range, colors, sharpenss, close focusing

slow, some distortion, soft at 70mm, gets better stopped down.

I was closely following on this one and nikon 24-85 for a while. Read as many reviews as possilble, tried both lenses. I was looking at this lens as a N80 campanion. My nikon was soft and would not focus correctly. I replaced it with another one. This was better than previous. Here are my observations for these two with my 50/1.8 prime. 1. Focusing: Nikon and tamron both are amazingly fast on n80. In almost dark light, i thought Tamron will give up, but it focuses quickly where the nikon prime hunts for horizontal lines. Nikon zoom was a surprise too. Feel: Both lense feel solid, I have no cribbing over the plastic, as its fine with me, I think its much lighter that way. Nikon balences well on n80 but tamron is little imbalanced, no big deal. Range: Tamron is clear winner! viewfinder: Nikon is slightly brighter. No big deal. Sharpenss: At wide open apartures nikon and tamron both have some softness at edges. But I have come to a stage to accept these consumer zooms to that compromise. Stopped down, Both are excellent. Tamron colors are bit warmer side, and that is good. Nikon seems to give me little darker images, I think it underexposes in certain situations, not sure when. Tamron is right on the exposures( as is n80). at 24 mm: both are almost equal except 5.6 where nikon is good. Nikon at 2.8 24mm is pretty bad, almost useless for my standard at edges as well as center. at 50 mm: Tamron is amazingly sharp at most apartures at corner as well as center. Nikon is soft at 50 f4 and 22 otherwise gets bettter. my 50mm prime beats them all at f22, at other apartures center sharpness almost equal. I found contrast (or is it colors..?) of tamron better over Nikons zoom as well as prime..! At 70mm: Tamron is bad at corners. gets really sharp at f8 and f11. Nikon is better over tamron. At 85mm: Nikon is soft at smaller apartures Tamron is much better. At 135 Tamron is still great at f8 and f11. Soft at f22 and bad at f32. Overall i can safely say that tamron and nikon are not much different except 70mm where tamron get soft at edges. I found colors are vibrant on both lenses and at best when used at f8 or f11. Tamron offers much greater range and equal sharpenss to nikon. I found nikons faster speed useless except in once situations, 85mm at f4, where it is a good portrait lens, better background blurring. macro: Nikon gets much closer tha

Customer Service

not used.

Similar Products Used:

nikon 24-85, nikon 50/1.8

wide focal range
very sharp stopped down,
even at 135mm
excellent color/contrast
build quality
AF speed
quiet
compact design

none for a consumer zoom lens

This is an OUTSTANDING consumer zoom lens. Sharpness is good wide open, and excellent stopped down. Lens is surprisingly sharp at 135mm. AF speed is nearly as fast as my Canon 24-85 USM lens. Distortion at 24mm is substantially less than the Canon 24-85 lens.

Customer Service

not required

Similar Products Used:

Canon 35-80 (bad)
Canon 24-85 (excellent)
Tokina AF-193 19-35
(excellent)
Tamron 70-300 LD (v good)
Canon 50/1.8 (excellent)
Pentax 50/1.8 (excellent)

Compact
4 asph elements
good feel for a consumer lens
gear dampened MF

Slow speed
Gearing in MF takes getting used to

This is my first venture into the compact travel AF zoom arena. Previously Iÿd use my FE2 & FM2nÿs with primes for lightweight travel (vs. the F5/F100 with honkin fast lens'). From the test shots I did I was quite impressed with it's performance compared to zooms of just a few years ago. However I still plan on testing the Nikon 24-120 and a few others before deciding on a store-in-car/non-assignment travel lens. Anyone have any experience between this lens and the Nikon 24-120?

Customer Service

N/A

Similar Products Used:

Tokina 28-80/2.8
Nikon 20/24/35/55/50/105/135/180/200 primes
Nikon 20-35/2.8 & 80-200/2.8 EDIF

sharp,excellent color reproduction,well made,
first of it's kind on
this focal length.

none that i have noticed
so far.

I can honestly recommend this lens to any one who
is looking for an all around lens.

Customer Service

Fast to respond on rebate, no need for service lens are fairly new.

Similar Products Used:

Tokina 28-105 3.5 5.6
Tamron 28-200 3.8 5.6
adaptall,Canon prime 50mm 1.4

24-135 Range
Heavy duty construction
Zoom creap lock
Wide MF ring
Good MF dampening
Sharp

Close focusing could be closer.

This one's got it all. Solid construction, wide range, excellent sharpness, good manual focusing. It's like they took everone's list of wants and put them into one lens. I traded my new Nikon 28-105 in on this one and never looked back. I've also shot some comparision pictures between this lens and my Nikon 50mm prime, looking at the prints I can't tell that there's any difference in sharpness.

Customer Service

Not needed

Similar Products Used:

Tamaron 28-200 old
Nikon 28-105

Very well made, great feel.
Great close focus and macro capabilities.
Zoom lock.
Very fast focus with Maxxum 7.
Great feel when manually focusing - very smooth (some gear feel).

A bit heavy, but worth it.
A bit slow at 135.

A great price on a great lens. I bought it with a Minolta Maxxum 7. I tried the new Minolta 24-105 (D), but next to the Tamron, it felt cheap and plastic.

Customer Service

n/a

Similar Products Used:

Minolta AF 35-105
Minolta AF 24-105 (D)

Sharp, sharp, sharp! Great range. Have fantastic sharp slides even hand held.

Could be a little faster but still great.

Has quickly become the lens I keep on my camera at all times.

Customer Service

Havent needed.

Similar Products Used:

NIkon 28-105

This is an unbelieveable
lens. I have taken excellent clear pictures in bright sunlight and on the boadwalk at Atlantic City near midnight with a
tripod. I have gotten excellent results. The color and clarity are amazing while the auto focusing has been fairly
fast.

Slightly unbalanced when
shooting at 135mm which is normal for any zoom when the weight shifts to
the end of the lens.

I would recommend this lens to anyone who is looking for a single lens to carry around that is
versitle, well made, sharp at all focal lengths,
and reasonable in price. I felt before I purchased
this lens that Tamron would design and build a super lens for their 50th anniversary model. I was not disappointed. This is my primary lens. I would not leave home without it.

Customer Service

none-answered questions about the lens prior to purchase.

Similar Products Used:

sigma 28-200 not as sharp
minolta 24-105 prefered a
longer zoom. minolta 28-135 too heavy for a normal lens and not as sharp as this one.

Excellent optical performance
Well built
Fast AND quiet AF

None

With respect to the previous review by Jon Mateson: This forum is for people who have actually used the lenses they are reviewing. The objective of each review should be to rate the lens based on what it is in terms of technical specifications, rather than what you would like it to be. This lens is an f3.5-5.6 variable aperture zoom lens, and should be judged by how it performs as such. Every modern high end consumer SLR, and I would imagine even most lower end SLRs, are designed to focus effectively at a minimum aperture of f5.6. Indeed, f3.5/4-f5.6 low-end consumer lenses are the standard zoom lenses of most kits sold today by major retailers and mail order houses. For example, Canon’s newer 28-90/f4-5.6 zoom lens is standard lens even in Elan 7 kits, and the Elan 7 is a high-end consumer SLR!

Now, for my brief but sweet review of the Tamron lens: I have used it for 3 months now under a variety of lighting conditions. It is an outstanding performer! Its performance is very good wide open and excellent stopped down to f5.6. Its performance is particularly amazing wide open at 135mm, which makes it unique among wide focal range zoom lenses. It’s only serious competitor in this focal range is Canon’s highly acclaimed 28-135/f3.5-5.6 (that’s right, f5.6!) IS lens.

It should also be noted that this lens has received high praises from every major photo magazine, including the prestigious French publication, Chasseur d'Images, and the not so prestigious U.S. pub., Popular Photography.

NOTE to CameraReview.com: I hope you delete the previous review by Jon Mateson, as without any justification whatsoever, it has lowered the overall score of this outstanding lens.

Customer Service

Not needed

Similar Products Used:

Canon 24-85/f3.5-5.6

very solid
good MF
sharp clear images in all 24-135mm

AF could be faster and quieter

Just bought a new D30. My camera salesperson recommended it strongly. I was set on getting the Canon 24-85. I was allowed to try it for one week if I would do the same with the Tamron. I agreed and loved the Tamron. While the Canon AF was smoother and quieter, the Tamron won out in sharpness in all ranges and the overall feel. I plan on purchasing more lenses but this one will be on my camera the most. Almost the perfect all around lens.

Customer Service

not needed

Similar Products Used:

Canon 24-85 usm