| Reviews : Tamron AF 70-200mm f/2.8 Di LD IF Macro Lens for Sony Digital SLR Cameras |
Tamron AF 70-200mm f/2.8 Di LD IF Macro Lens for Sony Digital SLR Cameras Product By Tamron Available From 5 Sellers |
Technical Details
- Fast f 2.8 telephoto zoom
- Excellent macro magnification of 1:3.1
- includes case and lens hood
- Removable lightweight Tripod Holder
- 6 year manufacturers warranty
Product Description
The Tamron SP AF70-200mm R/2.8 Di LD [IF] Macro for Sony AF Mount is the newest in Tamron's long line of high quality lenses. This light weight ultra fast telephoto zoom lens has a maximum aperture of f:2.8. No matter where you zoom, this lens will retain this fast aperture, great for low light or sports photography. The built in macro feature of this lens gives great close up capabilities with a magnification ration of 1:3.1. Designed to use on both full frame and APS sized sensors and constructed with 18 lens elements in 13 groups you will be able to product razor sharp images no matter what camera body you use. Attach the included tripod mount for enhanced balance and stability. Feature packed, this lens comes standard with lens hood, case, and Tamron's unsurpassed 6 year manufacturers warranty.Similar Products
Customer Reviews
By N Doxey (UT, USA)
I use this lens with a Sony a300 and a700. I think most people who have reviewed this lens has rated it's performance outdoors as good and have been happy with it. I wish to make a few comments about the indoor performance of this lens.
I photograph the choral and drama productions of our local high school where my wife is a teacher. Everyone knows that photographing stage productions is a challenge. The poor lighting and a lot of movement leads to many disappointing shots. In the past several years I have settled on using the Panasonic FZ18 and FZ28 super zoom cameras to capture the action ( I love that the FZ28 can zoom while capturing video and I love the range) and have been pretty happy with the results.
I purchased this lens due to its value. I have been happy with it's performance outdoors. I was interested in using it during this school year. This last week I photographed the school musical, "Footloose". Oh man, action and dancing and more of the same. One evening I used the FZ18 and was happy with the pictures but discarded about 30 out of 200. Last night I used my a300 and this lens. And the results were better. I shot in "A" mode at f2.8 between 100mm to 200mm from a tripod. In fact, I was impressed with many of the shots. Some of them looked like they were shot in the studio and not from 100' away. Very nice colors and sharp. The images were not softer at 200mm. I discarded 6 out of 300. I was able to capture some of the dancing. Previous to using this lens with a DSLR I had quit trying to capture dancing unless the dancers were posing.
Now a comment about the autofocus. Yes, the lens does hunt under these conditions at times. But in every situation it did arrive at the focused image.
Most of the time it immediately focused on what I aimed at. I noticed the autofocus hunting happened the most if I was shooting at 200mm and moved to another subject quickly. I did not notice any hunting between 70mm to 150mm. I took 300 shots and it happened about 5 times. I assume the autofocus would have been faster and better with my a700. Next time, I'll try that. But, I used the slower a300 on purpose.
Overall, the valve can't be beat and the performance is good. I see no need to buy a Sony 70-200mm G lens. Would it be better? Yes! Can I get good pictures with this lens indoors under difficult conditions? Yes! I will post a few of the shots.
By Nachtpfauenauge (Mainhattan)
First the good things: for this low budget price you get probably the best 70-200 mm f/2.8 optics currently on the market. According to many reviews it beats Canon's 70-200 mm f/2.8 L IS USM in that respect. As I love macro photography, it's real 1:1 macro magnification plus only 0.95 m (about 3 feet) closest distance is another outstanding feature. I shot several thousand photos with it and if I got everything right it produced amazing results.
Now the not-so-good things: its autofocus is slow, loud and inaccurate - in particular in situations with shallow depth-of-field (fully open aperture @ long tele end) you can forget about it. Finally it comes down to manual focusing like in the very old days of analogue photography. Moreover, this means that you nearly only can use it for very slowly moving subjects or stills photography - this is definitely no lens for action shootings!
Manual focusing also means that you practically cannot use this lens with a EOS 450/500D (Rebel body). With my 450D/XTi I too often ended up with frustratingly unsharp results. The small viewfinders of those mini DSLRs include no real focusing screen so the eye has no reliable information about where the focus plane really sits. Working with live view + magnification improves this situation substantially but you can only use it in typical stills photography situations with a tripod and plenty of time to prepare the shooting.
So this zoom (I call it "the diva") was one reason that made me upgrade from my EOS 450D (Rebel XTi) to an EOS 50D - and with this tool I can really use the Tamron now. I also discovered with test charts that the AF of my Tamron has a frontfocus. With the 50D I could fix that without sending it to Tamron's services.
Pros:
- excellent optics for a zoom
- even at wide open aperture already quite sharp
- real macro (if you prefer that)
- very short closest distance of only 0.95 m perfect for great macros
- manual handling okay (focus ring gear a bit steep)
- quite light for such a fast tele zoom
- distortion and vignetting overall well controlled
- excellent price-performance ratio
Cons:
- sharpness breaks down at its tele end (but this is typical for many zooms)
- in bright light with heavy contrasts chromatic aberration can be visible (but is no great issue)
- old fashioned micro motor AF drive is loud, slow and inaccurate (at least in typical macro situations you have to switch to manual focusing)
- users of other lenses with modern ultrasonic drives (like me) have always to be aware that they have to override the AF drive before they try to focus manually, otherwise they kill the AF drive
- for switching to manual focusing you pull the focus ring: nice idea but works quite roughly and chunky
- manual focusing is nothing for impatient users or fast actions as the focus ring has a quite steep gear so fine tuning isn't easy
- no image stabilization: I really started to miss this great tele feature since I use Canon's excellent 300 mm f/4 L IS USM
- my zoom collects a bit of dust behind its front lens (and using a filter slows down a fast lens)
- the AF drive of my zoom has a front focus on both Canon bodys I use.
So, finally, you get for this competetive budget price a zoom with outstandig optics and macro capability (therefore I vote 4 stars), but in every other respect an old fashioned lens only suitable for "stills-like" manual photography. I cannot recommend it for mini DSLRs of Canons XXXD/ Rebel series.
By S.C.
Just got this lens last week and took it this weekend to photograph a U12 hockey game in a rink that has flourescent and fairly poor lighting. I still have some work to do learning how to really use this lens but I took some great pictures with this lens.
The biggest knock on this lens is that it is slow to focus. I did not find this to be the case at all.
The other knock on this lens is that the AF system is noisy. Granted I was in a hockey arena so I didn't notice it at all, but even taking some practice pictures in my living room I didn't think the focus system was that loud at all.
Especially when you take the price into consideration, this is a great lens. You'd pay close to double or triple the price for Canon glass with the same specs.
I researched for almost a month before I finally bought this lens. Don't waste time like me, just buy it. You won't be disappointed.
By J. C. (Delafield, WI)
The Tamron lens is great at stopping the action in low lighting, as typical in a gym. The detail and picture quality is crisp and bright. I frequently take pictures without the flash and find this lens works well in those situations.
The Tamrom is a bit heavy so setting it on a monopod or tripod helps stabilize the camera for focusing. Using a monopod is somewhat easier when you're sitting in school bleachers as it takes up less space than a tripod.
The 70-200mm length is just right for most gyms since you may be seated very close to the action or quite a distance. I found that if I'm right on top of the action, taking pictures from the floor gives you an interesting perspective. In this case, set your arms on your knees to make a "tripod" to keep the camera still.
An unexpected expense, was the cost of adding a quality filter ($100+). The photo store, where I print my pictures and take classes, recommended that I protect my investment by using a filter.
If you're having trouble deciding what type of lens to get, ask other photographers at the game. I spoke with a local photographer who was taking pictures at our high school volleyball game then went to his website to check out his pictures and they were great! I reviewed the properties (by right clicking on the picture) and noticed he was using a lens with a F-stop of f2.8.
After reading up on the Canon and Tamron lenses, I decided to purchase the Tamron as it was highly rated but far less money than the Canon lens. I am very pleased with the pictures taken with this lens!
By Click Whit (Lexington, NC)
I really love my new Tamron AF 70-200 lens. The ease of going from manual to autofocus is great. I tried this lens out for the first time at a recent wedding and am pleased with the results. I have been a photographer for over 28 years and this lens, for the money, is worth it. The picture quality is ranked at the top in my experience. I would recommend this lens to anyone.
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