I’ve been wanting to try an all-in-one lens that has a full range of decently wide to full telephoto capability. That way when I don’t feel like bringing two cameras to make a video I can use the single lens with a camera like the Canon EOS M50. Knowing me I wanted to go as cheap as possible so I found it being sold on KEH bargain rated used for lens than half of the retail price. This is the EF mount version.
 |
| The lens adapted to EF-M. |
UPDATE: This lens is a bad option for adapting to EF-M. It has connection issues or some type of firmware issue.
If you are curious about this lens, then check it out through my links (make sure you get the right lens for your camera mount because it is offered in Canon EF, Nikon F, and Sony A mounts):
Used on KEH, B&H, Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and eBay.
As an affiliate of these shops, I earn from qualifying purchases!
 |
| The M50 in video mode from 200mm to 18mm. That is a nice amount of range in a single lens. |
Here are the general specifications of the lens:
- Focal Length: 18-200mm
- Maximum Aperture: F/3.5-6.3
- Minimum Aperture: F/22-40
- Angle of View (diagonal): 75゜33′ – 7゜59′
- Optical Construction: 16 elements in 14 groups
- Filter Size: Φ62mm
- Aperture Blades: 7 (circular diaphragm)
- Max. Magnification Ratio: 1:4 (at f=200mm: MOD 0.5m)
- Weight 400ｇ (14.1 oz.)
Update: Don’t but this lens if you want to use it on EF-M. Since then I’ve had issues with the M50 and M5 with the aperture. So far it has been working fine with my Canon EOS 30D, so I think it’s a compatibility issue rather than a bad copy of the lens.
For the outdoors video and photos I was using the Fotodiox EF to EF-M adapter that has a few quirks, but it worked alright. I did also quickly test it on the Canon EOS 30D without any issues. In the video I show you video clips with the lens, edited photos, bokeh, and a lot more.
 |
| The Tamron 18-200mm works pretty well on my old used Canon EOS 30D. After the initial video I took this combination out for photos and didn’t have any issues. |
The lens if meant for APS-C cameras. I did do a quick test with the Canon EOS M50 plus Viltrox 0.71x speed booster to see how much of the frame it would cover. Keep in mind that speed booster doesn’t reproduce a true full-frame imaging circle.
 |
| You can see the vignetting at the wide and telephoto end with 0.71x magnification. |
The lens has 7 aperture blades, so it isn’t amazingly round at all combinations of aperture and focal lengths.
 |
| Background point source lights at long focus and a close-up look of the aperture (pretty challenging to get footage of with this type of lens…) |
This lens includes vibration reduction, called “VC” (vibration compensation) by Tamron. It helps you when taking photos of stationary subjects when you are not using a tripod. Any tiny movements you make will be dampened to some degree. It also works in video mode to reduce shake in footage. With both the M50 and 30D, the VC appears to work.
 |
| What the different stabilization methods look like (none, VC only, and VC + Digital). Digital on the M50 crops in a small amount. You can see this in action in the included video, but with a single frame you can at least get an idea of crop differences. Enhanced digital on the M50 crops in a lot. |
 |
| Trying to vlog. |
18mm isn’t quite as wide as I’d like for vlogging, but with lenses like this that tends to be as wide as you can get. I was also considering price a lot, which further limited my options. That said, the focal length range is definitely serviceable.
Autofocus on this lens feels a bit slow compared to some of the other lenses I’ve used in EF mount. It appears to be decently accurate on the adapted M50 and directly on the 30D that I’ve tried it with.
My main gripe is that the focus ring moves when the lens is autofocusing. It’s a personal pet peeve of mine. As long as your are careful holding the camera you shouldn’t have any issues there.
 |
| Minimum focus distance at 18mm isn’t great. If you like those super close wide angle styled photos this isn’t the lens you want. At 200mm it felt pretty good with how much of the subject could fill the frame. |
Overall it’s a low cost lens that’s fun to mess around with. If you keep your expectations low, I do think you can get decent results out of it. There is a lot to be said about having one that that does what you need on a photo outing. Update: do not buy this for adapting to EF-M. I’ve had issues with the aperture on the M50 and M5 using the official adapter.