I'm looking at this lens or the earlier version of 18-200 (or 250) and need a lot of information. What I want is an ALL in ONe lense for my XSi and I hope to sell the kit lenses that came with it.

I also like to shoot A LOT OF CLOSE UPS AND SOME MACRO and this is the attraction to the Tamron. However, I'm not very smart about the Macro function and I'm not sure is will be any better than some of the ability that I have right now. I Have a Canon S3-IS which has a 12X Zoom built in plus Macro mode and Super Macro mode that will focus down to 4". This is basically a 432 mm telephoto, so what is the difference in this capability for shooting Macro images than what I would be able to shoot with the Tamron.

I also have a Canon G7 which also has Maco mode down to 0.4" as well as a 6x zoom which is equal to a 35 -210 mm zoom lens.

I'm thinking the only advantage I would get out of the Tamron would be the ALL in ONE function, since their Macro mode has a minimum focus distance of 18".

Also, I've read some reviews of the Tamron lenses and some say they are not as sharp as Sigma.

When I was a younder many 35 years ago I carried my Canon FTB and my all in one Soligor 35 -200 mm 3.8 + Macro zoom lense everywhere and it was all I needed, but that was the days of film. To bad it won't fit on my XSi

If I really want to shoot good Macro I could buy a fixed 100 mm macro lens but those cost too much. What is the difference of just using my G7 and maybe a teleconverter or just close up lens.

I know this is a lot of questions so maybe you can just give me some good links were I can read more and get a much better understanding of the difference between a good Macro lens and these Zoom-Macros. However, I always admire people who have been there and done it.

At longer focal lengths, the Tamron 18-270 has a lot of chromatic aberration and is not very sharp. (See http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/showp...ct/1217/cat/23 ) In addition, it's magnification ratio is only 1:3.5. It wouldn't be a very good macro lens.

While it's one of the best superzoom lenses available, it's not as good as the Canon kit lens you already have, where their ranges overlap, so you may find that it's not suitable for that either.

You might try renting one to see how you like it. (See http://www.lensrentals.com/rent/tamron-18-270mm-f3.5-6.3-vc/for-canon )

TCav....Thank you for your reply,...but I wish I could understand what you have said.

It is hard for me to understand how the Tamron could be worse than the kit lens I have. The sharpness at both ends of the zoom is terrible, but especially near the 55 mm end. Both my S3 and my G7 can take better pictures at any focal length than either the 18-55mm or the 70-300 mm kit lenses. If had know what I know now I would have not bought the XSi and those lenses,...but that is water under the %(*[email protected]#$#$%^.

If I really want to take good Macro's without spending a lot of $$$$, I am guessing that my best chance would be to use a good telephoto adapter and a coupler on my G7. Ths S3 only has 6.0 Megapixels.

However to do some experiments, I already have the lens adapter which has 58 mm treads and I have a full set of close up lenses of +1 thru +4. I'm not sure just how much magnification that will provide. I could also get the Canon close up lense which will allow me to use the full range of the 12x zoom and get as close as 1.1' to 1.6'. It is a shame that the lens adapter for the S3 will not fit the G7 so I would have to get a separate lens adapter for the G7.

Any suggestions for the best way to shoot macro with either of these would be grately appreciated.

I can't advise you on how better to use your P&S digicams. I have no experience in that area.

I am surprised to hear that you are so dissatisfied with the Canon 18-55 kit, however. Every report I've seen shows the Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS to be quite good. Perhaps there's something wrong with your copy. Could you post some examples of what you mean?

Also, Canon doesn't make a 70-300 kit lens. Their EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM is quite good, but sells for $550, so it wouldn't generally be part of a "kit". Canon does make a less expensive EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III that isn't very good, and might have been bundled with an XSi. Is that the lens you're referring to?

Another thought has occurred to me. The references I made to those particular lenses in my previous post are actually links to the webpages on Canon's website for those particular lenses. Could you compare the lenses you have with the lenses shown on those webpages, and confirm that what you have are actually Canon products?

TCav,... Thanks again for even listening. You are correct again. The lens is the 75-300 4-5.6 III lens. I've been over and over this so many times with Canon any further discussion seems a waste of time. I've returned the lenses and they test them and sent them back saying they are withing spec. On a 2nd effort I got their specialist in NY to agree after sending him dozens of images that the focus on both lenses was not good. However, upper Canon management would not refund my money since they said they had tested the lenses and they met their spec.

I like to shoot close up of flowers and I can't get a good focus unless I have Bright daylight, optimum distance and f stop. If you try and shoot something that has difficult contrast like a solid magenta flower, it won't focus correctly. It will focus on a green leaf that has plenty of contrast but not on the flower.

Both my S3 and G7 will shoot much better images. Everyone says,.."it is all about the lenses",.. how would I know,.. I can't afford one of those good lenses. I had to streach my budget to get the XSi,.. and of course seeing all the wonderful reviews on the web I fell for the Hype.

It is the same old game that other Japanese MFG. are doing,...Give the Camera away and sell the lenses. Give the printer away and sell the ink, give the razor away and sell the blades.

This is totally away from my subject and I have to stop before I give myself another heart attack. I won't to know how I can use my 2 good cameras to shoot Macro. Does anyone know what happened to the "Lensmateonline" web site. Many of their sample images are "GONE", and the contact they have for email has been shut down. There is no way to contact them.

First, the title of this thread is Tamron 18-270 mm +Macro and it's in the Add-On Lenses forum, so it's not likely to attract the attention of anyone with P&S macro experience. You may want to start a new thread, perhaps in the General Q&A forum about that topic specifically.

Second, if your having the same problem with two different lenses, perhaps the camera is at fault. While the 18-55 IS kit lens is generally highly regarded, the 75-300 III does not enjoy such a good reputation. But if you can't get a good shot from either lens under similar circumstances, it seems likely that something else is wrong. If you are up to doing some simple tests on your own, you could try the test described on http://www.focustestchart.com/chart.html

TCav,... You are right as always, I've gotten way off the original issue. I did some checking at another site and they agree with you on both issues; 1. The Tamron is not a solution. 2. The review of the Canon 18-55 kit lens was rated as good to excellent, which was even a supprise to them. However, they did point out the same thing that I found, which was the Manual Focus is not usable at all. This implies that I could not use this lens for any kind of Macro work, as most macro is done with MF.

As far as focus test charts, I've done just about everyone every published and created some of my own. The result were; If you shoot in excellent light, use f11 or better, stay away from high ISO, and NEVER GO NEAR THE ENDS OF THE LENS, you can get excellent pictures. Anything else, be prepared for disappointment.

I will move my other subject to a different topic.

In general a P&S needs a strong close-up lens. There's an ebay seller who lists a +16 diopter achromatic doublet (28mm threads) for $15USD that does a good job. I use it with a Fujifilm F20. http://cgi.ebay.com/25mm-Achromatic-...item335027efc5


Unfortunately there's not a good conventional way to describe how strong a close-up lens is needed for P&S cameras, but I'll try.

Maximum field width is a reasonable place to start in specifying close-up capability. Let's say the field width desired is W (like W=10mm); eg. an uncropped print would be filled with a object of width W.

The optical magnification associated with this is m = (sensor width)/(field width). Using the "nominal" or "35mm equivalent" focal length it turns out that the Close-up lens focal length required is:

Close_up_Focal_length = FW/36mm

For example, say you want a 20mm field width and are using a P&S with an equivalent focal length of 100mm.

Close_up_length = FW/36=100*20/36 = 55.6mm

This is a Dipoter strength of 1000/55.6 = 18 (diopter = 1/f in meters).

Dave in Iowa

Regarding teleconverters for use with P&S cameras, Nikon makes a couple that are not expensive, and are superb. The Nikon TC-E2 (2x) and the TC-E15ED (1.5X)

Dave,... I'm very sorry I did not see your response. I've been consummed on other items.

Your information on close up lens is just terrific,... to bad it is way over my present level of learning. This will encourage me to study more.

However, now that I already have my new camera, the Lumix FZ35, what can you suggest for that camera, or does the same info apply, such as the same teleconverters.
Also, can you recommend some articles that will go into more depth in explaining all of this. Many people have posted information that say all of these teleconverters and low cost lenses on ebay are just junk and they are a waste of time. your note seem to dispell these statements.

The FZ35 requires a lens adapter just to couple anything to the front end. Panasonic also sells a Teleconverter and wide angle lens for the FZ35, but they are not that cheap compaired to the cost of this camera. One I have purchased the lens adapter, the screw on thread size is then set and it seems I need to choose all of the parts before I purchase anything.

While the 18X of this zoom lens is great, it still takes all kinds of light to use it, and a teleconverter will drop that 2 stops more.