TAMRON - 16-300 mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD Nikon F Cameras - Black - B016N

Product Information

A petal-shaped hood is supplied with the lens, which does a decent job of shielding the front element from extraneous light that may cause flare or loss on contrast. At 300mm, shooting into the light does result in a slight loss of contrast, but otherwise, this lens is fairly resistant to flare. Aspherical lens elements– The pros and cons of aspherical lenses is delightfully arguable among photographers. Still, the aspherical lens elements in the Tamron 16-300mm do seem to reduce some distortions.

Resistance to flare is high, with good control of veiling glare, colored flare spots and ghosting, when shooting into very bright light. Though far from immune, the Tamron compared well in side by side tests against some of Canon's L-grade zooms. Testament to the efficiency of Tamron's BBAR multi-coating and good attention to internal baffling. Focus Breathing Unfortunately, the Tamron 16-300mm has its fair share of downsides, starting with a downturn in sharpness at the edges at 200-300mm. The sharpness at this range is wanting, and the many levels of chromatic aberrations don’t help matters. Falloff of illumination towards the corners of the frame is well controlled for a lens of this type. At 16mm the corners are 1.62 stops darker than the image centre and at 300mm the corners are 1.27 stops darker. Visually uniform illumination is achieved with the lens stopped down to f/8 or beyond throughout the zoom range. Beyond the 50mm mark, the bending switches to the other way – inwards in the middle – and we enjoy pincushion distortion, the slimming properties of which chubby faces appreciate so much.

In addition to being reasonably quiet when shooting, this type of motor focuses faster and doesn’t move when focusing. Crop sensor

The lens is not especially small until one considers the focal range it covers, but it has a deceptive look of a lens that should be small. In fact, when collapsed to 16mm, it is not much longer or broader than we might expect a 90mm f/2.8 macro lens to be, and, apart from the dual rings, it does not look especially unlike one. Its ability to double its physical length when set to the 300mm mark is quite surprising, because this 16-300mm f/3.5-6.3 macro lens does not look like a mega-zoom lens. I was expecting something a little more brash and bulbous, more along the lines of the 150-600mm optic from Tamron’s SP series that I tested in AP 12 April. This model, by contrast, is ‘quietly designed’ and features a remarkably narrow barrel with a 67mm-diameter lens cap. It is designed to look small, and it does. Tamron doesn’t go into a lot of detail on the subject of exactly how moisture-resistant the lens is, but there is a rubber skirt around the mount that should seal at least the join with the camera. Tamron 16-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD Macro review – In use Although those who will only really be sated by the absolute sharpest of lenses may not be overly excited by this lens, those who value convenience will find this lens is more than adequate for general photography. The compact size, light weight and splash proof construction make this lens an ideal travel companion, and the lens' ability to focus down to 39cm makes frame-filling close-ups possible. I had expected to write at length on the subjects of vignetting and curvilinear distortions, but on the darkening of corners the lens has rather disappointed me. While some fall-off in illumination is detectable in technical subjects, in the real-life situations in which I’d expect this lens to be used that darkening is not really noticeable. The sharpness at 16mm and maximum aperture are outstanding, and peak sharpness is attainable at f/1.8. However, it reduces considerably towards 70mm, and some clarity at the edges of the frame is noticeable. Chromatic aberrations are an issue at 300mm and highly visible along the edge of the frame. While its macro performance tends to reduce at 300mm, this lens holds up nicely considering its wide zoom range.The lens features 16 elements in its optical path. The arrangement includes LD (Low Dispersion), XR (eXtra Refractive) and ASL (Hybrid Aspherical) elements, along with multi-coatings. Tamron’s VC (Vibration Compensation) system is also featured, which gives optical image stabilization to the tune of around 4 stops.

Resolution at the 300mm end is not the best in the world. But I expected this and could live with it as a walk around lens. My Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM is sharper at 300mm.Bokeh is creamy and color reproduction quite impressive. The inclusion of three aspherical lens elements helps keep aberration and vignetting at bay. There is discernible softening around the edges at wider apertures. Design