Tamron 16-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD Macro

£430/$500 A smart design with refined handling

The Tamron 16-300mm has the broadest zoom range of any lens on test, and offers the widest

viewing angle. It’s well-built, with a weather-seal ring on its mounting plate. Unusually for a lens with ultrasonic motor-driven (rather than ring-type) autofocus, the focus ring doesn’t rotate during autofocus and enables full-time manual override. Handling is therefore more refined than in the competing Sigma 18-300mm lens.

Another little luxury lacking in the other lenses on test is that the focus distance scale is neatly positioned under a viewing panel. Switches are on hand for zoom lock, AF/MF focusing and VC (Vibration Compensation) on/off. As is typical in Tamron lenses, the optical stabiliser is very effective.

Performance

The price you pay for the extra wide-angle viewing is that barrel distortion is particularly heavy at 16mm. The Tamron isn’t the sharpest tool in the box at long zoom settings either, and colour fringing is evident at both ends of the zoom range. At least the latter is automatically corrected when using recent Nikon DSLRs.