The Do It All Everyday LensTamron’s new 18-270 Piezo Drive Zoom |
Images & Article By Jon Sienkiewicz |
What could be more exciting than having a brand new digital SLR camera? Sometimes I wish I’ve never owned one, just so that I could experience that exquisite thrill one more time. When a PASP (point and shoot photographer) becomes a serious, advanced amateur, that’s a very special event. |
There is one way you can repeat that thrill—actually, magnify that thrill. Add a real pro working lens to your gadget bag. |
I get this question quite often: “How did you get that picture?” |
More times than not, the answer is: “By having the right lens with me.” |
Being in the right place at the right time doesn’t do much good if you don’t have the right gear. That’s why I recommend that people carry a Tamron All-in-One Zoom Lens. The new 18-270mm PZD F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD (Model B008) is my current favorite. But our history goes way back. |
Very versatile |
As you can see from the photos below, both shot from the same position, the 18-270mm PZD has an incredible 15X zoom range. It’s equivalent to a range of about 28-432mm on my Nikon camera. It’s a wideangle, portrait, telephoto and long telephoto all in one.
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Delivers high imaging performance |
The 18-270 PZD is super sharp. It offers fast and quiet autofocus thanks to Tamron’s superior engineering and PZD Piezo Drive. And I don’t have to worry much about camera shake because the 18-270 PZD features VC image stabilization. The image stabilization improves every shot I take, especially when I’m zoomed out to maximum telephoto. With ordinary lenses, even a small jitter will make your photos unsharp—and unsharpness caused by camera shake is the number one cause of bad pictures.
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I enjoy close-up photography. This lens focuses close—less than 20 inches from the subject. The design and construction are optimized for high performance throughout the entire range. Inside the lens contains three elements with aspheric surfaces and two elements made of LD glass. That means that imperfections and optical aberrations are absolutely minimized.
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Compact and easy to carry |
Incredibly, the 18-270 PZD is only 3.8-inches long and weighs less than a pound. As of this writing it is the world’s smallest, lightest 15X zoom. Because it’s so portable you can carry it with you all the time. Surely this has happened to you at least once: you go to some fun place but leave your camera bag at home because it’s too heavy. The net result is that you miss a great shot since you did not have the right lens with you. |
Great for travel |
Perfect for family vacations and day trips, whether you’re going around the world or around the block. The 18-270 PZD is the ideal “walking around lens” for street shooting, summer strolls, hiking and camping when you want to be able to shoot fast, don’t want too much weight, and can’t be sure beforehand which lens you might need.
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It’s the perfect gift for Mother's Day or Father's Day because it’s the one lens every mom or dad should own so they never miss a shot.
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Professionals know that the best focal length for portraits is in the 85mm to 105mm range. What they don’t tell you is that you can capture some dramatic shots by using a longer focal length. As the focal length increases, the depth-of-field decreases. The background becomes a total blur and the subject really jumps out. The Tamron 18-270 PZD allows you to experiment with different focal lengths to come up with the exact results you want.
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You can turn everyday events into special moments. One of the images below was cropped from the full frame, as you can clearly see. In the larger picture, the girl’s face takes up just a tiny portion of the whole frame. Cropped and enlarged, the image is still sharp and crisp—you can see every detail. And by now I’m sure you can see how much fun it is to use this lens.
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The 18-270mm PZD F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD (Model B008) is available for Nikon and Canon cameras. A version without VC is available for Sony Alpha/Minolta D-series cameras (which have a form of stabilization built-in). |
Check out my blog on Shutterbug magazine's homepage. Please comment if you like what you read. http://blog.shutterbug.com/jonsienkiewicz/ |
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