 
I have a similar configuration, 350D and the Tamron 18-200 and am very happy with them. The Tamron is a great alround lens and will give you good results. The Sigma is very similar in all respects. I tested the Sigma but had troubles with front focusing and went with the Tamron. You might have better luck. You might also consider the Canon prime 50 1.8 II. It's extremely sharp and fast and costs only US80. All plastic, but such a wonderful lens.
 
Is there any test or review of the Sigma lens. I still prefer the Tamron but I want to see all opportunities before I invest in the Tamron.

Btw, is a 1GB Compactflash II card fast enough and about how many photos can it take on 8 megapixels.
Thanks!
 
I bought the camera and the sigma (yet to take delivery of both ) Ive also purchased a used 50mm f/1.8 for taking portraits
 
Please try go to pbase, and search for "equippment db" and look for brand
"sigma" and "tamron" and find the 18-200 and you should be able to
compare shots.

I get a good copy of tamron and is enjoying it. fast focus and really light
for travel.

(I also have the tamron 28-75 f 2.8 that lens is much heavier :) )

http://www.pbase.com/alien3333

and you will see it mount on the 350D.

the fz20 photo and the cat photo was taken by the tamron 18-200,
hand-held.

I like the sigma too, but I find it heavier, and the copy I try is kind of
noisy and focusing is slower. But the tamron also has an issue, is the
reverse-nikon direction for zoom. The mount is actually plastic with
some metal enclosing it for durability in the tamron, to keep the
weight light.

hope all helps.

alien
ugri21 said:
Is there any test or review of the Sigma lens. I still prefer the
Tamron but I want to see all opportunities before I invest in the
Tamron.
Btw, is a 1GB Compactflash II card fast enough and about how many
photos can it take on 8 megapixels.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the tip. I am checking out pbase right now.

Do you think the 1Gb Compactflash II will be fast enough ans how many photos can it take at max. resolution?
Thanks again!
 
1G will hold about 250+ pictures at the highest jpeg setting. I bought the Tamron you mentioned as my first lens after seeing it come out the best in a magazine review with two other lenses that were 18-200. Seems to work fine, I dont see any faults with it but I am still very much a beginer.
 
Thanks for the info.

I just got back from a photo shop here in the Netherlands and they are selling the Sigma 18-200 + the Canon 350D for 1100 Euros. The guy at the shop also said that the Sigma lens won the EISA award for 2005-2006.
Is it a good price though?
Gabor
 
The Digital Rebel has a large buffer -- large enough to compensate for "slower" CF cards, unless you do a considerable amount of continuous shooting, and in RAW. I benchmarked a number of old cards and didn't notice a difference until I filled the buffer completely (15 jpg shots, I think). I opted for Kingston Pro Elite, 1GB before I benchmarded any cards, and it's plenty fast for my needs.

If I wasn't concerned with continuous shooting, my slowest card, a 3-yr old Viking 512MB, would work good enough for me that I couldn't even tell which card I had in. For reference, an old Lexar 128MB 8x card was considerably faster than this Viking 512MB card...

Hope that helps a bit.
Dave
 
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