Tamron AF28-200mm F/3.8-5.6 LD (Asp) IF Super 35mm Zoom
Tamron AF28-200mm F/3.8-5.6 LD (Asp) IF Super 35mm Zoom
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[May 03, 2000]
Steve Board
Model Reviewed:
AF28-200mm F/3.8-5.6 LD (Asp) IF Super
Strength:
Reasonably light and very useful zoom range, the Tamron is my "normal" lens on the Canon Eos iie. The macro feature is especially useful. Very sharp, nice contrast. I've not had any negative experience with it.
Weakness:
None to mention. An excellent alternative to the zoom provided by most "packages" with the Canons. Mine cost net $250 and I have no regrets. Customer Service No experience. Similar Products Used: I've had a number of zooms, including some really heavy ones. I usually skip the lens shade and did not buy a 72mm |
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[May 03, 2000]
Fernando Mendonca
Casual
Model Reviewed:
AF28-200mm F/3.8-5.6 LD (Asp) IF Super
Strength:
. All-in-one lens
Weakness:
. Sometimes low sharpness It could be 3.5 instead 3.8. Because that, photographers must always have their speedlight nearby. Films only ISO 400 or faster (I' ve never tried a ISO 200 film nor a ISO 100 one to this Tamron). Customer Service Not necessary Similar Products Used: None |
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[Apr 28, 2000]
Jeff Kniple
Expert
Model Reviewed:
AF28-200mm F/3.8-5.6 LD (Asp) IF Super
Strength:
Very Versatile lens, close focuses to about 17 inches, the only lens I used on a recent trip to do portraits, landscapes, close ups, everything. Easy to focus manually when desired.
Weakness:
May be a bit less contrasty at the long end, but in the 28-100 range it is absolutely terrific. The changes made to this lens when they made it the "super" 28-200 are most likely the difference between the people who really like it and don't. They moved the focus distance up to 17 inches from six feet, included newer aspherical lens elements, made it into an internal focusing lens (great for using polarizers), and made a so-so lens into a great lens. Please do not take the comments made above for the older lenses as representative of these newer, super 28-200 examples. Of course, it is possible to get sharper pictures out of fixed focal length lenses, and from Leica glass. This lens far surpasses the other two lenses I listed above(the Minolta and Quantaray) in everyway. I even had a friend who only shoots Zeiss lenses on her Contax ask me how I had produced such sharp results....Unless you are regularly featured in National Geographic, this lens should work very well for your work. Customer Service Have had no reason to try them so far. Similar Products Used: Minolta 100-300 xi |
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[Apr 19, 2000]
greg skelton
Intermediate
Model Reviewed:
AF28-200mm F/3.8-5.6 LD (Asp) IF Super
Strength:
cheap price, good versitlity
Weakness:
stiff reserve judgement on lens until i get it back and see how long it lasts this time. Customer Service this is were it gets bad. had the camera 2 months treated it like a baby but when it got stuck and i sent it back to have it repaired under warranty the company blamed everyone but themselves. cost almost as much to repair as what i paid for it. Similar Products Used: canon 28-105 |
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[Apr 16, 2000]
Ben
Expert
Model Reviewed:
AF28-200mm F/3.8-5.6 LD (Asp) IF Super
Strength:
Very flexible focal range, excellent for travel. Takes very sharp pictures for a zoom lens. Quiet and fast AF easily keeping up with moving children. Six year USA warranty.
Weakness:
None. Looked at a number of websites with reviews of this lens. When I found the Photodo website with the MTF reports, I was surprised to see that this lens had the highest resolution of all the 28-200mm lens available. With that, I purchased this lens for less than half the price of the Nikon 28-200mm lens. I'm glad I did because the pictures I took with this lens is as least as good as my other Nikon zoom lenses. Of course no zoom lens can compare to their comparable fixed lens but at least it is more than acceptable. You may lose a little with the f3.8 for speed vs. the Nikon f3.5 but a decent flash will do the trick to even things out. Lastly, the warranty just can't be beat for the piece of mind. Customer Service None needed. Similar Products Used: Nikkor 28mm f2.8 AIS |
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[Apr 11, 2000]
Joe LKS
Casual
Model Reviewed:
AF28-200mm F/3.8-5.6 LD (Asp) IF Super
Strength:
cheap
Weakness:
aperture too small although the quality is not outstanding, but it is worth for its low price. good enough for non-professional and travelling, if u do not blow up the pics to 12R. BUT once u've tried the nikkor u'll know the weakness of this lens Similar Products Used: nikkor 50mm/f1.8 |
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[Apr 09, 2000]
Jeff Dye
Professional
Model Reviewed:
AF28-200mm F/3.8-5.6 LD (Asp) IF Super
Strength:
A great lens for the money. Beats the Nikkor 28-200 for close focusing, is very likely just as sharp, and costs alot less.
Weakness:
The focal length ring could be smoother. It's stiff and Tamron could correct this very easily. It would be nice if the wide angle end was 24mm but one can't expect one lens to do everything perfectly. I've used this lens for Bar Mitzvahs, weddings, and backpacking (landscape photography). It can't be beat for leaving the house with one lens that won't give you a stiff neck in a couple of hours. There is no wide ratio lens that is as good at the tele end as the wide end and for that reason I try to avoid using it at 200mm unless there is no choice. It will produce outstanding portraits in the 100mm range. Just don't expect the same soft backgrounds that a f1.8 or f1.4 will produce. My landscapes from the Idaho backcountry were excellent even though I missed my 24mm prime lens. I have alot of great Nikkors but if the lens police ever ordered me to turn them all in but one I'd have to give serious consideration to keeping this very capable but inexpensive lens. The stiff focal length ring is the only reason I'm giving this lens an overall '4'. Customer Service Not needed. Similar Products Used: It's the only non Nikkor I have. The Nikkor 28-200 is probably smoother but I didn't want to spend almost twic |
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[Jan 23, 2000]
Steve
Intermediate
Model Reviewed:
AF28-200mm F/3.8-5.6 LD (Asp) IF Super
Strength:
Cheap
Weakness:
none so far I think if you bought the Promaster 28-200 you would be buying the same lens as the Tamron. My local camera store quoted me a price of $120 for the Promaster 28-200, and it looked exactly like the Tamron I paid $250 for. Shop arounf because this is evidently a soft spot in the market. Not a bad lense to carry around everywhere. Customer Service ? Similar Products Used: Canon zoom lenses |
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[Jan 22, 2000]
Luke DeLalio
Expert
Model Reviewed:
AF28-200mm F/3.8-5.6 LD (Asp) IF Super
Strength:
Convenient zoom range, cheap.
Weakness:
Not sharp, slow as heck, dark. Bought it, used it, sold it. Worthless unless you are in bright light, or using a flash, or very high speed film. Wide open it is just not sharp at all, and because it is so slow it winds up being wide open all the time. Ick. Similar Products Used: Canon 28-135 IS |
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[Jan 10, 2000]
Thomas Cannon
Intermediate
Model Reviewed:
AF28-200mm F/3.8-5.6 LD (Asp) IF Super
Strength:
This Tamron 28-200 LD Super is an awesome little lens. It's tough, durable, lightweight, easy to use, and versatile. I've put it through hundreds of rolls of film ... in every imaginable condition (cold, blowing sand, heat, wet, etc.) and it's always come through at 100 % great !!! One time, standing on a beach ... in gale force winds, with the tide rising 5-8 feet in moments ... it stood the test ... & the images are awesome ! Best travel & all-around you can get. Never too dark, always works well with my Nikon N90S metering. No wonder they've sold over a million of these !
Weakness:
Never ... not for a minute ! Best lens for the money ! You can get one online for less than $200.00 !!! That's an unheard of value ! They say Nikon 28-200 is a little bit better (It is a fraction faster on the apperture) ... but, I don't know how it could beat this wonderful lens optically, econimically or in ease of function. It has to be a 5 stars+. Customer Service They're very helpful. Similar Products Used: Canon, Pentax, Nikon, Minolta |