Ideal for walkabout and holiday shooting, a decent superzoom lens can take on pretty much any scene you point it at

Matthew Richards

Whether you’re exploring city streets, trekking through the countryside or jetting off to the other side of the world, a bag full of lenses can feel like a real burden.

A superzoom takes the weight off, delivering everything from generous wide-angle coverage to serious telephoto reach, all from a single and fairly compact lens. As well as being more travel-friendly, a superzoom enables you to react instantly to photo opportunities that demand wide-ranging focal lengths, with a simple flick of the wrist.

Sticking to just one lens might seem counter-intuitive if you’ve bought a system camera that takes interchangeable lenses. Indeed, some superzooms can be a poor substitute for using the ‘right’ tool for the job. Inevitably, a massive zoom range comes with a compromise in outright image quality, while wide apertures are off the menu, especially towards the long end of the zoom range.

However, with advances in high-tech optical design and the increasing availability of in-camera corrections for aberrations like lateral chromatic aberration, peripheral illumination and distortion, the latest superzoom lenses tend to be capable of very pleasing results. Here are the best options to suit a wide range of cameras.

The contenders

1 Canon RF 24-240mm f/4-6.3 IS USM £829/$899

2 Fujinon 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 WR LM R OIS £679/$899

3 Nikkor AF-S DX 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II £429/$647

4 Panasonic Lumix G 14-140mm f/3.5-5.6 II ASPH Power OIS £619/$598

5 Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM | C £269/$399

6 Sigma 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM | C £349/$399

7 Tamron 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC £189/$199

8 Tamron 18-400mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC HLD £599/$549

A superzoom lens is a great all-round option for travel photography or other situations where you don’t want to carry a variety of optics with you.

Roddy Llewellyn

Canon RF 24-240mm f/4-6.3 IS USM

£829/$899

A strong lens for R-series cameras

Most superzooms are designed for crop-sensor cameras; indeed, this is the only full-frame compatible lens in this test group. Canon does make an EF 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM for its full-frame DSLRs but it hardly qualifies as a travel lens, tipping the scales at 1,670g. By contrast, this RF-mount lens is 750g.