Tamron, long a leader in lens design and technologies announced an astounding 15x range zoom 18-270mm lens in development on July 30th. Yesterday our Tamron lens rep was here at Roberts Imaging with a little more news. The first 18-270 lenses shipping will be for the Nikon DSLR bodies, including the D40 and D60 series bodies. That’s right the AF 18-270mm Di II VC lens will also carry the BIM designation, so it will mount on all Nikon Digital Cameras. (Note: the full frame sensor cameras will not reduce the file size and coverage area as they do Nikon’s DX lenses, and  Tamron does not recommend their use. If used the resulting image will have to be cropped to eliminate vignetting).
Tamron’s Canon EF mount lenses will follow shortly after the Nikon’s and don’t be surprised to see the Sony/Minolta mount soon too.
If you are unfamiliar with the vernacular of the lens world  I will  give you a brief  jargon translation.

DSLR: Digital Single Lens Reflex. A camera with a mirror box and prism for viewing the image through an eyepiece (or now on live view); the mirror pivots (reflexes) out of the way allowing the light path to reach the sensor. AF: Auto Focus; just like it sounds the lens and camera can focus automatically (there is always the option to manually override if desired).

Di II: This is Tamron’s designation for a lens designed to work with the smaller APS-C sized digital sensors, some higher end DSLR’s will have a full size sensor the same dimensions as a 35mm frame of film (you remember film, right?).

VC:  Vibration Compensation; built in stabilization features that help reduce user shake,allowing sharper photos in challenging conditions. Nikon Lenses and Canon lenses offer their own version on some of their lenses VR (Vibration Reduction) is Nikon’s terminology, and IS (Image Stabilizaition) is Canon’s. Remember: vibration reduction, compensation, control or stabilization  reduces but does not always eliminate the need for a camera tripod.

BIM: (Built-In Motor) a motor on-board the lens instead of a mechanical connection to the camera body. Built-In motors are nothing new, Canon Lenses have been equipped with internal motors since the first EOS lenses. Nikon came on board several years ago as well with their AF-S series of lenses. Now Third party lens manufacturers like Tamron, Sigma and Tokina to name just a few are building the more efficient internal motors in some of their offerings too.

With new longer range lenses cropping up all the time the options for the casual photographer are much greater. A lens with a 15x zoom would be an all-in-one solution for a lot of users. We don’t know the delivery dates yet but you can pre-order this lens on-line or you can contact me at 800-726-5544 or [email protected]