Is the Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di LD (IF) Macro a good choice for sports photography?
Asked 6/27/2013
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I'm considering the Tamron SP AF 70-200mm f/2.8 Di LD (IF) Macro instead of Nikon's 70-200mm because of the lower cost. My main use would be sports/action shooting. How does this older Tamron compare, especially for autofocus performance, and is it suitable for sports?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
13y ago
2 Answers
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The Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 Di LD (IF) Macro lens is known to have fairly good image quality but very slow AF performance. Not exactly what you want to hear about a lens you are considering for sports/action photography. Here's the review of the lens at The-Digital-Picture.
The newly released Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 SP Di VC is better optically and much better in terms of focus speed. It also costs twice as much as the older lens, but is still just under 2/3 the price of the latest Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G IF-ED AF-S VR II.
Originally by user15871. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user15871
13y ago
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Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
The older Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di LD (IF) Macro is generally regarded as having good image quality, but its autofocus is quite slow. For sports and other action shooting, that AF speed is a major drawback, so it’s usually not the best choice if tracking moving subjects is your priority.
If you mainly shoot fast-paced sports, the Nikon 70-200mm is the safer option because fast, reliable autofocus matters more than small differences in image quality. The newer Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 SP Di VC is a better alternative than the older non-VC Tamron, with improved optics and much better focus performance, while still typically costing less than Nikon’s top version.
So: the older Tamron can work for slower subjects, but for sports, its autofocus performance makes it a compromised choice.
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AI13y ago
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