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Usability of Tamron 18-400mm lens with Canon camera

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  • #1

    Usability of Tamron 18-400mm lens with Canon camera

    In principle, the Tamron 18-400 seems like an excellent choice of lens given its reasonably cheap price and wide focal range.

    HOWEVER, I'd like to ask the spotting community, would this lens meet the standard required for aviation photography, and specifically the standard required for photos on Jetphotos?

    I'm on the hunt for a new lens to partner my 90D, and while '18-400mm' sounds nice on paper, I'd greatly appreciate any expert advice regarding it's viability as a spotting lens. My obvious reservations are regarding sharpness and distortion capacities.

    Kind Regards,
    Chris
    https://www.jetphotos.com/photographer/74836
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Hi

    i‘m using the Tamron 18-400 with a Canon 90D now for more then a half Year, I'm happy with it!
    Sharpness would be okay for Aviation Photography, but keep in mind that is not the brightest Lense and with difficult Light Conditions you may get not the best results

    Most of my Pictures here a taken with this Setup, if you want you can take a look

    Comment

    • #3
      Originally posted by Sven_EDDN View Post
      Hi

      i‘m using the Tamron 18-400 with a Canon 90D now for more then a half Year, I'm happy with it!
      Sharpness would be okay for Aviation Photography, but keep in mind that is not the brightest Lense and with difficult Light Conditions you may get not the best results

      Most of my Pictures here a taken with this Setup, if you want you can take a look
      How does it perform in the 18-75mm range? And similar in the 300-400mm range?
      https://www.jetphotos.com/photographer/74836

      Comment

      • #4
        Most of the Time i‘m using the Range until nearly 300 which is enough at most Airports.

        Sharpness is okay at this Range, with Aperture from 10-14 and good Light you will get good Results

        At the End of the Lense Range it looses a little Bit of sharpness, which normal on a Lense with a Big Range like this one

        Comment

        • #5
          Originally posted by cadams View Post
          In principle, the Tamron 18-400 seems like an excellent choice of lens given its reasonably cheap price and wide focal range.

          HOWEVER, I'd like to ask the spotting community, would this lens meet the standard required for aviation photography, and specifically the standard required for photos on Jetphotos?

          I'm on the hunt for a new lens to partner my 90D, and while '18-400mm' sounds nice on paper, I'd greatly appreciate any expert advice regarding it's viability as a spotting lens. My obvious reservations are regarding sharpness and distortion capacities.

          Kind Regards,
          Chris
          Personally, I would NOT recommend this lens to anyone who intends to upload the photos onto this site. I myself have never owned nor used a copy of this lens but I have two friends, both Canon users, that have each owned a copy of the Tamron 18-400 for aviation photography purposes and both resented the lens. Especially with the challenging 32.5mp image sensor on the Canon EOS 90D, this lens will not perform very well.

          As Sven_EDDN mentioned, using aperture sizes of f/10 through to f/14 you will get "good results", this is very dependant on the user and shooting with such small apertures is not ideal, f/8 to f/10 is a much more usable range with other lenses. My friends that have owned this lens both bought theirs brand new, so there shouldn't have been anything wrong with the lens, did manage to take sharp photos with it here and there but most of the time the lens did not perform as they would've liked giving soft and unusable images often.

          As I mentioned above that good results are user dependant, you can get good results with a lens like this but it mostly won't perform as well with a moving subject. I shoot much of my photography, aviation and other, with my Canon 1D Mark IV and Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L, this is an incredible combo and performs superbly most of the time but I make mistakes that warrant less than desired image quality. Even with a flagship camera body and lens, soft results are possible and even more so with a cheap lens like the Tamron 18-400.

          As I already said, I wouldn't recommend this lens to any planespotters. I would recommend the Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM or the IS STM version (although the former is a better choice) along with the Sigma 100-400mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary (make sure to not buy the 'DG DN OS' version as this will not work on your camera).

          Hopefully this info helps, if you have anymore questions let me know.

          - Tai

          Comment

          • #6
            Originally posted by Sven_EDDN View Post
            Hi

            i‘m using the Tamron 18-400 with a Canon 90D now for more then a half Year, I'm happy with it!
            Sharpness would be okay for Aviation Photography, but keep in mind that is not the brightest Lense and with difficult Light Conditions you may get not the best results

            Most of my Pictures here a taken with this Setup, if you want you can take a look
            Hm. EDDN rings a bell in my head. Flughafen Nürnberg. I just asked the German wikipedia to avoid a mistake. So, Nürnberg. Really?

            I'm here in this forum since more than 13 years, almost 14 years. And I had to wait so long for another German jetphotos forum member?

            Das müssen wir kurz auf Deutsch machen, wenn wir dürfen. Fühl Dich mal sehr herzlich willkommen hier, die sind eigentlich alle ganz nett! Nürmberch sagt man glaub ich.

            Back on topic.

            Do you know the smallest camera which is good enough for jetphotos?

            I mean, I own a photo camera, of course. But a very small one, and I fear that my camera isn't good enough for the
            jetphotos platform.

            PS: Now, the 16000,- $ question would be: Have you ever been at Lohausen International (EDDL)?
            I have to confess, never in my life have I been to Nürnberg. But I should probably alter that state of mind. Not one nonstop flight between Lohausen and NUE today, ...
            Last edited by LH-B744; 2022-09-23, 15:08. Reason: Destinations which once were operated nonstop here at Lohausen: Nürnberg, Stuttgart, ...
            The German long haul is alive, 65 years and still kicking.
            The Gold Member in the 747 club, 50 years since the first LH 747.
            And constantly advanced, 744 and 748 /w upper and lower EICAS.
            This is Lohausen International airport speaking, echo delta delta lima.

            Comment

            • #7
              487.8 km (one way),
              which by far is the shortest distance that I've read between two jetphotos forum members, let's say during the last 10 years.

              PS: Alex, psst, just leave me alone with him for one hour. He is so very shiny brandnew..
              Although, which is the shortest distance? Between you n me, or between you and Sven, or between Sven and me?
              421 km between Alex and Sven?
              627 km between Alex and me, in 6hours53minutes? Yes, if you don't own a Swiss Air account... (or a very fast car).
              Last edited by LH-B744; 2022-09-23, 16:51. Reason: Distances.
              The German long haul is alive, 65 years and still kicking.
              The Gold Member in the 747 club, 50 years since the first LH 747.
              And constantly advanced, 744 and 748 /w upper and lower EICAS.
              This is Lohausen International airport speaking, echo delta delta lima.

              Comment

              • #8
                I have the TAMRON Tamron SP 150-600mm G2 lens. . under ideal conditions you get good results...

                NL51JC | North American P-51D Mustang | Cavanaugh Flight Museum | Phil Newson | JetPhotos

                BUT .
                you need good light to use a fast shutter speed, also I find I rarely use over 400mm . plus it is fiddly to focus and it weighs a ton. Considering getting the CANON 100-400mm

                I know people with the Tamron 18-400mm and its not really sharp enough for JetPhotos I have been told.,

                Phil

                Comment

                • #9
                  get it out of your head. I don't understand why a builder gives birth to such abominable lenses.
                  I mean, if you have to take a photo of the family cat, maybe that's okay, but for more serious photos it's a junk

                  Comment

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