Tamron AF24-70mm f/3.3-5.6 Aspherical Reviews

Rating
Reviewed by: kauai82
(Intermediate)

Review Date
May 18, 2003

Overall Rating
4 of 5

Value Rating
5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.75 of 5,
4 votes

Review 1 of 9

Price Paid: $140.00 from Sunshine Photo

Summary:

I have used this lens for years and overall had very good results. It does have a tendency to flair if you are doing some sunsets or tricky lighting. The color for outside landscapes has been great. However indoor shoots with low lighting have been disappionting.

Strengths:

Color and sharpness of photos taken outside in decent light.

Weaknesses:

Lens hood is not easy to attach and indoor shooting in low light can be disapionting. Some flair problems in tricky lighting conditions.

Similar Products Used:

Sigma 28

Customer Service:

Never Needed

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Rating
Reviewed by: NappyBear
(Expert)

Review Date
December 20, 2001

Overall Rating
5 of 5

Value Rating
5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
4.50 of 5,
2 votes

Review 2 of 9

Price Paid: $112.00 from e-bay

Summary:

I have no idea why everyone has been down on this lense. Because it''s one of the oldest of the new breeds of extra-wide angle zoom, it had it''s flaws in beginning manuacturing, but mine is sharp and has little aberration. For all those who spoke of flair. You aren''t using your own equipment properly.

Strengths:

Good focus. Excellent price. Sharp pictures.

Weaknesses:

Faster autofocus higher speed apeture, maybe 2.8 It''s not the Tamron 24-135

Similar Products Used:

Sigma 24-70 Canon 24-85

Customer Service:

Never needed

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Rating
Reviewed by: Tam
(Casual)

Review Date
June 26, 2001

Overall Rating
4 of 5

Value Rating
4 of 5

Visitors rate this review
3.33 of 5,
3 votes

Review 3 of 9

Summary:

This little baby is not as bad as someone had discribed in this panel. I've used it for light travelling since 1996. I brought it with me to Europe and the Middle East. The colour prints are OK and some of them even exceeded my expectation.

The facts are that :
1. it is not a prime and therefore can not compete with primes in terms of sharpness.
2. it is not expensive and therefore can not be compared to the Nikon AFS.
3. It is light and compact and is a good companion for travelling, in which one wishes to avoid carrying heavy and bulky equipment. Or one may opt for the P&S and forgo controls over pictures. The Minilux and T3 are different stories.
4. It offers good colour rendition and sharpness when stopped down.

I would rate it 4 star, but I recommand it be used on AF body (see weakness). It is a AF lens anyway.

Strengths:

Very usefull zoom range.
Compact.
Light weight.
Good optical performance as a consumer zoom lens.
Minimal distortion at 24mm.

Weaknesses:

I mounted in to my Nikon FM for overseas pleasure tour. It makes the view finder dark and difficult to focus (of-course manually) beyond 50mm because of the small F5.6 opening aperture.
Flare easily and the hood doesn't help much.

Similar Products Used:

Tamron SP 35-80
Vivitor Series1 70-210
Nikon primes
Rollei Prego 90

Customer Service:

Never since I bought it in 1996.

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Rating
Reviewed by: AL HAMMED
(Professional)

Review Date
March 10, 2001

Overall Rating
4 of 5

Value Rating
5 of 5

Review 4 of 9

Summary:

Best choice for the price

Strengths:

Sharp F6.3-11, NO DISTORTION, small, cheap, good machanism

Weaknesses:

Flare wide open

Similar Products Used:

Canon 28-105/3.5-4.5 USM, 2.8/24 EF, 1.4/50 USM EF, Nikkor 28-70/3.5-4.5

Customer Service:

O.K.

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Rating
Reviewed by: Darrell Young
(Expert)

Review Date
November 8, 2000

Overall Rating
2 of 5

Value Rating
4 of 5

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5,
4 votes

Review 5 of 9

Price Paid: $105.00 from eBay Used

Summary:

I bought it used at $105.00 on eBay. The seller on eBay probably laughed at me. I would not recommend this lens. Optics are not up to Nikkor standards by any means. But, this isn't their SP line.

Strengths:

Smallish lens. Close to "normal" lens in size, although a little larger in diameter. Not much light falloff at 24mm, even wide open. 62mm filter size.

Weaknesses:

Not very sharp optically, but maybe I bought a lemon.

Similar Products Used:

Nikon Nikkor 28-85 3.5-4.5 AF (unbelievably sharp lens for a Zoom).

Customer Service:

None yet, unnless I get tired of this lack of sharpness and use the lens as a doorstop.

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