Review Options:
Sorted by Latest Review | Sort by Best Rating |
|
Reviews 1 - 5 (59 Reviews Total)
|
| Next 15 |
User Reviews
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
D Demmer
a ProfessionalDate Reviewed: September 16, 2012
Strengths: Light weight, compact, f/2.8Weaknesses: low light hunting, slow fine focus in low light,Bottom Line: I have had this lens about a year now.
The build is plastic and does not have the solid weight you would get with a more expensive lens. In everyday use it is very smooth with focusing in and out and in good to moderate light focuses very quickly. Low light the lens will struggle to focus unless you can find a strong point of contrast, and another struggle I had was that in moderate light it will take a little while to finishing focusing, and while I can take the picture the image is not crisp yet, you have to wait for the lens to finish focusing, which entails me listening to the lens turn ( this does not happen a lot but it does happen and I have to keep this in mind in moderate/low light ).
The lens comes with a lock button to lock it in position, however you can only lock it into position at 28mm, which means its more of a storage lock than anything else.
Image quality is where I am most happy with this lens, while the may struggle at times in low light to focus once it has completed focusing the image can come out very crisp, with no obvious visual defect. I have used this lens in pretty much every time of day with excellent results
http://www.dewandemmer.com/eloise-and-hein-holtons-wedding-at-makiti-muldersdrift/
This link is a series of images from full sunlight, to very lowlight and off camera flash. This is the main reason I have kept on using this lens is the fact that I get results, it does have its short falls and thats to be expected for the price compared to its competitors, but the final result is just right.
Type of photography: People
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Chu
a ExpertDate Reviewed: January 21, 2007
Strengths: Image qualityWeaknesses: Plastic, 6-year warrantyBottom Line: If you want your image good only for short period time (like half year), it should be OK for this lens. I think I am unlucky guy for this lens.
After read Popular Photography Magazine test result for this lens, I took the plunge. But it was out of the stock in New York. I call all Tamron retailers on my planed trip location. Found one in Boulder, Colorado. Flew to Boulder, bought in MSRP price at Mike’s Camera.
The first impression was the build quality – plastic; Down-toward zoom is too easy; up-toward zoom is very hard. I think there is no damping inside the lens. The non-internal focus lens, when you zoom out, like at the plastic inner barrel. I am worry it will be broken some day; Focus always hutting in low light, I must turn the lens zoom to some location and focus again and again.
When I brought this lens from the warm temperature of the car to the cold temperature outside (17F). Some time later, I found 3 racks in front glass. Back to Houston, I called Tamron USA If is it belong the 6-year warranty (material defect). Said “please mail to us. It is very difficult to discuss on the phone…”
After one week waiting to input my data to Tamron system. I called them again. They asked me $160.87 to replace the UV-Filter-Like glass. 6-year warranty only for mechanical defect. Not for material defect. I have the experience with Sigma for 50-500mm. I dropped the lens to the concrete ground. Both zoom and focus rings are locked (barrel deformed), I called Sigma USA. They ask me for $70 and then mailed to Sigma USA. Two weeks later I received a new serial number lens (change the outer barrel) – this was after one year warranty and it was gray market lens.
If you look at Tamron website Contact us – there is one sentence “All declined repairs will incur a $10.00 return shipping fee.” Do you think how many customs like choose - “declined sky high repair price”. I did.
Right now I am choosing macro lens. No Tamron any more. Do not be cheated by the 6-year warranty.
Duration Product Used: 21+ years
Price Paid:
$400.00
Purchased At: Mike's Camera
Similar Products Used: Tokina 12-24
Sigma 50-500mm
Sigma 120-300mm
Type of photography: Other
Overall Rating: Value Rating:
Submitted by
SpecTech
a IntermediateDate Reviewed: November 25, 2006
Strengths: f/2.8Weaknesses: Autofocus inconsistent.
Lens filter size is unique to Tamron, therefore my other lenses require other filters.Bottom Line: Great price for a 2.8 constant aperture. Lightweight.
Autofocus is inconsistent and a touch slower than I hoped for.
Range is not wide enough for a "walkaround lens" on a 1.6 crop camera.
I have seen some excellent images come from this lens on other user's galleries. I think it is a very capable lens, but does not suit my needs as well. I will be trading it in for a Canon 17-55 f/2.8 IS lens. So far my experience is that you get what you pay for.
Duration Product Used: 2-5 years
Price Paid:
$360.00
Purchased At: adorama
Type of photography: Sports
Overall Rating: Value Rating:
Submitted by
benterlou
a ExpertDate Reviewed: September 6, 2006
Strengths: Sharpness, contrast, build quality, relatively low weight and inconspicuous sizeWeaknesses: None as far I can seeBottom Line: I bought this lens in Hongkong via Ebay, with some reservations as reviews mentioned the huge variability in quality of the lens. The seller assured me though that the international warranty was valid in Europe so I decided to see what would come of it. When the lens arrived there was some dust between the elements, so I sent in the lens to the service department here in Holland asking to clean and calibrate it, which was done without any cost and trouble. So finally I could try the lens, which proved to be awsome. I made test images comparing the performance with the Canon 50mm 1.8 and the Canon 85mm 1.2. Compared to the first lens the images were comparable in sharpness though the excellent contast of the Tamron stood out clearly. This was even the case when compared to the 85mm. (the Tamron on 75mm F8), where the difference in sharpness was almost negligeable. Quite an acievement, if you know the outstanding MTF figues of the Cnon 85mm 1.2 (4.6 on photodo.com). The pictures made with the 85mm were a bit cleaner and had more transparancy, but didn't have the beautiful contrast of the Tamron (which probably also has to do with the excellent flare control). Anyway, I was considering replacing the cheap Tamron by the Canon 24-70mm, but after my tests I relized how extraordinarily good the Tamron actually is. My copy gets a 5, without any qualms, I am very happy with it and can only recommend it as the absolutely best buy in this zoom range.
Duration Product Used: 6-10 years
Price Paid:
$360.00
Purchased At: urgalaxy
Type of photography: Fine Art
Overall Rating: Value Rating:
Submitted by
Dom
a CasualDate Reviewed: June 14, 2006
Strengths: Sharp, cheap, F2.8 over whole zoom range, good filter size, build qualityWeaknesses: Quality control is awful, Tamron service (at least Germany) is useless, must not be bought in internet shops - I repeat - DO NOT BUY FROM INTERNET SHOPS - TRY BEFORE BUYBottom Line: This is the best lense you can get for this money. F2.8 over the whole zoom range, good built quality, reasonable filter size .... but serious quality control issues.
My story: bought this from a german online shop for the bargain price of 300 EUR. The first shots showed the serious front focus problem on my 350D all people write about on the net. Well I sent the piece to tamron service Germany and it came back within 2 week including a official looking piece of paper saying that it has been calibrated.
Well .... it wasn't. Same front focus problem. After a few emails with tamron service I sent the lense to them a second time - this time with camera. After two weeks the lense came back - again nothing has changed.
I am really pissed with the tamron service since the front focus is so visible that a blind man can see it. I would have expected that they just admit that they cannot correct the problem but they just sent it back with another official looking piece of paper saying that it has been calibrated. It is such a shame since the lense is wicked. Tack sharp if manually focused.
I have sent mine back to the online shop and will buy one on Oxford Street this weekend where I can try things out.
Duration Product Used: 2-5 years
Price Paid:
$300.00
Purchased At: www.fotoversand24.de
Type of photography: Outdoor
|
Reviews 1 - 5 (59 Reviews Total)
|
| Next 15 |
Review Options:
Sorted by Latest Review | Sort by Best Rating |
