Travel Zoom Confus ion

In issue 46, you pitted the Nikon AF-S DX 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3G against the Sigma 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3 DC Macro, supposedly to find the best travel zoom. However on page 136 you list the various superzooms available, and the only lens to achieve a five-star rating is the Tamron 16-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD Macro (the Nikon only gets three stars). Also, in a similar article in issue 39 the Tamron was a comfortable winner among eight lenses. I accept that you hadn’t tested the Sigma at the time of issue 39 but in the current issue surely the test should have been between the Tamron and the Sigma.

Terry Newman, Kent, UK Terry, the head-to-head compares two popular options that a number of our readers are struggling to choose between, rather than the two top lenses in a category. As you mentioned, the Sigma lens wasn’t available for the group test, so it was important to compare it to the current crop. The Nikon is one of the most popular lenses within that focal length among our readers, and although it didn’t rank well in the group test it is still a decent option.