- Affordable - Useful focal length - Rugged construction

- Slow and noisy AF - Zoom lock can be turned on accidentally very easily - Flimsy plastic hood

This lens was not my first choice when I was looking for something in this focal length. I originally purchased the Canon EF 28-135. I was rather disappointed with the results of the Canon glass and promptly returned it within a week of purchase. The salesman was kind enough to recommend the cheaper Tamron. I was a little unsure at first but now after almost a year of use, I have not regretted my decision even once. The lens is capable of sharp and contrasty images. It is rather forgiving and works well under low light conditions too. I use mine with the EOS 10D and they have been a good match. In comparison to the EF 28-135, its images are much sharper and the rendition of color more vibrant and accurate. Construction is also much better, the Canon had a lens barrel which could move around when extended. A firm zoom ring (a bit tight actually) with a good grip makes sure it can work well when gloves are worn. There are some weaknesses though, which I've listed below.

Customer Service

No experience

Similar Products Used:

Canon EF 28-135 IS Canon EF 24-70/2.8L

Strong build, wide angle, focal range

Slower autofocus, especially in low light

I'll try keep this simple. I'm not a pro, my main fields are landscapes and travel. Setting out for South America 6 months ago, I needed a general versatile lense to endure Patagonia the rough way and produce good results. The old 28-300mm seemed like a great travel, all-in-one lense, but I really wanted wider angle and had heard bad reports about the 300mm end of the spectrum on many brands. This lense has proved itself beyond my expectations. Sure, fancy technical words like barreling and vignetting would be mouthed by pro's, but for a serious amateur, the results where awesome. Having the extra wide angle was an absolute blessing, and my next lense will be a dedicated wide angle zoom. The build was sturdy and endured a real battering with no problems. The zooming and focusing falls short of any Canon lense in my opinion, but really didn't create hassles. So 2 tips: if you're an amateur, and a travel photographer, don't be scared off by serious pro evaluations of this lens, its great. And really consider getting wide angle. The focal length was perfect as well for everyday stuff. If you're wanting the next step up from the standard with-body lenses, this is a great choice.

Customer Service

None used so far

Similar Products Used:

standard Canon 28-80mm Canon 75-300mm USM

very solid/durable very sharp makes high quality pix zoom range

minor vs benefits

It is already a month since I am the proud owner of the canon eos 300d, and I must say I am very satisfied with it. the main dilema I had though was the lense to buy, did not realy like the stock one (canon 18-55). after a thorogh search on the net there were only 2 lense left on my shortlist: canon 28-135 IS and tamron 24-135. my friends, all 3 own canon 28-135 IS advised me to go with canon of course, but after reading all the reviews about these two great lenses, and trying the canon, which was a bit cheap (poor finishing) and the lose front part, which I hate (like all the canon lenses), I decided to go with the tamron. it was a bit risky, since I have never used any of the tamron products before, but I had a good feeling about it, mainly due to the people that posted their opinion about the lense here, so thank you guys! I have the lense for about 2 weeks and I shot already a couple of GBs of pictures in diferent lightning conditions and I must say that is a GREAT PRODUCT, and I have got GREAT PIX! First of all the lense is very solid, and it is very nicely buit. the rubber on the zoom and focus gives you a firm grip. no lose parts. all metal. secondly, from the first pix I have noticed that it is very sharp, what I am crazy for. checked it at diferent zoom and did not observe any "less sharp" zones, moreover that I shot from hand. 24-135 zoom is just excellent for an everyday lens. suitable for almost everything you might want to shoot. some people complained on this site that it has a bit slow focus, I do not know what do you guys call slow, but for me it was just right. power consumption is normal as well, did not notice any abusive use of the battery. overall, with the hand on my heart I can say that tamron 24-135 is just what I was looking for, all in one with higher than "above average" shooting perormance, very durable, and I would recommend it to any one who is into amateur photography and want a permanent lense on their camera. some minor things: a bit heavy, but actually that it is a plus for people that shoot mostly from hand; at macro sometimes locks the focus with dificulties; and a bit hard zoom. but these are really minor things in comparison with the benefits the lense offers.

Customer Service

none so far, but I am quite confident with this lens I wilI not need it.

Similar Products Used:

canon lenses

Very Sharp - from center => corners Very Contrasty - slightly warm colors Very well built -- feels significant! Distortion - not eliminated - but very well controlled for a wide zoom!

Some Flare - but I manage this okay. I expect some flare with so many elements.

Great lens! I only use this lens on Canon 35mm-film camera so no digital cropping. I shoot ISO-100 slide film and am very happy with the results -- especially the sharp edges. This lens is very sharp and very contrasty at all focal lengths when used at f/8-f/11. I have shot wide open at 24-35mm indoors a few times and found the sharpness more than adequate. I also shot some pictures of boats wide open at 135mm and found the sharpness at least "Very Acceptable" if not outright "Good". At 135mm and f/5.6 I did notice a small amount of light falloff but this was gone by f/8. Therefore I am really suprised to find some people complaining about sharpness at 135mm (wide open). Maybe the complaints are relavant only for digital shooters. I will say that stopping down to f/8 also improves sharpness, over wide-open, but I wouldn't say it's less than "Good" wide-open. This lens flares easily from counter light so a person might want to consider this if shooting near sports lights ect. I shoot outdoors a lot so I manage to control the flare by recomposing or shading with my cap. If a person feels that they can shoot at f/8 - f/11 with an accassional wide open shot, then I highly recommend this lens. The build quality is very good and manual focusing has just the right amount of friction. Auto foucus is very quick and although not as quiet as my USM lenses, it seems much quieter than my other non-USM lenses. I like this lens because the sharpnees at the center continues out to the edges. It should, because it has 4-Asperical lenses to counter CA. I also notice some slight Barrel Distotion at 24mm but heck, all of my wide angle lenses have at least 'some' as well! It really isn't appalling as some folks say. If you are in the market for a standard lens, then this lens merits consideration.

Customer Service

None

Similar Products Used:

Tokina 28-80 ATX Pro; EF 17-40-L; Sigma 135-400 APO; EF 20mm f/2.8; EF 24mm-TS; EF 50mm f/2.5 Macro - many primes also.

Very Good optical quality in the 24-90 range. Good choice for all-around lense with DSLR cropping factor.

Slow and noisy AF. Soft from 90mm up to 135. Slight distortion at 24mm (with 1.5x crop - might be much worse with full frame).

I bought this lens to be used on a 1.5x DSLR, in order to have an all around lens to shoot wedding and people reportage. Actually I traded a very bad sample of a Sigma 28-70/2.8 EX for it. I am very satisfied with the optical quality of my sample in the 24-90 focal range. From 100 to 135 IMHO it delivers unsharp results throught the aperture range (Even thought actually I never stop down under f/8). As most Tamrons, it is contrasty, but delivers too dim dark areas (lower "dynamic range" than pro Nikkors). Anyway you cannot compare a prime wide angle with a consumer grade zoom, but if your image quality needs are similar to mine, you will enjoy this lens.

Customer Service

Not needed.

Similar Products Used:

Nikon 20 f/2.8 AFD, 28 f/2.8 AFD, 50 f/2.8 AFD Nikon 35-70 f/2.8 AF Nikon 35-70 f/3.3-4.5 AF Sigma 28-70 f/2.8 EX DF

very good contrast at 24mm it performs very well wide open

slow focus at 135mm it looks like a telescope softness at 135mm at all apertures

after the many positive reviews here I bought this lens but was disappointed with the sharpness. It could be I have a bad copy but at the long end it simply can't compete with my Canon 28-135IS. At the wide end I get the feeling is is a bit more then 24mm and the 24mm was the reason to go for this lens as I wanted more wideangle. The location of the distance ring is annoying, it moves when focussing (as other lenses do) but I keep looking for grip there when I hold it but this could be just inexperience with this lens

Similar Products Used:

Canon 28-135 Canon 24-85 Canon 28-105

Build quality. Sharp.

Ghosting. Chromatic aberation.

I have used this lens for about 6 months on my Fuji S2 by now. I use it as my normal lens and 90% of all my pictures are taken with it. The build quality is great and the feeling while working with it is very good. I thought I needed the range of 24-135 when I purchased it but have found that almost all pictures I’ve taken is in the range of 24-40. At this range the lens is very good, I get a fair share of chromatic aberration when having a very bright blue sky behind the object and it is noticeable when printing on an A4 (close to letter size). I also get a fair share of ghosting when not shooting away from the sun, even with the hood attached (it always is), I would never even try to shoot into the sun with this lens. Despite that it’s still a great lens, very sharp and good contrast and I will keep using it as my normal lens. I can’t give it 5 because it’s certainly not perfect but it’s very good for the price.

focal range, weight, size, price.

distortion at 24mm end.

Lots of good reviews made me decide to purchase this lens. Generally I am happy with the focal range, low weight and compactness of the lens. Decent optic quality, but not the "pop" you get from the better Nikon glass. Very significant horizontal line distortion at 24mm make it useless for any type photos with such lines in it. For outdoor photos, however, it is a great lens.

Customer Service

not needed

Similar Products Used:

Nikon 18-35 3.5; Nikon 24mm 2.8

Build quality Image quality

There are not many things that I would change with it. The first is that after it got a bid damp in Thailand I started to feel a slight mechanical resistance in the zoom mechanism. This has been commented on by others. However, this has not affected my shots and is just a little irritating. The other thing I'd like (wouldn't we all!) is f2.8!! :) I end up shooting wide open and low shutter speeds alot if I'm trying to use good (and slow) film (Reala, Velvia, Provia). I've started to shoot on mainly ASA400 now but the choices are limited. But you can't complain about aperture really as its written on the box!! Oh and it can be a little slow on the focussing and the zoom can fall when pointing down.

This lense and my Nikon f65 is my all in one, lightweight travel camera. I am very happy after 800 slide shots on Provia taken mainly of outdoor nature/architectural subjects while travelling recently in Sth America. It is a little bit heavy, but its nice to know its built like a brick and doesn't need pampering. In a small lowepro bag, its been squashed in my pack for months, chucked on busses, kicked, sat on, strapped to mules and carried to altitude (7000m) and subzero temperatures. Still works like a charm! I've projected my shots to 6 ft high and have no image quality issues. I'm not a sharpness nut and haven't used many other lenses, but unless you're shooting for billboards and looking really hard you won't find any problems. I purchased this lens when there were only half a dozen reviews on this site and am pleased to see it has only increased in rating!

Customer Service

Not reqd

Similar Products Used:

Some old Minolta primes

It does seem sharp. I really observed the autofocus working well and locking on in low light -- at least as well as any other zoom that I have owned. 4-stars for optical quality

Solid build quality may only be superficial!!! Small 1-inch black plastic snap-rings fall out the back and also jammed my zoom action -- this also scratched the rear lens-coating, These coating scratches give off bright specks of light like crumbs when the lens encounters counter light. 3-stars overall because of the crappy 'superficial' pro build I work offshore in the oilfield, how long would this lens last??? If I put it in my offshore bag, I imagine the slightest vibrations during transport would shake all the snap-rings loose. This is a fair rating! I really want to gine it 2-stars since it never really shot a picture and it's broke but I'll give it 3-stars in order to be congenial.

I really hate to be a party pooper here but I question this lens' integrity. I purchased this lens in late June to be elgible for the rebate. The lens arrived and I was very impressed by the feel of the lens, BUT!!! BUT, as I initially zoomed the lens from 24mm to 135mm, I felt significant hesitation in the zooming action. I became very curious and worked the zoom-ring back and forth until the hesitation disspated. Next when I looked thru the viewfinder, I found very, very significant vignetting!!! I immediately removed the lens from my EOS-7, and guess what, out from the rear of the lens falls a 1" plastic snap ring -- this was my vignetting. Once the snap-ring fell out, I reattached the lens to my camera and noticed that it still functioned okay although, I noticed some shiney crumb-like (dust like) spots reflecting light in the view finder from my living room lamp. I once again removed the lens and this time inspected the rear elements for dust. To my surprise, I found that the rear element was scuffed up by the 1" plastic snap-ring that had dropped out. I guess that the glass isn't really scratched but the lens coating is really scuffed up and these scuff marks catch counter light and shows shiney crumbs in the viewfinder. Obviously I am returning this lens immediately to B&H Photo for a full refund -- I ONLY HANDLED MY LENS FOR 30-MINUTES AND IT'S BROKE -- STRAIGHT FROM THE BOX!!! Sharpness: I tested the lens inside my home using it as a macro lens. I must say that the sharpness is very good. Auto focusing: I tested this inside my home where I have only 60-watt bulbs and the lens locked on reasonably well for for the low light -- no complaints here. Build: It feels solid but I wonder whether the solid feel is only superficial. Come on Tamron, I opened the box and parts jamm and fall out??? Now the rear elements' lens-coating is all scuffed up and I only used it 30-minutes, in my living room !!!

Customer Service

I sure that B&H will refund my money. I think that I'll try Canon's 28-135mm IS. Sorry Tamron, I bought your product and you failed me.

Similar Products Used:

Canon 70-200 f/4 L, Canon 300mm f/4 L, Tokina 28-80 ATX Pro, Sigma 17-35, Canon 24mm TS L, Canon 28mm & 35mm primes, Voigtlander 12mm & 15mm, Tamrom 90mm Macro