[aideyhoward]

after a couple of days of questioning reading reviews watching reviews and the rest of it i think i have found the lens im looking for it does a bit of everything until i can afford the specific lens types either when im back from traveling or when im in hong kong so just one more thing what do you think of the
tamron 18-250mm f/3.8-6.3

thanks for all your help on this one

[Dabhand16]

I would think this would make a good 'walkabout' all-in-one lens. It is (I think) the development of the 18-200.

Both Tamron and Sigma make the 18-200, and I know that Sigma also have image stabilisation - designated OS - available on their 18-200. You can now get this lens at Jessop's for £239 with their current discounts!

Silkstone and I have posted example pictures taken with the Tamron 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di-II LD sample shots and the Sigma 18-200 and I expect similar results could be obtained from the Tamron 18-250.

The biggest problem with all of these lenses is they are quite slow at the long end of the range. F6.3 will mean the low light capability has to be managed carefully. Some of my example shots were taken in quite low light to see how it performed in these conditions.

[silkstone]

I have the Tamron 18-200 which is older but similar, and I reckon it is excellent as a travel lens. I'm off to foreign parts on Friday for a few days, and will be taking just the 40D + 18-200.

It works best at f/8 or f/11, so not ideal for low-light conditions, and there can be some red/green fringing at the edges in high contrast shots - easily corrected in post-processing. In general, though, the results are perfectly acceptable.