Travel lens for Nikon - Tamron 18-270mm and Nikon 16-85mm?

I plan to travel to south-east Asia in several weeks. I was trying to figure out what lens mixture would be good for me. Maximum of two lens. A friend has a Tamron 18-270mm, which weighs 1200g (!). I have an old Nikkor 28-85mm and was thinking of purchasing a Nikon 16-85mm. Do you think the mixture of Tamron and Nikon is good. Or do you prefer the Nikon 18-200mm lens or even the Nikon kit 18-55mm? There was a comparison here I was reading: http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/16-85mm-vs-18-200mm.htm. I also posted a thread here (http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1101022) and wanted to elicit additional opinions from readers here. Maybe Tamrom 18-270 + Nikon 18-55? Or just a Nikon 18-200. Thanks.

Sounds like you have a DX camera so that the 18mm lens is equivalent to a 27mm lens in a full frame camera.

I find my Tokin 12-24mm lens is really helpful with my Nikon D90 for its wide angle capability.

200 or 270mm is a lot of telephoto power, to me overkill, unless youʻre into wildlife photography.

All depends on cash available and willingness to change lenses and carry lenses.

I like the 16-85mm as it is optically very good plus gives you 24-130mm (35mm/FF equivalent) range which is quite useful. I particular like the 24mm at the wide end, 27mm offered by the 18-200 or 18-55mm lenses is definitely not wide enough for me. 24mm is the absolute minimum I could live with at the wide end.
As for the far end I rarely use over 200mm and many times the 70-200 zoom ends up around 100-135mm.

In that sense the 16-85 makes a good allrounder allready. If you really want more reach, I would add a 55-200mm VR from Nikon, that's plenty of reach on your camera (gives you 85-300).

If you don't want to change lenses 18-85 only or 18-200 only (I would go for the 16-85, those few mm at wide end are more important than what's beyond 85 - for my style of photography; only you can find out which is more important for you...).

Ken's reviews are very one sided, take those with a (large) spoon of salt.
For lenses I rather go to sites like:
http://www.photozone.de/nikon--nikkor-aps-c-lens-tests/715-tamron182703563vc?start=1
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Something with reach, a zoom (the 16-85 is very good another is the 18-105) and something fast a prime like the 50mm 1.8 or 1.4.

kamaaina, I saw your photos in Viet Nam, wish it showed the focal length!

I will be borrowing the Tamron 18-270, but I'll probably only be using it at the shorter end. The lens I have is 28-85mm. Wish I could borrow a 10-20 lens that would be nice, oh well.

I have the 18-270mm Tamron lens. (Mine is a Canon fit though!). It's an amazing all round lens for travel and general photography. (Especially for places where you may not want to take your lens off to swap them around and get the sensor dirty)

I too am a fan of the 16 - 85 mm lens.

eluong, unfortunately I did not have my 12-24mm wide angle lens when I took my Vietnam shots. I used a 28-200mm lens but with a DX format DSLR. Hence I really donʻt have good wide angle shots.

if you don't need a stellar IQ, you can get a 18-200 or 18-105 or 18-135, as walk around lens.
after you have to know..what kind of photography do you like...
if you like building, historical site, etc etc ..you can buy a wide zoom lens..8-16mm, 12-24, 10-20,
if you like portrait you can buy a fast prime lens, as 50mm, 85mm..

Thanks, everyone. I think I will just stick with the Tamron since I can just borrow it for now and see how it works out. The only prime lens I have is a 60mm, and this is on a DX sensor, so that means technically 90mm focal length, yes? Not sure if I should bring that, since I haven't shot with that lens much.

There's really no need to overlap focal lengths if you can help it; it just adds to the weight you're carrying around, so it makes more sense to bring the longest one. I also have Tokina 12-24, which is an awesome lens. I'm trading out my Nikon 18-55 for something more like a 24-70 or 24-85, but I've mostly traveled with those two lenses and been very comfortable with that. I also have a Nikon 35mm 1.8, which is a wonderfully fast lens. If your 60mm is faster than the zooms, it would make sense to take it for use in low light, night shots, or for shallow DOF shots.