Tamron 18-200MM F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC for Nikon, with samples

I'm not one for superzoom lenses.  In fact, I wouldn't normally buy a lens with more than a 4x zoom range.  10x zooms tend to be mushy at both ends with some place decent in the middle of the range.

However, due to the nature of skate parks, I have had some thoughts about the Panasonic 14-140mm f/3.5-5.6 Power OIS lens.  Rather than spend US$700 on this lens and be disappointed, I decided to buy a discounted (US$200) Tamron 18-200mm lens.  This Tamron lens just won the "Best Entry DSLR Lens" TIPA award.  (TIPA, like EISA seems to be a group that believes that everyone is a winner, although Tokina didn't win anything.)

Tamron's optical image stabilization has been quite good.  Considering the very small maximum aperture (f/3.5-6.3), it definitely needs OIS.  The Panasonic lens has their best OIS, which doesn't seem completely effective but might be similar, given the focal range.  Considering that the Tamron lens is made for a dSLR, it's surprising that it uses a 62mm filter size while the Panasonic lens uses a 58mm filter size.  That makes the Tamron lens quite compact.

18mm

200mm

VC/OIS seemed to work while I was walking 

Fairly sharp with unusual shapes

These seem very good examples of what the lens can do but these next images seem to show some of the less great attributes.

Purple fringing seems quite noticeable and there are multiple problems with these photos concerning eye-bending distortion.  They're not awful, especially when not viewed close up, but they can be irritating when thoroughly examined.  It is a lens for convenience.

I consider that this is typically a US$250 lens.  That isn't a lot, so no one should expect a lot.  Of course, if you were using a bridge camera, it might correct all of these little issues automagically and you'd never see any real problem.  Imagine a 60x zoom range.  That is difficult to believe with a bigger sensor.  The Sigma 50-500mm lens is the biggest 10x zoom lens I've seen and you don't really need a crew to handle it, but a tripod helps.

Considering that I have:

Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8
Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8
Nikkor 10.5mm f/2.8 fisheye

this Tamron 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 seems an odd fit.  I bought the D7200 for wide angle purposes and it has done well for that, even though it isn't possibly as wide as a 135 Format/FX body would be.  It is sufficient.  The Tamron lens adds a bit of reach without much expense, so that I can use the D7200 on its own, to handle a variety of tasks.

If you're interested, What Digital Camera put together a review of the lens for Canon.  Nothing should surprise you.

Not convinced about the Panasonic GX8 Dual Image Stabilization

I bought the Panasonic GX8 a few days ago, along with the 12-35mm f/2.8 lens.  After the GH3, Olympus E-M1, and GH4, it seems that the GX8 has a couple of interesting features, including the tilting EVF and the Dual I.S.

Previously, the 35-100mm f/2.8 I dislike so much was the only lens I had with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), but I changed that with my purchase of the 12-35mm f/2.8 lens.  With an extra US$200 off, it seemed a useful purchase, rather than buying another Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 lens.

When viewing video I've taken with the 35-100mm lens, I'm often reaching for dramamine because the OIS doesn't seem to work well, especially compared to lenses that don't have OIS.  It is a compromised design that probably should have been much, much bigger.  Instead of the 58mm filter size, it would probably been sensible to make the lens big enough for a 67mm filter size.  The 12-35mm lens is equally small but feels a better build.

Around 8:30 p.m., earlier than the usual 10 or 11 p.m., I took the GX8 out with the 12-35mm lens mounted.  I wanted to see how the Dual I.S. would work.

I would say that I'm not terrifically satisfied.  Hopefully, firmware will improve the functionality.  At this point, I switched to the Panasonic/Leica 15mm f/1.7 lens.

Hopefully, the in-body Image Stabilization is working well.  I'm not entirely convinced but it probably works as well as that of my Olympus E-5 from 2010.

Update 2016.11.13: As I've seen with the newer Panasonic bodies, the IBIS from the smaller GX85/80/GX7 Mk II and G85/80 is much better, plus they've implemented an electromagnetic-driven shutter mechanism to correct for shutter shock or whatever the term is.

Out of all the comments I've seen, only one person has said that he gets some value from the GX8's IBIS and he said that he got better shots than with the GH4.  That is not my experience, unfortunately, nor does it seem to be the experience of the majority of commenters.  I have better shots with the GH4, and certainly with the Olympus E-M1.

If it works, I can't tell any difference.