Tamron AF 70200mm f/2.8 Di LD IF Macro

Big, heavy, but nice pictures!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
The lens is big, the lens is heavy, but MAN, does it take some nice pictures!

BIG & HEAVY: This lens is definitely a head turner. You will get some weird looks from random people. I had a lady come up to me and ask me if I was a professional photographer (I’m not). Either that, or she was thinking I was a paparazzi (I’m not… but more on that later). But that’s just the way this class of lens are and its nothing against Tamron’s lens. It’s a pretty weighy lens also. You definitely work out certain parts muscles that you never knew existed.

NICE PICTURES: This versatile lens can be used to shoot anything from landscape to portraits to macro to anything in between. It offers great depth and beautiful bokeh. F2.8 is fast and makes shooting indoor or low lighting much easier without IS. Back to the point of being a paparazzi… I’m always tempted to be one because this lens get such good results from shooting candid pictures of random people. I just stay away from taking pictures of little kids.. because that might get me into some serious trouble.

The gripes that I have about the lens is the autofocus. It is not very fast and it is not very consistant. For instance, I was taking a picture of a bird and I aimed at the head, but instead of focusing on the eyes and head, the lens focused on the butt of the bird. It was subtle and I couldn’t tell until I saw it on the computer (way too late to do anything but discard the picture and shed a few tears at that point). At night or dark lighting, sometimes the AF would be none existant. There were more than enough times where I had to switch to manual focusing because of that. Well, I guess that makes me look more the part of a professional photographer. But this in my opinion prevents it from being a full 5 stars. Nonetheless, its a wonderful lens and I have no regrets buying it.

Side by side with f2.8 L series Canon 70-200
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I just did a side-by-side test of this lens with the f2.8 L series Canon 70-200mm and am convinced that Canon glass doesn’t live up to the L-series Snobs’ hype. The autofocus is fast (maybe faster than the L-series), though I only tested it in fairly bright light. Bokeh was different, but very nice and just as good. Slightly lighter than the Canon, but only by a tiny margin. There’s no reason to buy an L-series unless you’re looking for a hypothetical 1% improvement for twice the cost.

Nice lens but I returned it.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This is a nice lens. No quality issues, but I returned it because the autofocus is much slower than an OEM Canon lens. Plus, no image stabilization. But for the price, you can’t beat it.

Fan of Tamron, very unhappy with this lens.
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
Let me first say that I own (and use professionally) two other Tamron lenses and they are just fantastic. However, this lens was a definite disappointment. The lens under performs at apertures wider than 10 and below 8 it’s unusable. It might work for the casual/beginner photographer, but, if you make a living out of photography this lens is useless. Granted, it’s about 1/2 the price of Canon’s L series comparable zoom, but you get exactly as much quality as you pay for. Colors are ok throughout the aperture range, but sharpness-wise it’s a dud. Auto-focus, as others have said, it’s unacceptably slow. Item was returned.

Tamron takes Nikon/Canon to the optical wood shed!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
With Nikon and Canon throwing buckets of money at Pop Photo and other magazines, it’s hard to get a respectable review of a third party lens! And those rabid Canon/Nikon owners, bawling about a little noise during focusing, or a slight click, or it ain’t pretty enough,and no built in stabilisation, in their eyes, there isn’t anything good with Tamron or other third party lenses when compared to their overpriced lenses, except for the price and optical superiority in some instances on the part of those awful Non-Canon/Nikon lens producers.

True a $1,600.00 Canon lens seems unbeatable judging by the price and that pretty white Canon lens look! But I found out the real truth about the Tamron 70-200 F:2.8′s side-by-side comparison to the Canon equivalent, and it made the Canon seem like a Vivitar knock-off. To quote the reviewer, the Canon 70-200 F:2.8…had “VISIBLE BARRELING AND PINCUSHIONING” compared to the Tamron 70-200 F:2.8. Later I tried to find that same review for a second look, and Canon had it pulled until another fabrication could come out making them look like the cat’s pajamas once more to the camera world at large!

I did have a minor aperture problem with my Tamron 70-200, but the company replaced the lens no questions asked. While taking a vacation trip along the Columbia River last Spring, I took a shot of a Tugboat and barge going up river from a mile away,I could almost read the name on the life ring outside the pilot house.

The saturation and sharpness of the lens was incredible. Night shots and Portraits and 1:3 macro close-ups are almost too sharp to discribe, and all with my 6MP K100d Pentax.

Yes the HSM focusing system on the Canon will outshoot this lens hands down, but if the optics can’t take decent architechtural shots without making them look like a barrel or corsette, what does it matter the price?

I don’t rate a lens by the ambiance or the bokay, but due to my 40 years of artistic and technical knowledge of lenses in general, It took me five months to decide between the Tamron and the Sigma 70-200′s build, and the reason for my decision over the Sigma, was that it took five ED glass lenses to correct for chromatics in the Sigma and only two for the Tamron, making it optically better, and this was corroborated by a lens technician of 15 years at another third party lens company who worked with his products and comparing them with all brands of lenses, and grew to understand why the need for ED glass…

Why add ED glass? If the chromatics and light transference are high, less correction? See my point? Companies don’t like to put ED glass into their lenses because it is expensive! It just sounds good in print, when in all actuality, it means that the Optical Design has need to be tweeked for the light to properly focus on the sensor, without chromatic fringing.

So to sum up my diatribe, if you are an ardent amateur photographer or a sharp freelancer, and ain’t worried about a little Buzz, click or whirr, when your lens takes a darn sharp photograph, then stick with optical performance, and not a name, look, or extreme price tag when purchasing a new lens.

It took Tamron five months to fill all the Nikon/Canon orders before they could start filling the Pentax orders! Go Figure! Doesn’t that say something about this F:2.8 70-200 Tamron wonder? So why did I opt for the Tamron lens? Read on!

Tamron, Sigma, Tokina, Vivitar, and Soligor have been taking it to Nikon/Canon/Pentax/Olympus and Minolta for years, and if these photo giants had their way, they would like to wave a magic wand, and do away with these third party Optical upstarts…Yesterday!

Good for what it is…
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
What you read about this lens is absolutely true in my experience with it over the last few weeks.

Positives:

sharp, wide open (on D700).

lighter than the alternative (but still not a light lens).

well built and feels solid.

comes with a 6-year USA warranty.

Well-priced.

Negatives:

focus, hunts, chatters, loses focus easily.

warranty service notorious slow (think 4 weeks minimum – often longer).

no lens stabilization system.

You need to evaluate your needs in light of this latter trade-off. If you are a sports shooter on a budget you might consider the better focusing Sigma (though not as good optically. To me it’s a place-holder while I wait and see if Nikon will redesign the 70-200VR.

7-25-2009

I have now used the lens for a long period of time and stand by my assertions. The focusing is not up to snuff, it feels like a long macro lens it is so slow to focus once it loses it, which is often. I love the optics, but hate the implementation of the focus motor. A screw drive, would probably be faster. Also, not sure if it is just mine, but I have a really hard time getting the lens collar screw to seat correctly. I have missed many shots trying to get it in the exact right way and have not figured out the trick yet – if there is a trick!

Still brilliant optics, if Tamron can refine the problems, they will sell a ton of them even at a substantially higher cost as the Nikon and Canon alternatives are about $1300 more!

BAD Focusing issues.
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
So my first copy of this lens was complete TRASH! 100% NON USABLE. It had terrible front focusing issues to the point where the edges of every edge were glowing. I was shooting at 1/2000 2.8 – 5.6 and had the same results. I could not be MORE unhappy with this lens.

After doing some research i found that this lens has some QC issues and that most people get a good lens after 2 or 3 try’s. I have contacted amazon and they are sending me a new lens (too little too late, i needed it for a wedding i’m shooting tomorrow…the original customer support rep i spoke to forgot to place the exchange order and instead of getting it tomorrow morning it will be Tuesday…what a crock.. at least the 2nd person i talked to was a complete gem! So helpful). I will reply back if/when i ever actually receive the replacement order – Keeping fingers crossed for a much better lens.

At this point i fear i may be getting another lemon lens which will frustrate me even further as i’m going to Costa Rica next week and i wont have my lens.

My Recommendation: This is the type of lens that needs to be bought from a store, where you can try it before you buy it, to make sure your getting a GOOD copy and not a CRAP copy.

/end rant.

Good first impression, but critical testing needed
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I’ve had some limited use with this lens, but for the most part, I’m pleased on a value basis. I had one serious issue, but it was resolved by Tamron.

Image quality is very nice (on a Canon 40D), with good performance throughout the range. However, the 40D is a smaller sensor design, and the full-frame designs will be more demanding.

Build quality seems about average for this class of lens (which is higher than your typical lenses), and the size and weight are also average. Used on a 40D, the focusing is fast and accurate. Switching to manual is quick, but not as quick nor as easy as on Canon’s comparable USM designs.

Compared to the competition, the Tamron does not have a USM/HSM type motor; therefore, it’s a bit noiser (and doesn’t have the quick manual focus mentioned above). Also, Tamron is not offering a newer teleconverter option like Canon or Sigma.

The serious issue I had was with the tripod collar. It simply would not turn. You’d have to undo the collar and remove it to turn the camera. Tamron replaced the collar, and now it works as designed. An educated guess is that the first collar was slightly out-of-round.

If money’s not an issue, the Canon 70-200 (or IS version) are tough to beat. If not using teleconverters, I’d say I like it a bit better than the Sigma, but they’re close in value.

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 DG HSM II Macro Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

Can NOT be beat for the $$$
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I have shot the Nikon 80-200 2.8, and the 70-200 2.8 VR. This is way faster than the 80-200, the focus ring manual override is super sweet, much better than the Nikon. It’s not as fast as the 70-200 (focusing) and the “all time” manual grab and twist on the Nikon focusing ring is better, but it’s hard to spit out an additional $1100 for the Nikkor vs. Tamron. Look and feel is almost identical to the 80-200, build is just a half notch below the Nikkor but for an additional $1100 I would hope the Nikon feels better. Get a Monopod for ~$80 and you have better VR than with the $1,700 Nikon.

Tamron purchase
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I recently purchased the Tamron AF 70-200mm lense for my husband’s

birthday. It arrived on time and he was completely thrilled with his

gift. The lense was very carefully packaged and handled. Thank You for

helping our family to make this day very special for my husband.

Great, great lens…. At least it was…
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
This lens would receive a 5 star rating if not for the slow autofocus. So far, that is the only drawback I’ve had with this lens. Sharp as can be expected at this focal length with no VR. IQ is stellar.

Good investment if you can’t afford the Nikon VR.

***UPDATE***

I’m having to send the lens in for service as it’s having AF issues. I’ve now had it about a year, and probably shot 20 times with it during that time.

***UPDATE***

Ok, so I sent the lens in for service and they come back with a quote to “fix” my lens at $400. They said they found evidence of “Shock Damage” and that the “Cam barrel is bent or cracked”. This is probably something only a service tech could find, but I don’t see anything to the naked eye wrong with the lens barrel. Also, the lens has been 100% in my hands since I bought it. When not using it, it stays in a Pelican case with a custom foam insert. I have NEVER hit, bent, bumped, dropped, or anything this lens. So how shock damage occurred, I will never know.

This being said, the IQ of the lens is still good, and it MF’s fine. I’m just going to chalk this one up to poor build quality or poor QA’ing of the product. I don’t know what else to chalk it up as. If I’d bumped or dropped the lens, I’d take full responsibility, but this is not the case.

Final thoughts. Save for the Nikon 70-200 or 80-200 2.8.

Durable
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I recently bought this lens and was very pleased with the images it produced.

What has impressed me most is due to my own fault the lens became dislodged from the camera and fell to the floor of a concert venue.

Needless to say after hearing the thud, I thought the lens was going to be shot.

I was wrong…still works fine. Whew.

Great lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I am an amateur photographer and I have been very pleased with the overall quality of this lens. I use it on the Canon xsi. The lens provides sharp pictures with great color and excellent depth of field.

The only negative would be lens is bit loud focusing and can, at-times, take a moment to focus. Neither of these are an issue for me though. I cannot compare this to the Canon L Series lens and I’m sure it’s not at that quality especially on the focus speed… but for $500+ less it’s a great lens that takes great pictures.

If you cannot afford the extra $ for the Canon L series, then buy this lens and you will not be disappointed.

Better than an OEM Lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have had this lens for almost 4 months on my Sony A700 and A100. The first place I used it was on vacation in Yellowstone Park. Even in dead of a Wyoming winter with temperatures around 6 degrees Fahrenheit this lens did not fail me. The image quality was superb with no light falloff after F5.6. Even wide open the close crops the middle of the image are sharp with excellent resolution. Focusing with the Sony screw drive was as quick as any of my other lenses. In low light at 200mm (that’s a 300mm equivalent with the 1.5x crop factor) it did hunt a bit but no slower than my other lenses. For event photography the F2.8 is fantastic. I was able to capture usable images at all the weddings I have shot with this lens. All in all this is my favorite go to lens for general purpose location photography. The nicest thing about this lens is that the length remains constant throughout the zoom range. I recommend getting a monopod for any extensive shooting. Mounted to an A700 the total weight is about 4.5 pounds. It is hand holdable and with Sony’s Super Steady Shot you will get excellent images. But you will get a sore shoulder after a full day of carrying this setup.

Did the job!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I took pictures of my son’s graduation and they came out fantastic. For distance low light applications I would recommend it.

Great Lens for Indoor Sporting Events
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
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!

A Great Zoom Lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I find this lens to be very sharp at the wide end and acceptably sharp at the zoom end. This lens is comparable or even a bit better than Nikon 70-200 mm f2.8 at almost 3X the cost!I did not have any focusing problem on my D300 or D700.

Best 70-200 for the money and very close to the best optically period!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This lens has never failed to amaze me with it’s optical quality. It has a fairly slow AF speed in low light. The build quality isn’t vintage Minolta. But, for that matter, what is? It is as solid of a 70-200 that I have felt that isn’t all metal (ie. Sony g or vintage Minolta). The optical qualities of this lens match, if not better, any 70-200 on the market and approach that of some of the best Minolta primes. I doubt that the bokeh is as good with this lens as a Minolta prime or G prime. But, you can’t have prime bokeh with a zoom lens. That said, I have been using it with a Pro 300 DG 1.4x converter on it and this lens still shines. Put it this way, I have been posting some images of 100% crops on my flickr account lately and it is hard to distinguish these shots from other similar shots of lesser lenses of a longer focal length(500mm’ish) with no TC AND much less of a crop. Yes it is that sharp. If you doubt what I am saying you ought to check out the set of pictures I have taken with it. I am nothing more than an amateur having fun. But, this lens makes me look better than I am.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eightballrj/sets/72157612276294083/

Great quality, sloppy focusing
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Great image quality, but slow and noisy focusing system. Good for music concerts and portraits, bad for sports and bird pictures.

Great lens only wish AF was faster
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This is a good buy and at the price it’s a no brainer. It is a little slow on the AF on low light, but other than that, it’s great.

Fast & Sharp
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
After reading previous reviews, the decision to buy came easy. Everything I had read about this lens, was true or better!

Focus is fast and sharp, and despite what other reviewers had written I found this lens to be plenty fast and accurate, with great bokeh, and light weight for sports shooting.

For a sport shooter you can’t beat this lens. IS would be nice for some indoor shooting, but even at f/2.8 it may not be enough for faster action where an f/1.4 would be more appropriate.

This lens is a great buy, and I would highly recommend it as an economic alternative to the camera maker versions.

Picture Quality is excellent. Autofocus is truly horrible.
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I bought the Tamron 70-200 f/2.8 to replace my Nikkor 18-200 VR lens. I figured that at 2.8 flat, I would be able to get better shots. I was correct….when the shots are in focus. When I’m in daylight, the autofocus is not all that terrible, but when I’m indoors and especially when I’m in lower light (where the f/2.8 shines), it takes literally 3-6 times as long for this lens to focus as my others. Sometimes I have to wait upwards of 3-5 full seconds. I thought I might have just gotten a bad lens because the speed was so incredibly slow, but after checking the reviews online it’s pretty clear that this is a well known issue with this lens. Obviously I should expect it to perform like the Nikkor lens, which is twice the cost, but this is ridiculous. I really like Tamron lenses and don’t understand how they could possibly release a lens with this big of a problem. I should say that, if you’re willing to stick to manual focus, the image quality is top notch. I just want to make sure others who are looking at this lens are aware of the problem before they lay down that much cash.

I would rate the lens 4 stars for picture quality and 5 stars for value, but the I would have to find a way to award negative stars for the autofocus. In the end, I’m giving it 2 stars

Forget the L and save some money
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’m what you might call an eternal amateur photographer having been dabbling for about 30 years. I usually do macro work but wanted a medium range telephoto since I have the occassional need and my longest macro is only 150 mm.

I rarely believe that one manufacturer has the best option for everything and have been a long time fan of Tamron lenses from back in the adaptall-2 days.

I had the opportunity to evaluate this lens against the F4L IS, F2,8L and F2.8L IS and really found the differences for a user like me to be insignificant. What tipped me to the Tamron were.

1. Price. Come on lets face it with the Canon’s you’re paying a premium for that L series and the name. If you’re not planning to make a living off you’re photos then you don’t need an L lens (even then).

2. Macro focusing. This lens does a bang up job in the macro range. This is where I mostly shoot anyway and its a very handy capability if your out and about not to have to switch lenses for an opportunistic shot.

3. Weight, definitely a plus over the F2,8L IS because that thing is a brick. All lenses in this range benefit from a monopod or tripod and this one is no exception, but it is still light enough to tote around a while.

4. F2.8. Since I got my Canon 5d mkII I find the F2.8 and high ISO give me the ability to shoot under almost any conditions without worrying too much about shake. I can readily use this lens indoor under average lighting and not have to pull out a flash.

FYI. If weight is a serious issue then go for the Canon F4L IS. This is a fantastic lens, very light and for this range perhaps about the best if you don’t need the F2.8.

Overall the Tamron is a fantastic bargain at around $700, very solid and optically excellent performance.

Worth it at twice the price
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
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.

Great optics, but extremely slow tracking and AF, annoying MF
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I may be spoiled, having owned a Nikon 70-200 2.8 VR. It’s obviously the gold standard for 70-200 zooms. Since I’m just an amateur photographer, I decided to let the Nikon go and get a lower priced model as I just use it for family photos and the occasional portrait.

I researched the Sigma 70-200 2.8 and Tamron 70-200 2.8 lenses for about a week. They are so similar in specifications, and though the Tamron is newer, they both have glowing reviews by major photography websites. I did see reviews that the Tamron was slow to autofocus, but the articles said things like “as long as you don’t shoot sports photography,” etc. I don’t shoot sports, or really any fast movement, so I thought I’d be fine with the Tamron.

I was really surprised that the Autofocus was this slow. The lens tracks and tracks for seconds, sometimes 15 seconds indoors with decent light, trying to lock on a subject. It was virtually impossible to take photos of my children inside. I simply couldn’t get autofocus to lock before the kids were gone or had changed their expressions.

Even using it outside was annoyingly slow. Even my old Nikon 75-300 push-pull lens autofocused faster.

It was so painfully slow to autofocus, I’ve returned the lens to Amazon for a refund and am ordering the Sigma. I hope to write a much different review about the Sigma in a few weeks.

The other problem I found with the Tamron was the manual focus lock. You can’t simply adjust the focus when in AF mode. You have to slide the focus grip back, taking the lens to full-time MF mode. It’s clunky and poorly designed, and I even accidentally knocked the lens into manual focus several times.

Overall, this lens may be okay for some macro shots, but was virtually useless for anything else.

Honeymoon Period is over…
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
It’s been a few weeks and I’ve spent a lot of time with this lens. It’s an upgrade for me from the Quantaray 70-300, and costs about 3 times as much. When it arrived, the size blew me away. It feels substantial on my camera, and whenever people see me with it, their mouths drop. It’s huge. I love the 70-200 range for portraiture, especially for candid shots.

I have, however, rented the Nikon equivilant. It costs something like $5000, so this felt like a steal. But there are a couple major differences.

It’s not as sharp as I’d prefer. When people say that you’re just paying for the Nikkor name, they’re wrong. Nikon’s glass would outperform this anyday, and you’d never think it could be that big of a difference until you see the pictures side by side.

The autofocus is frustrating. I find myself taking several pictures to make sure I’m covering for everything that will come out blurry. It’s not by a lot, I can’t tell on camera, but when I put them on the computer it’s blurry enough that I find the pictures unusable.

So, in short:

1. Autofocus is frustrating. It’s loud and slow. Often the pictures aren’t as sharp as I’d like.

2. It’s constant apeture of 2.8 is wonderful. I keep it on 2.8 nearly all the time for a creamy bokeh.

3. The size and weight aren’t too much to be bothersome, I use a monopod frequently. It does get me a lot of positive attention.

Tamron 70-200
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
The lens was Ok but very slow to focus in auto. Not good for action shots but is very good for still life. Returned it for the Sigma, much faster auto focus

I really like this lens!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
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.

Great lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This lens is wonderful, and the price was right! Fast shipping and all that, too.

This is my first zoom lens, to go on my first dslr camera which I also got from Amazon. Wonderful fun, excellent photos, great service. I would recommend this lens to anyone. It’s fast and takes sharp photos!

Tamron AF 70-200mm f/2.8 Di LD IF Macros lens for Canon
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is an amazing lens. I have used it for photographing my son’s Friday night high school football games and I couldn’t be more pleased.

As with any lens you have to follow the game as it moves but it is well worth it. I have taken pictures that look as good as the newspaper pictures of these games. I am not a photographer per say, I am a scrapbooking Mom who has learned to be a better picture taker and my only regret with this lens is that I didn’t purchase it sooner.

I am thankful that for what I needed my camera and lens to do I was able to afford this lens, a $10,000.00 lens is out of the question for me.

This lens does have some weight to it but I use a mono pod and that is a lifesaver for me. I have not experienced the noise problem that other people have, the way I see it, if I get the pictures I want a little noise would be worth it–I have 2 boys- noise doesn’t bother me.

The camera I use this lens on is Canon Rebel XTi, which I love very much by the way!

Tested all three and bought the Tamron!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’ve been wanting a 70-200 2.8 zoom for a while and finally bought one, the Tamron. Last week I rented the Nikon 70-200, which is a beautiful lens in build quality and image quality. If I were a professional photographer in the sports arena I would go with the Nikon as it would pay for itself fairly quickly. But I’m not a professional photographer. I’m a regular guy who likes taking pictures of family and friends. For me to spend $1900 on a lens is silly. Especially when there is another option that will suit my needs for almost a third of the cost.

I also spent some time with the Sigma 70-200 and was very impressed with the speed of focus, but not so impressed with the image quality after shooting with the Nikon.

Then I got my hands on the Tamron 70-200. I had low expectations about this lens and was not expecting to impressed. After a few shots at various focal lenghts and aperture settings, I was blown away by the image quality. The images were unbelievably sharp and I can honestly say were on par with the Nikon if not better in overall sharpness and “wow factor.” Those impressions came from just looking at the screen on the camera. Once I put the images on the computer, I was even more impressed. In terms of image quality the Tamron takes the highest marks for me, regardless of price.

Now for the autofocus system. Most of the reviews I have read said something about the focus system being slow. Well, yes it is a little slower than the Nikon and Sigma, which is why I wouldn’t choose the Tamron lens for professional use. But for regular guys like me, it works just fine. It does hunt a little in low light, but so did the Nikon. The biggest difference I noticed is when focusing on something close and then moving to focus on something in the distance–the Tamron is noticeably slower in those situations, but for the price and image quality, I can live with it.

The size of the Tamron lens also works better for me on my D80. With the Nikon I felt like I had a canon(gun) mounted to the body and I couldn’t get comfortable with its size and weight. The Tamron is very easy to carry around and I find myself having a better time taking pictures than I did with the Nikon.

Bottom line for me, if you are looking for a lens with image quality that matches the Nikon lens and don’t mind a dated auto focus system that is a little slower than the Nikon or Sigma, the Tamron is a great deal and will work great for the casual photographers of the world. I would also recommend buying from a local shop so you can test a copy or two to make sure you get one that doesn’t have any front or rear focus issues.

Sharp stopped down, but ssslllooooowwwww to focus
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I recently bought this lens hoping to save some money by not getting the Nikon 70-200. I returned it the next day due to several factors. I’ll keep this brief and just make a list of positives and negatives.

Positives:

1. Stopped down to F8 this thing was RAZOR sharp.

2. Handling was good.

3. Not terribly heavy.

4. Zoom and focus rings fairly smooth.

Negatives:

1. Nowhere near sharp wide open. Almost unusable.

2. Slow focusing, especially in moderate to low light.

3. Inaccurate focusing in low light.

4. Noisy when focusing. Didn’t really bother me, but it may bother some.

Anyway. If you are shooting static subjects and stop the lens down it is really nice. Otherwise, you get what you pay for. Don’t even thing about using this for indoor sports.

DEPENDS ON YOUR CAMERA!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Ok, I read all reviews online, and finally bet on this lens.

Received from BHPhoto new, my first fast telephoto zoom, you can imagine my excitement!

Put it on my Nikon D80… And what a disappointment it was! It did as everyone said regarding its autofocus system, hunted, couldn’t lock, and even froze a few times. It was truly horrible!

I was almost ready to pack and send it back, when I decided to give it one more try on D40. And WOW!!! It is quick, locks almost immediately and surely. It still gets sometimes fooled in low light when focusing on a low contrast object and hunts for half a second. Just point the focus point on an edge or some contrasty shape and it locks easily and quickly in low light.

I own 50mm f/1.8 prime lens, which I use on D80, and this lens is recognized for its autofocus speed. Well, compared to Nikkor 50mm, Tamron 70-200mm isn’t fast. But still it is quite fast. On average, it may take about half a second longer to lock on an object with Tamron in low light. In good light it is almost as fast.

I also tried the lens on my friend’s Nikon D60 and it worked well too. I am guessing that there is a COMPATIBILITY ISSUE with older models such as D80 (probably also D200, D70, D50). So make sure to test the lens before buying. As I said, on newer models Tamron works very well.

Image quality. AWESOME. It is sharp from 70mm to 200mm. Wide open there is a little bit of blooming at 200mm but resolution and sharpness is still very high – you can’t see it from normal pictures, but if you shoot a page with text and use 100% crop, there is a slight blooming. Well, who cares? This DOESN’T affect real image quality! Real images are amazingly sharp, contrasty and colorful. Bokeh is just mind blowing!

Motor noise. Not loud at all as claimed by some people. Of course, it is not silent, but it is not disturbing or distracting.

Sports photography. I just shot a series of tests at the university gym – a basketball game. Despite dim light it does a perfect job at tracking moving subjects on Nikon D40. 90% of shots are in focus.

Unsure focus. Yes, when it is in AF-A and AF-S mode it does hunt. And it takes about 0.3-0.5 seconds to lock. What I discovered is that in AF-C continuous mode it rarely hunts and shots come out very sharp. So use AF-C unless you want to lock AF to recompose the frame. AF-C works perfectly. I don’t know why it hunts, since it nails focus from the first attempt. Some kind of “lack of confidence” this lens has.

Overall, amazing lens! But check compatibility!

UPDATE:

After shooting a few days I noticed a very slight front focusing problem, and decided to exchange it. The new lens seems to be great. I tested, tested and tested it, and couldn’t find any front focusing problem. But maybe there might be very very slight back-focusing, though negligible.

The lens is razor sharp at f5.6 and does not need any sharping in Photoshop. At f2.8 resolution is very high, however, edge contrast could be better. But you can’t tell it unless you scrutinize the image under 100 or 200% enlargement and look at tiny details. If you are like me, then apply sharpening, which will boost edge contrast and your tiny details will be razor sharp even at f2.8. Just apply Radius 10, Threshold 10 and Amount 100% (this is for 6MP Nikon D40 shots, for other image sizes settings might be different), and you will be surprized how sharp your image is. Fortunately, these settings do NOT amplify noise or affect it in any way, so it’s good.

Last point. If the lens starts hunting, depress the shutter release button and press it again. It will lock immediately. I don’t know why, but that’s how it works. (I guess this is due to some jitters in communication between camera and lens). If you get used to it, then you won’t even notice autofocus hunting. Otherwise just use AF-C.

Great lens, Tamron, thanks!

What a deal
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Bang for the buck here is great. The f 2.8 opens so many doors and I can’t wait to get a body with higher ISO to really make this thing sing. It was a little heavier than I expected (compared to the 70-300 Canon IS lens that I already own) but I guess that is why they provided a monopod mount. I bought it for wedding ceremonies indoors where light and movement within the church are limited and it is great for that, but I would use a monopod for sure or else your left arm will be very tired by the end of the ceremony…

Tamaron for Sony 5-15-09
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I thought this forum was for the Sony mount Tamaron why are all the Nikon and Canon reviews posted prior to this?

A diva: great sharp macro zoom but only suitable for classic manual photography
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
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 nice 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.

An excellent alternative to those “high priced” lenses
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
After using this lens for a few weeks now, I have to say that I am simply floored by the quality. Using this lens with a Canon 40D, the image quality has been simply superb. Sharpness, color, focus, etc., have all been right on the nose. More over, compared with other “3rd party” lenses, this lens is also quiet and rather fast focusing.

When I first opened the package I will admit that I was rather surprised by the weight of this lens. According to the specs, it’s still the lightest lens in it’s class, but being a fixed fast, aperture lens (f/2.8), it is still rather heavy…something to be aware of if you have neck problems. That said, the build quality of this lens is top notch. The focus and zoom are both steady and sure, the new auto/manual selector is very nice (once you get used to it) and the fit and finish is very nice indeed. No this lens doesn’t have weather sealing o-rings, so I would not recommend it for “extreme” shooting conditions (such as in a desert or the arctic or something) but beyond that this is a serious piece of equipment for your arsenal.

If you are one of those “lens snobs” who will ONLY own L lenses because having that big ol’ white chunk of metal on the front of your camera somehow makes you feel special, then this probably isn’t the lens for you. However if you are open minded and looking for a great alternative to those high priced lenses, the new Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 is definitely worth a look. For the price this lens just can’t be beat!

Love my new Tamron AF 70-200mm Lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
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.

Simply Outstanding
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have had this lens for a few weeks and it hasn’t been off my d300. It’s sharp at 2.8 and razor sharp by 5.6. In fact at 5.6 I can’t tell it from my Sigma 150 macro. It pairs very well with my Sigma 1.4 TC though the EXIF data is 1 f stop faster than reality. Macro mode is very good and with the 1.4 TC is excellent.

It can be a bit slow to AF in dim light or in macro mode focusing on small objects. If I could only have one lens this would be it.

PL

Simply beautiful
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have been eyeing this one, comparing to Sigma and Canon, and ended up with Tamron. I own Tamron and know their lenses are good, best deal for the money. Sorry to hear about bad experience from the select few, but Tamron has never let me down, it’s pretty sharp, fast, great for most mid-level users, where I see myself. Pro will go for the camera brand, while there is really no need to pay such a mark-up. There is a sense of pride in Canon or Nikon sticker, but I don’t fall for that. This is pro-level quality item, no question about, and not many entry-level folks will be ready to buy it unless money is of no value to them.

You will not need manual focus, so after clicking the clutch a few times, that will be it. The auto focus is actually pretty nice and fast. If you are shooting something at 3 feet and your next shot is 20 feet, there may be slight delay for the motor to do the zoom, but that is not something typical in shooting experience. You’ll love nice sharp images, and backgrounds perfectly blurred, thanks to the wide aperture.

Enjoy, take lots of shots, share what you find. This is definitely not a travel lens to take to Costa Rica unless you have a specific project in mind, get a Canon 28-135 for that, or something along those lines. This lens is big and heavy, and you will be tired even if it is in your backpack. But, it’s a lot of fun to work with, definitely worth the money. Sigma is close, but with their super fast focusing being off so often there is no point, and it’s more money too.

Cheers!

SIX MONTHS UPDATE:

Tamron 70-200 F2.8 is an absolute best glass for the money on Canon body. The bokeh at F2.8 is just awesome, bringing only the item of interest in sharp focus, nicely blurring the backgrounds. It does not require a trained eye to pick out images taken with this lens, the quality and color rendition do stand out well.

Getting this lens is a great option not only due to its quality. It holds the value well, in fact the price of it new keeps moving up, and resale value is rather high as well if you are able to find one. It’s a keeper!

Focusing is not an issue, plenty fast and not as loud as some may say. If you have trouble focusing, maybe it’s your technique in need of improvement. And if you do get a bad version, it’s not the end of the world, exchange it for another one rather than giving it a bad rap. I have owned and currently use several Tamron products, and they are all outstanding optically.

Go for it, you’ll never look back!

light weight and extremely sharp.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
quality glass, light weight design, tripod collar can be removed even mounted, focus is fast and accurate, but did it with a noise and impatient way. produce exceptional bokeh and generate vivid color. A++ item.

Great lens at the great price. The best lens of Tamron. Nikon version.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have used this lens 3 weeks so far, took around 300 pictures. This is the greatest lens Tamron has ever made, I think! I were so surprised about its optical performance, far more than what I expected!! I owned Tamron 28-75 before and this lens is even much better optically. Super sharp in all aperture stops, even at 2.8 ! The colors are very true-to-life and bokeh are so wonderful, creamy. The AF is pretty accurate although not very quiet ( on my D80), but still quieter than the Nikon 80-200 I tried before. The weight: lightest in the class. Built: very nice.You can take off the tripod collar easily to make it much lighter if you don’t need a tripod. If you don’t shoot pro and fast sports to earn money, this lens will meet all your needs. The only missing on this lens is VC ( or VR). But you can not require that at this price! Get it, and you will happy with it.

A wolf in sheeps clothing!
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I have owned this lens since November and have taken 1000 plus pics with it. 25% of them are out of focus! I have used it on a 40D, XTI and 50D. I have been shooting middle school sports for 8 years and used a 70-200 f4l, 70-300IS, 85 1.8, and a Tamron 28-75 2.8. All focus much faster and more accurately. All the glowing reviews you read from most users are true, if the image is in focus, The image quality is great. But just like ALL professional review sites point out, this lens mis-focuses much to often for critical once in a lifetime shots. If you cant check your shot and reshoot if needed, do not use this lens. I got this lens to replace the F4L and there is no way I can do that. If the IQ of the 7D at high ISO 3200-6400 are any good I will sell this lens and get that and not need 2.8 for low light any longer.

Here is a quote from the most popular photo website in the world, During testing of this lens.

One problem we encountered with this lens in real-world shooting was a higher than expected proportion of slightly defocused images, especially visible when shooting at F2.8 where the depth of field can be extremely shallow. This was not a systematic ‘front-focus’ or ‘back-focus’ problem, but instead an apparently random tendency to miss focus slightly in situations for which we would normally expect a 100% hit rate. This issue persisted across a variety of camera bodies, from the EOS 450D through to the EOS-1D Mark III, so we can only conclude that it is a problem with the lens itself.

Good luck with your purchase.

Good value!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Because I had read the reviews and comments, I knew about the weight and the autofocus weakness and was planning to brace the lens on a chair back and use manual focus during an evening graduation ceremony. However, I did test focusing on some graduates with the autofocus and the lens seemed to be focusing OK, so I left it on autofocus and I was able to photograph the two graduates I was there to photograph. I used a Nikon D90 and was able to follow and photograph the graduates as they walked across the stage to receive their diplomas and to shake hands with the college president, using continuous drive and shooting at f2.8, at 200mm (300mm equivalent with my Nikon D90), and at high ISO of 3200 and 4000 (rather dim and inconsistent lighting) to photograph moving subjects at a high enough shutter speed (about 1/500). The second photograph on continuous drive of the last graduate shaking hands with the college president went out of focus — after I took the first photo, I saw the lens go out of focus, but it was too late to do anything about it, and the camera took the second photo on continuous drive before I lifted my finger from the shutter release button. However, the first photo was in focus, so I got what I wanted for all of the photos except that last photo. The lens may not be perfect, but I cannot afford to pay over $1,000 more for a lens, even if it is “perfect.” I would not have gotten the photographs I wanted without the Tamron 70-200 f2.8 lens!

Although the graduation ceremony was the motivating event for my buying the lens, I have used its “macro” capabilities to photograph moth orchid flowers, a bed sore, and various products for record purposes, including a pocket knife to be sent back for warranty repair, and have also used its telephoto capabilities to photograph distant objects such as the Sea Based X-Band Radar Unit. Although some reviewers complained about the lack of sharpness of the Tamron lens, I would agree with the reviewers who praised this lens — it is capable of taking very sharp photos when it correctly focuses!

LOVE IT!!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
A MUST HAVE!!! This lens exceeded my expectations. It is perfect for those low-light indoor occasions when a flash cannot be used. I just did my first wedding with this lens. I knew I wasn’t allowed to use a flash at this church and I still got crystal clear photos without having to lighten the pictures when editing later. I highly recommend this lens, especially for the price. It takes great action shots too!!!