Silverback
Senior Member
First, I understand the deficiencies of a superzoom, I also rarely carry more than one lens and I find that probably close to 90% of the pics I take with any of my cameras are with my old 18-270mm Tamron, not even the slightly smaller/lighter/newer version of that lens but one of the older ones.
I'm also realizing that I have a lot of overlap in lenses and would like to sell 1-3 of them and get something nicer (mostly for my D7100), what I have now:
What do I take pictures of:
What have I been considering:
So what would you do? Anything else I would consider? The last 2 will likely run me a little more than I had planned...
I'm also realizing that I have a lot of overlap in lenses and would like to sell 1-3 of them and get something nicer (mostly for my D7100), what I have now:
- Tamron 18-270, this sees by far the most use
- Nikon 18-140, kit lens that I got with the D7100. I rarely use it because it just has a shorter range than the Tamron, is only slightly smaller and doesn't seem to result in as pleasing a picture, I'm not really sure why. Lately, I've been using it a little bit more mostly because it's a little lighter
- Sigma 24-105mm Art. This is a beautiful lens that takes beautiful pictures. It's also massively heavy (almost 2lbs) and between being heavy and being a subset of the range both previous lenses I rarely use it unless I know I'm not going to be carrying it around much and am doing something I know it will be superior for.
- I also have 2 sets of the typical kit 18-55mm and 55-200mm lenses, as well as a 35mm f/1.8 that I don't really consider overlapping with the zooms
What do I take pictures of:
- typical kids/family/life stuff, this could be done with anything and I change it up, but I like using the Tamron as a "sniper lens" and not have to jocky with other parents/family for the good positions to take pics
- wildlife, mostly from a kayak or canoe, but sometimes walking/hiking. This I will take all the mm I can get and all the sharpness and accuracy I can get out there.
- landscape/architecture. Surprisingly not a lot of wide angle stuff like typical, I like details which I often can't get right up to. I like the Tamron here also
- I've recently played with a lot of moon pics and some of the recent solar eclipse. I got some OK pics but I would have loved more sharpness and less chromatic aberration
What have I been considering:
- Nikon 18-300 f/3.5-6.3- This was and still might be my top contender. I like the size/weight (similar to the Tamron) but I it should have better IQ, especially >200mm
- That got me looking at the Tamron 16-300mm. I love my old Tamron, and this one is supposed to be better in every way. The extra wide angle will likely mean more than the extra 30mm at the big end. The reviews mentioning the lack of sharpness and chromatic aberration especially >200mm scare me some. The weather sealing is nice for use on the water
- All the "photographers" that hate superzooms seem to like the nikon 18-30 f3.5-5.6 better than the newer nikon 18-300. The extra length/weight, 50% more than my old tamron which is slightly more than the smaller nikon and the 16-300 and 2/3 the way to the Sigma Art that I rarely use because it's heavy and has a short range
- Tamron 18-400mm. Again, I like my old tamron, an extra 130mm (almost 200mm in 35mm eq) over my current Tamron would really mean something for a lot of the pictures that I take. It's 120g lighter and about the same size as the bigger nikon, but that's still about 150g heavier than my old tamron and the Nikon I was originally sold on. Again, being weather sealed is nice
So what would you do? Anything else I would consider? The last 2 will likely run me a little more than I had planned...