08-20-2010, 04:46 PM
Just to add a little on question 2: how big is big? Do check out the lens physical sizes if that may be an issue for the small camera bag.
I used to own the Tamron 18-270 for over a year. It's really compact, and really is one lens to cover most situations if you don't know what to expect. At the end of the day, image quality is a compromise. Particularly if you expect to use the longer focal lengths a lot, do look carefully at samples and see if it is "good enough". To me, it was more than good enough on the wide end, but the long end didn't do it for me.
I used to own the Tamron 18-270 for over a year. It's really compact, and really is one lens to cover most situations if you don't know what to expect. At the end of the day, image quality is a compromise. Particularly if you expect to use the longer focal lengths a lot, do look carefully at samples and see if it is "good enough". To me, it was more than good enough on the wide end, but the long end didn't do it for me.
<a class="bbc_url" href="http://snowporing.deviantart.com/">dA</a> Canon 7D2, 7D, 5D2, 600D, 450D, 300D IR modified, 1D, EF-S 10-18, 15-85, EF 35/2, 85/1.8, 135/2, 70-300L, 100-400L, MP-E65, Zeiss 2/50, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300/2.8, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Olympus E-P1, Panasonic 20/1.7, Sony HX9V, Fuji X100.