Tamron Lens Reviews | Photocrati

Tamron 180mm f/3.5 SP Di LD [IF] Macro AF Review Round-Up

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Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Tamron AF 180mm f/3.5 Di SP A/M FEC LD (IF) 1:1 Macro Lens for Konica Minolta and Sony Digital SLR Cameras

Photo Zone

The Tamron AF 180mm f/3.5 SP Di LD [IF] macro offers a near-flawless performance. Optically it doesn’t leave anything to be desired – the resolution is very good to excellent from f/3.5 all the way down to f/16 and vignetting, CAs and distortions are non-issues in field conditions. The bokeh (out-of-focus blur), a primary aspect in macro photography, is very smooth and buttery. The build quality of the Tamron is very good but there is one bug – the lens has no focus limiter and the rather slow AF combined with AF hunting can be a frequent and rather tiresome experience. Thanks to a focus clutch mechanism you can switch between AF and MF as easy as pushing/pulling the focus ring so if necessary you should give the AF a better hint by manual pre-focusing. Other than that it is a really impressive lens. READ FULL REVIEW

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Tamron 17-35mm f/2.8-4 Di LD Aspherical IF SP AF Review Round-Up

If you own or have used this lens, let us know what you think! Leave your comments and thoughts below. Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Tamron AF 17-35mm f/2.8-4.0 Di LD SP Aspherical (IF) Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

Photo Zone

The Tamron AF 17-35mm f/2.8-4 Di LD Aspherical IF SP proved to be a very decent standard zoom lens within the tested APS-C DSLR scope. The resolution figures are excellent in the center of the image and good to very good at the borders. Distortions are very pronounced at 17mm but very moderate otherwise. Typical for full frame lenses vignetting is very well controlled. CAs are a little on the high side specifically at 24mm. The build quality is generally pretty good but the direct competition does a little better job in this respect. When shopping for a new lens the Tamron AF 17-50mm f/2.8 SP may be a tad better and more versatile in terms of focal length range but without full format capabilities. If you prefer to have a lens living in both camps the AF 17-35mm f/2.8-4 Di SP may be still worth a deeper look. READ FULL REVIEW

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Tamron 500mm f/8 SP Review Round-Up

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Photo Zone

When used with care the Tamron 500mm f/8 SP mirror lens can be able to produce decent results but don’t expect this to be easy – most of my real life sample images were blurred (caused by shake). A (max.) aperture of f/8 is very slow for a 500mm lens (750mm equivalent on APS-C) to start with and effectively this is a f/11 (or to be precise: T/11) lens due to the light loss caused by the secondary mirror. For reasonably sharp results you either need a very sturdy tripod or extremely fast shutter speeds (1/750sec or faster). When used “hand-held” you will need to choose very high ISO settings even in bright light conditions which can’t be desirable in terms of image quality and a tripod would destroy the weight advantage of a mirror lens in field conditions. The rather poor bokeh may be a funny effect in the beginning but once the initial coolness is gone it is just odd and often disturbing. Unless you want to have a lens for “emergency” use you should probably better consider conventional tele lenses. “¦ READ FULL REVIEW

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Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 SP XR AF Review Round-Up

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Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Tamron AF 28-75mm f/2.8 SP XR ZL Di LD Aspherical (IF) with Built-In AF Motor for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

Photo Zone

The Tamron AF 28-75mm f/2.8 SP XR (forgive me for using a shorter variant of the name …) proved to be a very good lens in the lab. The resolution figures are among the highest tested among the standard zoom lenses – the center resolution is generally excellent and the borders follow closely on very good to excellent levels. The distortions are very low as is the amount of vignetting and even CAs are very well under control. Nonetheless it should be mentioned that this is the 2nd tested sample of this lens and both showed centering defects – this is worrisome. The build quality of the lens is decent but nothing to rave about. If you can live with the rather odd zoom range within the APS-C scope the lens is worth a deeper look – assuming you can get a good sample. “¦ READ FULL REVIEW

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Tamron 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II LD Aspherical [IF] macro AF Review Round-Up

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Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Tamron 18-250mm F/3.5-6.3 AF Di-II LD Aspherical (IF) Macro Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

Photo Zone

Early user comments already suggested that new Tamron AF 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II LD Aspherical [IF] macro does not only offer a longer range but also a higher quality over the old Tamron AF 18-200mm XR and the lab results confirm these impressions. The results may not touch the sky but the new AF 18-250mm delivers a very solid performance for most of the range. Unsurprisingly the weak spot is at 250mm @ f/6.3 – stopping down to f/8 is a good idea here. Nonetheless the resolution characteristic is fairly amazing regarding the extreme zoom range. Typical for such lenses the Tamron exhibits a quite extreme level of barrel distortions at 18mm but at longer focal lengths to the problem isn’t overly significant. Vignetting is a problem at 18mm f/3.5 and in critical situations you should generally stop down a bit. … As to be expected for a zoom lens in this price league (<450â‚¬/US$) the lens body is mostly made of plastic but the build quality is fairly decent. The AF speed is quite slow on the D200 whereas the AF accuracy is generally fine here. All-in-all the Tamron is a decent all-round/travel zoom lens. Just make sure that you can live with its rather slow max. aperture at the long end which requires quite a bit of light or high ISO settings for stable hand-held photography. “¦ READ FULL REVIEW

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Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di LD Macro 1:2 AF Review Round-Up

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Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Di LD Macro Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

SLR Gear

While there are a few standout bargains to be found, the lens world is much like the rest of life: There’s no free lunch, you tend to get what you pay for. It’s thus no surprise that lenses as inexpensive as the Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 don’t perform as well a those costing three or four times as much. Within its price bracket though, this Tamron competes quite strongly against the camera makers’ own offerings, delivering as good or better image quality, a long zoom range, decent build quality, all at an exceptional price. If you need a long zoom on a tight budget, the Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di LD Macro 1:2 AF is worth a close look. “¦ READ FULL REVIEW

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Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di AF Review Round-Up

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Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD VC (Vibration Compensation) Aspherical (IF) Macro Zoom Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

SLR Gear

This Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 could be a good choice if you do a lot of shooting from 35-70mm, with only occasional excursions out to the 300mm limit, and/or if you tend to print many of your shots at 5×7 inches or below. Since this describes the shooting and usage patterns of a lot of casual photographers, the Tamron 28-300mm could indeed be a good choice for vacation use when you don’t expect to need a lot of wide angle capability. READ FULL REVIEW

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Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD Aspherical [IF] AF Review Round-Up

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Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Tamron AF 17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di-II LD SP ZL Aspherical (IF) Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

Photo Zone

The Tamron AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD Aspherical [IF] is a very serious performer capable to deliver some of the best MTF50 figures to date in this lens class. Vignetting and distortions are about average for a lens in this class. CAs are very high at 17mm and 24mm. Mechanically the lens isn’t top notch but it compares very well here to other third party lenses. AF accuracy could be a little better on the Nikon D200. Thanks to the very moderate price tag the lens is highly attractive and definitely worth a deeper look when shopping for a quality standard zoom lens for your APS-C DSLR and it’s also a very interesting alternative to the genuine Nikkor standard zooms. “¦ READ FULL REVIEW

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Tamron 24-135mm f/3.5-5.6 AD Aspherical (IF) SP AF Review Round-Up

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Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Tamron SP Autofocus 24-135mm f/3.5-5.6 AD Aspherical (IF) Lens for Nikon SLR Cameras

Photo Zone

The Tamron AF 24-135mm f/3.5-5.6 AD Aspherical (IF) SP is indeed a worthy competitor for the Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 USM IS. The resolution and vignetting figures are slightly superior whereas it’s a tie regarding distortions. The Tamron shows a rather weak CA characteristic though. The build quality of the lens is very decent but it leaves a little to be desired regarding AF speed. Due to the 1.6x cropping factor on APS-C DSLRs the range isn’t all that attractive than it used to be so shopping for a new ones seems rather pointless regarding the existing alternatives. However, on the long term Canon users may see mainstream full frame DSLRs where the lens could show its old qualities again. “¦ READ FULL REVIEW

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Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Di SP AF Review Round-Up

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Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Tamron AF 90mm f/2.8 Di SP A/M 1:1 Macro Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

Photo Zone

The Tamron AF 90mm f/2.8 Di SP is a superb lens without any significant flaws and it’s easily as good as the corresponding (classic) Micro-Nikkor – the resolution figures are extremely high, vignetting is marginal, CAs are low and distortions are non-existent. The build quality may be slightly inferior in comparison to the Nikkor but then the price tag is also substantially lower so the verdict can only be – HIGHLY recommended! READ FULL REVIEW

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