The other day, I was thinking about having just a single zoom lens. APS-C cameras and Micro Four Thirds cameras have that with one of the best being the Tamron 18-300mm that we reviewed a while back. And the closest and best I’ve seen for full-frame is the Nikon 28-400mm and the Tamron 28-300mm. But why can’t they go even wider? Manufacturers say that an 18-300mm lens for full-frame would be so big. However, I don’t really think that it would be.
Imagine it: take the 18-300mm lens idea and literally just make it bigger. That would be something for full-frame cameras instead of for APS-C cameras. For many of us, it would be all we need when traveling, going on a safari (using a camera’s crop mode), and so much more. Use it with a flash, and it could even be a good lens for work.
I don’t believe anyone who says that a lens like this would be too big to carry around. That’s because the site has tested lots of really big lenses like the Sony 50-150mm f2.8. I really believe that a brand like Sony could make an 18-300mm with a variable aperture that’s as large as this lens but still very usable.
Camera manufacturers could even add weather resistance and all to it.
But I’m going to be honest here: I don’t expect the Japanese camera manufacturers to make it. Instead, I fully expect the Chinese manufacturers to make it. They’re at a point where manufacturing is much more affordable for them and they can do it so much faster. Considering the quality of what brands like Viltrox are doing, I’d really be impressed if they made something like this.
There’s really not a lot more to this article. I mean, think about it: you probably know a ton of photographers who would buy an 18-300mm full-frame lens if they just took an APS-C lens and made it 1.5x bigger. By my calculates, if the Fujifilm variant of the lens if 5 inches in length, a full-frame variant could be 7.5 inches in length. The weight would be just over 2lbs, and that’s still ligher than the brand’s 35-150mm f2-2.8 lens.