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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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 value
Summary: 4 Stars
For the money, this is a very good lens. I took some really good images with this lens. Eventually, I did upgrade to the Pentax 55-300 but that's not disparaging this lens. It is a very nice entry level supper telelphoto zoom. Living in the Seattle area, I needed a weather resistant lens to go with my weather resistant camera.Digital camera Review: A very good buy for the price...
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this lens a year back for my A200 and have been using it extensively ever since and has become one of my favorite lens. Excellent image quality. Bought it for $164 back then and I am happy with my decision.
A must buy for all Alpha users who are short on their budget but still want a decent zoom lens.
Digital camera Review: Amazing value and pleasing results from a fun to use lens
Summary: 5 Stars
The most important thing to consider when you purchase this lens is the price. It is hard to find ANY lens for ~$165, let alone a nice quality long telephoto zoom. Relative to the price, the image quality is amazing. Of course other lens that cost $500 or $1000 will be better, it would be insane to assume otherwise. However, this lens produces VERY nice sharp results in the middle range (100-180mm) stopped down (f8 or smaller), and it is completely usable through the entire range of focal lengths and apertures.
The wide and long ends at wide open aperture do exhibit some softness and chromatic aberration (mainly at the corners of the frame), but these are well controlled for this class of lens and do not adversely impact the results unless you are looking at the near pixel level. I use this lens on a Sony a55 and I do notice that at 300mm the center does show reduced MTF (ie. increased softness, decreased detail) compared to say 250mm. This is a 16 megapixel APS-C sensor, so at lower resolution it may not affect images at all. Compared to the similar 70-300 Sigma and the 75-300 Sony lens, it seems this Tarmon produces the best sharpness. Many people say the focus speed of the Tamron is slower, and I would agree but maybe say instead that it is not exactly fast. In the Sony mount it is a screw-drive (in body AF motor) so the speed of the body motor determines the speed of the focusing. It is not a large aperture (fast) lens, so it requires good light to have fast focus. Even in the best light focusing is not fast enough to track very high speed targets reliably without some practice.
Overall I have been extremely happy with purchasing this lens. I still can't believe how inexpensive it is. One thing to note is that it is not internally focusing, so the barrel extends and rotates during focus. I have a circular polarizing filter to use with it, and it just needs to be aligned again after focus is set. This can be a hassle for shooting into water (where the polarizing angle is specific) at widely varying distances (when you need to constantly refocus).
Once I have a larger budget I would not hesitate to purchase a higher end Tamron lens, I think they produce a great product.
Digital camera Review: Awesome Lens!
Summary: 5 Stars
Lens works great, the Macro Funtion is awesome for getting those artistic shots from far away.Digital camera Review: Awesome bargain zoom lens
Summary: 5 Stars
This lens is lovely, a really cheap zoom for your camera...
People keap saying that sigma has better building quality because the handler is metallic and not plastic, yes... so what ? i m not gonna fight or hit someone with it, i m just gonna use it for my camera...
they also say that it's heavy... WHATEVER!!! these buyers have just the feeling of power when they're able to judge or rate something so they try to be "criticizing", but it's funny sometimes to read that someone is not happy cause of the shipping, or cause his shots are blurry...
one of the reviews gave it 1 star cause his zoom get stack, i dont know about his case, but some users don't read the details about the zoom and the switch to macro (to switch to macro, it has to be between 180 and 300, and to switch back to normal, the focus ring has to be over 0.95m) just follow the golden lines in your lens...
anyway, i m not comparing it to carl zeis lens or other big names, but to the sigma apo 70 300 and the sony 75 300
three of them got 4.5 as min F stop (they all need some light) to have a good sharpness. It has a lot less shadowing and chromatic abberation than the Sigma (wich is $156) but is more closer to the Sigma APO (wich is $209)