DXO Mark Lens Comparisons - How Useful Are They?

Hi OzBers

Looking at a new lens, the Tamron 18-200mm VC for my Nikon D3300 bargain from late last year.

When I bought the camera I sold off the kit lens, and bought the 50mm 1.8 from another ozbargain deal. I have been loving the camera just walking around with the 50mm but with some travels planned, I want a more all round lens than a portrait lens.

The Tamron 18-200mm VC covers the zoom range I'd like, has a good price and with the new VC model, apparently has decent image quality if reviews online are anything to go by.
However when I do some comparisons in DXO Mark, it doesn't get great scores.
In comparison to the 50mm it's way off (not that surprising), but even compared to my old 17-50mm Tamron 2.8 it's pretty ordinary.

Should I be worried about these scores and discard the 18-200mm lens as an option?
Any other recommendations, bearing in mind I can pick it up new for around $250?

Thanks heaps.

Comments

  • +1

    DxOMark Scores are focused more around sharpness than other measures. You'll find that no zooms score well when compared to fixed focal length lens.

    For travel a longer zoom lens is what you need; given you have a budget body, I wouldn't be fussed about the DxOMark Scores as much as other general reviews.

    • I would say DxO scores are useful when comparing like for like. The most important score for me is the 'transmission', shows you what you're really buying despite the F stop number printed.

      • Thanks for the tips. Sharpness is something I guess that is important, but what is transmission and how does it relate to real world output? From memory the lens scored quite well in that field, though not so well on sharpness.

        • 'Transmission' is how much light can pass through based on the F stop, the lower the number the more room you have to expose or brighten your picture. The real world thing is just because it is printed as a certain F stop doesn't mean you will get that performance. That is why 'transmission' is useful.

          You'll probably find that the really expensive lens, despite having the same white paper spec as the cheaper lens, they differ by the true transmission.

        • @plmko:

          Thanks! I'll look into it

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