- light weight yet solidly built
- fantastic range
- zoom lock
- smooth action
- fast and accurate focus
- sharp, sharp, sharp

would love it to bu just one tiny little stop faster

I have been looking for a zoom to keep on my EOS 7e as my standard lens. I checked out several lenses including the Canon 28-135 IS. As soon as I held this lens I knew I wanted it. It felt right in my hand. Everything landed where it is "supposed" to - and it balanced very nicely with the camera. My first few rolls have demonstrated that it is as sharp as Tamron claims. Its edge-to-edge sharpness is notable. It acquires focus quickly and accurately. It is bright. A pleasure to use.

If I am not using Canon lenses, I try to stick with either Sigma EX or Tamron SP. Both have proven themselves to me as optically superior to their standard lines. The Tamron 24-135mm is holding up to the reputation of the SP line. I strongly recommend this lens to anyone.

Customer Service

Not yet!

Similar Products Used:

28-300 f/3.5-6.3 Tamron
17-35mm f/2.8-04.0 Sigma EX
35-105mm f/2.8 Tamron SP

Sharp, well built, quiet and sufficiently fast autofocus

Aperture ring could be wider or placed further from the camera body.
Also, focus length is unreadable-too close to the camera body.

Well, I just finished my own amateur quality check of this lens. In particular, my main consern was sharpness of the lens, this is why I compared it with my prime Nikkor 50mm at different apertures.
I used my camera on the tripod with manual focusing and using self-timer (no mirror lock-up, though), taking pictures of target (a newspaper). The film was developed at a local store. After that I scanned the film with Nikon2000 at 2700 dpi and compared results. At all apertures sharpness was about identical (and we are talking about extremely high magnification)with Nikkor 50mm. The only difference was a slightly higher contrast with Nikkor 50mm, at a very low degree of difference. On the field,the prints looked sharp and contrasty, couldn't see any difference between the prime lens and Tamron 24-135.
My conclusion: it's going to be my main lens all the time. I might use my 50mm for low light situations, and 70-300 for telephotos, but this one is a really high qiality lens, I recommeng it to everybody(and I am really crazy about sharpness)

Customer Service

None

Similar Products Used:

Tamron 28-200 Superll
Tamron 70-300
Nikkor 50mm
Nikkor 28-80
Sigma 28-105

-Very Sharp at all focal lenghts
-Build Quality
-Great contrast
-AF

None!

This lens is on my camera 80% of the time. It covers most of the focal lenghts I need. I use it many for outdoor photography and some close sports. Hopfully Photography Review will not erase my review this time!

Customer Service

Never needed

Similar Products Used:

34-70mm Minolta
28-200mm Tamron
400mm APO Minolta
100-300mm APO Minolta
70-210 Minolta
50mm Minolta

- Extremely sharp
- Lightweight & Compact
- Great contrast
- Versitle range

- Lens hood is hard to tell if it's on securely.
- Would be nice if it was one f-stop faster.

This is really an outstanding lens for the money. As soon as I saw the ad for this lens and saw the specs on it, I knew it would be a good lens and one that I needed to have. I had previously owned the Tamron 28-200mm lens and thought it was real good in the 28-135mm range, so I thought if they could even improve on that slightly it would be a great lens.

It delivers some extremely sharp photos from edge to edge. I haven't tested all f-stops yet, but I've pretty much tested all focal lenghts and it is sharp all the way through, even at 135mm.

I originally had the 28-200mm Tamron, and liked it, but found it to be pretty soft past the 135mm range. Then I bought the 24-85mm 2.8-4 Nikon, which was a nice lens, but i wanted more range on the tele end, so I bought this one.

The only real complaint I have about it is that the lens hood doesn't have that solid 'click' to it that my other Tamron and the Nikon had, I have to double check it alot to make sure it is on correctly, I seem to get in on cock-eyed sometimes when I'm in a hurry, or if it doesn't hit the groove right (mostly this happens when I'm reversing the hood for storage).

Anyone who is looking for lot's of 'bang for the buck' should consider this lens. Somehow though, i think a lot of people will overlook this lens because of the price, and the fact that it doesn't go all the way to 200mm, but we'll see.

Customer Service

N/A

Similar Products Used:

-Tamron 28-200mm 3.5-5.6 SuperII
- Nikon 24-85mm 2.8-4

Zoom range,solid build, reasonable sharpness for non-critical use.

Less sharp overall then Nikon 24-85 and 2/3 stop slower.

I bought the new Nikon 24-85 and have been reasonably satisfied with it, but noticed that at 24mm it needs to be stopped down at least one full stop. The specs on the Tamron and Popular Photography test indicated it was worth looking at as a possible replacement for my Nikon 24-85. However, upon looking critical at the slides,the lens had considerable chromatic aberrations at 85+ that the Nikon did not have. Overall, the Nikon was sharper. The Tamron edges at 135 got pretty soft. Also, on the Nikon F100 the focus was very slow compared to the 24-85. So overall, considering the lens quality vs Nikon, the slower focus, the slower f stops, and the less macro capability. I am keeping the Nikon. This was a surprise to me, since I sincerely thought would be keeping the lens and negotiated a fair local price at local camera store. Also, on this same roll, I ran some test with my Nikon 85 1.8 and at f4 you would be hard pressed to tell the difference between the Nikon 24-85 and the Tamron 24-135 except the prime has no chromatic aberrations and the Tamron had noticeable problems at the edges. I used to own the Nikon 24-120 zoom and it had a similar range of problems. BTW, the new zooms are getting quite good at 1 to 2 stops down. Just like a previous report, my Nikon 50F1.8 is only slightly sharper at the same f stop vs the Nikon or Tamron at 50mm. Amazing!
Overll 3.5 +

Customer Service

n/a

Similar Products Used:

Own Nikon zooms including new 24-85 and 28-105, Nikon 180F2.8 and 85F1.8. Tamron 28-200. Owned but sold Nikon 24-120

Fairly quick focus
Well built for price
Well laid out controls
Zoom lock

None so far

After 15 rolls and a trip to disney World, the lens has been flawless. Easy to use and the range is tremendous. I couldn't have asked for a better more versatile range. Previous experience with the 28-80 and 28-105 range always seemed to a bit short on the long end and not quite short enough on the other. This lens has it all and it's built like a tank. It has a very high quality feel for a consumer lens.

Photo quality is excellent end to end and not bad wide open. A great value.

Customer Service

None needed so far

Similar Products Used:

Nikon 28-105
Minolta 28-80 XI
Canon 28-105

Light
Outstanding color & contrast
Excellent sharpness
6 yr warrenty

None

I'm not a big Zoom fan in general, My favorite is Canons 70-200 f/4 "L". This was my first Tamron lens and I have to say it is excellent. Personally I can't see why anyone wouldn't like it. The lens preforms well inside with a flash, as well as out doors. I tested it at a local "dog Show" and found ~ to my surprise ~ it was more than fast enough to stop action and provided excellent sharpness and color. I used a EOS 5QD, my back up camera, and shot Agfa 400 inside and 50 and 400 outside. The only "problem" I could see is there was a very slight bit of "softness" at f/22. It really would not have been noticable until you compare it to the shots taken at f/8.

However, that is always a problem in Zoom lens unless you are willing to pay over $ 1,000.00. Personally I feel it is every bit as good as the Nikon Version.

The Macro works fine, but again if you compare it to a "Pure Macro" lens with 1 to 1 , it won't be quite as good.

For me this is finally the lens to replace the 50 mm. Mount it on a day trip and carry it along to explore the unknown. Sharpness, contast and color are great, and the versatility of lens make it well worth the money. If you want a lens that will do a variety of jobs, and do them well. Then this little "jem" will fit the bill

Similar Products Used:

Nikon 24-120
Nikon F100
Canon EOS 1V, 3 & 5QD

Excelent Sharpness, great contrast especially for B/W

Loud when focusing

Great all around lens. I found the best use at the 24mm aspect of the lens but overall it is excellent. I found in experimenting that as far as film goes with this lens I switched from Fuji to Kodak because of the large amount of color saturation you get with this lens. As for b/w, Ilford Delta has been the best.

In conclusion, if you want a great lens at a good price buy it and never take it off.

Customer Service

Great

Similar Products Used:

All minolta lenses

sharp and contrasty at all focal lengths

none

I haven't bought Tamron in decades. But the press on this lens looked so promising I traded in my Nikon 24-120 for it sight unseen, because the Nikon was always soft at the long end, although fine below about 85mm. At first I was suspicious by some of the results I was getting. The long end on some of my results looked soft. So a couple weeks ago I took it out with my Nikon 135mm f2 DC prime (a famously sharp lens) and shot duplicates, alternating between the Tamron zoom and the Nikon prime. I was taking scenics up on Mt. Hood mounted on a Gitzo carbon fiber tripod and Arca-Swiss ball head. The results were amazing. I could barely tell the difference between the two lenses at 135mm, looking at my slides through a 10X loupe. The centers were identical in sharpness. There might be a hair better sharpness on the Nikon prime at the edges, but without that as a standard I would never have complained at the results I was getting with the Tamron. And if anything, the color saturation of the Tamron is even better. After shooting a dozen or so rolls with the Tamron (before this test) I had no complaints about the rest of the zoom range: razor sharp and very contrasty, obviously better than my original Nikon 24-120. The colors just pop out. The suspicious results I had early on with this Tamron must just have been bad luck: wind against the tripod, whatever. I was unable to duplicate my intermittent soft results in this more controlled experiment. Don't hesitate to get this lens. I'll have little incentive ever to take my heavy and bulky Nikon 135 prime out into the field again, but will reserve it for its original intention: indoor portraits under controlled lighting conditions.

Customer Service

No experience.

Similar Products Used:

Nikon 24-120 (first kid on my block to get this lens, so had and used it for years)

small
compact
"coolness" factor

focus could be quieter

For a beginner, I couldn't have picked a better lens to match my F80. I use this lens for everything and I have yet to be disappointed with the sharpness of the pictures. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for an all-purpose lens!

Customer Service

none needed

Similar Products Used:

vivitar series 1 28-210mm (P.O.J)
sigma 180mm macro (own)
nikon ED 70-300mm (borrowed)