“Quick, hand me my telephoto lens and hold this one for me!” How many times have you asked your wife to be your personal lens slave.
Well, I asked my wife one to many times. She said “enough…I am done. I am on vacation. You are wasting my time and your time always switching lenses. Either learn to live with one or get a point and shoot”.
For quick grab shots I use my iPhone but for quality photos I need my SLR. And I finally found the perfect solution. I bought a Tamron AF 18-280 mm “all in one” lens.
It is now available for Canon, Nikon and Sony SLR cameras. There are a few compromises when you use this lens but I have really be exceptionally happy with it over the past 18 months that I have been using it. It costs about $650 but I often see $100 manufacturer rebates offered.
I do still carry my regular Canon 18-55mm that came with my camera for quick non-flash shots around the ship and inside some of the buildings I visit with lower lighting levels because it is a bit faster.
Although with the variable ISO speed setting on my Canon I find the Tamron works exceptionally well in almost every setting I need it in so my lens switching is very rare…and my wife is now a lot happier with me now that she is not “slepping” my lenses.
When you have visited almost 100 countries and flown over 7 million miles, you have plenty of stories and a lots of experiences to share. Bruce Fredrickson, founder of Curiouscruiser.com, loves to share, write and take photos. While he lives in Boulder, Colorado he has never lost his curiosity and his love of sharing with and teaching others, so his travels go on.
