have to say, i’ve definitely been impressed so far with the tamron — just shot a concert at the fillmore auditorium and boy, did it come through with flying colors. the real test of sharpness in real-world conditions is when you can crop 40-50% without losing detail. yup, the tamron does that fine. it’s great at 2.8 throughout the entire range (but obviously even sharper stopped down to 3.5 or 4), has minimal chromatic aberration and pincushion distortion (no zoom will ever be completely free of these), freezes motion even at the relatively slow shutter setting of 1/60, is lightweight, and has a decent build quality (it’s not tank-like like the tokina, but not cheap either), focuses fast in all but pitch darkness (especially with a sb-600 speedlight and the d80′s burst setting), and has a nice zoom lock feature to prevent lens creep. it also has a semi-macro feature that focuses to 1:3; not a dedicated macro but a nice thing to have nonetheless. unlike the tokina, the aperture dial is ergonomically situated and doesn’t get in the way.

the 28-75 is considered a “pro” lens (look for the “SP” designation), and the price (under $400) is right, unless you want to pay 3x as much for the nikkor 2.8 equivalent. while optimized for digital (Di series) it can also be used for film, and if nikon ever makes a full-frame dslr, it can be used on that too — unlike the nikon dx, tokina dx, sigma dc, or tamron Dii lenses.

the only downside is that sometimes i wish it was a little wider, say 24mm, but then it does go to 75mm. ultimately, that’s why i chose it over the tamron 17-55 which is very similar and has been extremely well-received by the nikon crowd. wish there was a 16-70 or 16-80 f/2.8 out there, but there isn’t yet and if there was, it would probably be pretty expensive. anyway, this tamron has proven to be a versatile performer that has met my needs thusfar–great for indoor concerts but also sufficient for portraits — i’d rate it as a hair sharper than the 18-70 and almost as sharp as the 50mm nikkor, which is saying something. i wasn’t sure about tamron before purchasing, but i’m glad i chose this over the sigma 24-70 EX, which is also a 2.8 but has a weird filter size (82mm). a bonus was that the tamron uses the same filters as the 18-70 dx, so i didn’t have to invest in yet another set of filters.

perhaps the previous reviewer got a bad copy or just needs to review the camera manual again (particularly A and S modes and ISO and WB settings if intended for low-light shots), because this is anything but a one-star lens.

Recently I came across a lens sharpness test in `Digital SLR Pro Secrets’ by David D. Busch. I ran it on all my lenses wide open, 1 stop, and 2 stops down at various focal lengths. My Nikon 18-135mm kit lens, 50mm prime lens, and 70-200mm tested very sharp at all these points. The Tamron 28-75 did not. At 28mm it was fine. At 50mm I needed 1 stop down (f:4) to get acceptable (compared to the Nikon glass) sharpness. At 75mm I needed 2 stops (f5.6). I’m afraid its going to e-bay.

I seriously doubt I will ever by another lens from anyone but Nikon. And the first thing I will do with any new lens is run the sharpness test.

I did a lot of research before buying this lens and the positive reviews were generally spot on. The lens is well built, sharp, and quick.

There are some cons to weigh before purchasing the lens, however. The first and most annoying of these being the focal range. As much as I like having 75mm on the long end, 28mm is in no way wide enough for everyday use. I shoot mainly travel images, and the 28mm (42mm on DX sensor) is not acceptable for landscapes. Thus, I carried an 18-55mm that was given to me. Not an awful tragedy, but enough to be an inconvenience.

Second, the lens creep can be plaguing on certain copies of the lens. Sure there is a lock, but this only works on 28mm.

Overall, as with any lens purchase, it’s important to decide what kind of lens you need based on the type of images you are shooting for. I need a good range and it’s not always handy to switch lenses, so I’m buying the 18-105mm from Nikon.

Note: the manual focus is very smooth, as is the zoom.

I decided to give this lens a try after having good luck with other Tamron lenses and checking out the quality images my friend got with the same lens on a Canon camera. It was on my short-list for awhile, and I was thrilled when I finally had a chance to buy it.

Pros:

* size and weight – this lens is great if you want to travel and don’t want to sacrifice quality. it is light, as are most Tamron lenses I’ve tried, but well built and easy to work with.

* color and sharpness – no problems with sharpness here, and color is superb. I find this lens provides better quality than the Tamron 18-200 that I started out with, and far above the Nikon 18-70.

* bokeh (out-of-focus background rendering) – beautiful, which can be said for every Tamron lens I’ve used so far. they handle the bokeh perfectly and produce some of the best results when shooting shallow depth of field.

* price – this lens falls at a nice price compared to similar Nikon models, and it covers more range than some of the 2.8 Nikon lenses.

* zoom lock – I love this feature on the Tamron lenses. I always lock it when I’m not shooting or before it goes back in the bag. I hated pulling the Nikon 18-70 out and having it fully extend every time because the sides of the bag just barely held onto the lens hood.

* will work with non APS-C size cameras. Nikon doesn’t have a full-frame digital available yet, but who knows what will happen in the future. If they do release one, it’s nice knowing you can use this lens on it as well. Same if you want to shoot film now and then, since the “digital only” lenses cannot be used on those cameras.

Cons:

* 28mm is not at all wide on a APS-C size sensor, which all Nikon models currently use. I would prefer 18, 20, or at least 24mm. My wide angle is a Sigma 10-20, so that leaves quite a gap in the wide range, unfortunately. It does go up to 75 rather than 70, but I’ve found that if 70 isn’t enough, 75 isn’t enough either, in most cases. I’d prefer that extra range on the wide end instead.

* auto-focus can hunt in low-contrast situations. again, this is a trait I’ve found with all my Tamron lenses, and it is easily overcome by switching to manual when needed.

That’s the long and short of it. I don’t think I will ever need to replace this lens, and for now it is the default lens on my camera whenever I go somewhere. Great performance all-around, nice bright image in the view-finder, and a nice price from Amazon. I would recommend this lens to anyone looking for a higher quality over their original kit lens.