Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Di LD Macro Zoom Lens for Konica Minolta and Sony Digital SLR Cameras
by Tamron
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Category: Digital Camera
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Digital product summary information
Manufacturer: TamronRelease Date: 2006-03-08
Model: AF017M-700
Product features:
- 70-300mm macro lens with f/4-5.6 maximum aperture for digital or 35mm cameras
- Easy-to-use macro switch lets you alternate between 180mm and 300mm focal lengths
- Minimum focus distance of 59 inches from subject (normal) or 37.4 inches (macro)
- 9-blade circular diaphragm provides beautiful soft-focus imagery; 62mm filter diameter
- Measures 3 inches in diameter and 4.6 inches long; weighs 15.3 ounces
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Digital camera reviews of Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Di LD Macro Zoom Lens for Konica Minolta and Sony Digital SLR Cameras
Digital camera Review: A good telephoto lens for the price range.
Summary: 5 Stars
The Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Di LD Macro Zoom Lens is a good option for a telephoto lens if you're on a budget or just starting to build your photographic kit and don't have much money left to spend on a long range lens.
This lens will work on APS-C and Full Frame sensors. On a APS-C sensor, the lens will have a true focal length of 105-450mm if you're using a 1.5x sized sensor.
The features that give this lens a bit of an edge over other lenses in this price range are:
- The slightly faster aperture. Most telephotos in this focal length range usually start at f/4.5, but this one starts at f/4 which is half a stop and may not be a huge difference, but if you're working in low light, that extra stop may prevent you of raising the ISO.
- The macro function. This lens allows you to reproduce things up to half their true size on your photos (1:2) Not all telephotos have this capability. Because of this capability, the lens has a minimium focusing distance of 95 centimeters (3.1 inches) which is a lot closer than what you could focus with other lenses.
For the price you're paying, you're a getting a good lens, but of course, don't expect this lens to perform as well as other options that are more expensive; like the Sony G 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 or the Sony G 70-400mm f/4.5-5.6.
With that out of the way, let's get to know this lens better.
The lens is light, is not too heavy. The construction is mostly plastic but overall the construction is solid and good. The zoom ring is big and wide enough to manipulate without hassle, the rubber grip on it will prevent slips. The focusing ring is smaller and thinner but good as well. It's easy to find without taking your eye off the viewfinder since the texture of it is different from the lens body. It also has the grip as the zoom ring to prevent slipping. This is particularly helpful in humid conditions or if you're hands are sweating.
One point worth mentioning to Sony DSLR users is that the grip plastic does NOT attract and collect dust like the zoom and focusing rings on Sony lenses. It's also easier to clean, Sony lenses just make it impossible to keep them clean on those two parts, but not this one.
To activate the macro function of this lens, you got to move a switch on the lens. The lens has a normal focusing range starting at 1.5 meters (4.9 inches) up to infinity in all the zoom range, but from 180mm to 300mm you can activate the switch and access the closer focusing capabilities of the lens. Visually you shouldn't have a problem to figure this out since the lens carries markings for both ranges; white for the normal and gold for the macro.
The only problem with this function is that you can't go below 180mm without disenganging the macro function and you can't access it unless you're at 180mm or farther. It sounds redundant but better know it.
One little problem I tend to have with this lens when mounted on my Sony A700 is that if I engage the macro function and want to return to the normal one, I need to switch from AF to MF to move the focusing ring back to normal range if the ring is on a macro distance setting. Otherwise, it won't let me disengage the macro function nor return to a wider focal length. I don't know if this behavior applies to other DSLRs but it's worth mentioning it.
This lens takes filters of a 62mm size, but unfortunately the filter ring rotates when focusing so you got to be careful if you're a polarizer or a ND filter.
The hood has a good size, it may not be too deep, but serves it's purpose. It has a pattern of several rings inside it, this is meant to cut light rays when they hit the interior surface of the hood and prevent them of bouncing there and into the lens, reducing flare and glare. It does work but don't expect it to take care of these problems every single time, there will be times when the light is just too hard for the hood to completely avoid flare or glare. Finally, the hood reverses for storage in this lens, making it easy to store and carry, the only problem is that it will block access to the focusing ring from 70mm to 135mm. Personally, I recommend using the hood everytime you use this lens. If you don't like using hoods, then leave it at home.
Optically, this lens can be good for the price or ruin your shots due to softness. Let me elaborate on this.
If you have movement in your shot caused by camera movement and you're shooting wide open, the softness will be very visible. To make this lens sharp, you need to close it down to f/8 or more, it's sharpness on wider apertures depends a lot on you shooting at a fast enough speed or a stable enough tripod, and even then it may be soft. Again, remember you're paying below 200 dollars for this lens, so you can't expect Sony G or Carl Zeiss sharpness. I've had sharp enough shots at wide apertures but not always, just as I haven't always gotten sharp things using small apertures, it depends a lot on the conditions you're working on.
If you close it down enough, the sharpness improves dramatically and will work well enough.
One important thing to keep in mind: the longer the focal length, the more obvious camera movement is, this will reduce sharpness drastically using this or a $1000 lens. Use a fast enough shutter speed or a monopod/tripod to reduce or prevent camera shake. SuperSteadyShot will definitely help but it's not a cure for everything.
Focusing speed is alright, it's not amazingly fast as SSM lenses, but it can be fast enough. The problem comes when the lens hunts for focus, which can take a LONG while and eventually give up with no focus locked. The other problem is that if you're using the macro range and the lens has to look for focus, it will move the focusing ring all the way and rather slowly at that, which may make you lose the moment you want to capture and/or drive you mad in the process. I've found that as long as the lens doesn't have to move long distances in the focus ring, it's fast enough, but if it has to check the whole range, it will take a while. The lens sometimes focuses "in steps". By this I mean that it will try one distance, then another and then it will settle on something in between which usually tends to be the right distance, but not always though. This mostly happens in low light, if you shoot in day light, the lens shouldn't have a lot of problems.
The lens is not quiet, but it's not a howling siren either. I think my Sony DT 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 is a bit louder, maybe a bit higher pitched than this Tamron.
One thing that puzzles me is that the lens is advertised as having a metal mount, but Amazon sent me a copy with a plastic mount. It's no biggie, but it did catch my attention.
For the price I paid for this lens (which was a bit cheaper than what it's going for right now) I'm satisfied with this lens. The lens has it's limits optically, but once more, you're getting a good quality for the price you're paying. If you absolutely need a sharp telephoto, have a look at Sony G series telephotos (or the equivalent of the camera brand you use), you will get a far better performance, but the price will be higher as well.
I would recommend this lens to people who need a telephoto but can't afford a more expensive option. You get good enough sharpness, macro capabilites, a light package and a good telephoto range for a good price.
Finally, you get a 6 years warranty from Tamron, which is an even better warranty than the one Sony offers.
If you need an alternative to what Sony (or the brand you use) offers in this focal length range, give a good look to this Tamron lens, a good option for a good price.
More Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Di LD Macro Zoom Lens for Konica Minolta and Sony Digital SLR Cameras reviews:
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Summary of Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Di LD Macro Zoom Lens for Konica Minolta and Sony Digital SLR Cameras
The Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di LD Macro Autofocus Lens is a compact, light-weight, ultra-tele zoom which covers the 70mm to 300mm telephoto range and produces photographs of exceptional image quality. It is ideal for taking pictures at a distance particularly when the subject is difficult to approach such as in nature and wildlife photography as well as at sporting and theatrical events. The Tamron 70-300mm also excels at portraiture and allows you to isolate the subject from the background for eye-catching, dramatic portraits. This versatile zoom has superb macro capability with a magnification of 1:2 enabling 1/2 life-size close-up shots of flowers, insects, and other objects that normally would require the use of a specially designed macro lens. This new lens is made with the Tamron Di (Digitally Integrated) design which uses an optical system with improved multi-coatings designed to function with Digital SLR Cameras as well as Film SLR Cameras. Tamron also incorporates LD (Low Dispersion) glass in this lens to correct chromatic aberration, resulting in clear, sharp, and beautifully vivid images.Digital Camera Accessories
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