 |
All the rage the past couple months has been about the new cameras, lenses, and other photography products released at Photokina. This is certainly justified, everyone wants to see the latest photography products, but there is always an underdog that doesn't get the amount of attention it deserves. This year I feel that the Tamron SP 70-300 f/4-5.6 Di VC USD lens is the underdog that needs a little bit of the spotlight. Granted this lens was actually in our warehouse well before Photokina, but tis the season for new products so in my book it is part of the same group of new products. It's a great performer and has a very attractive price. Tamron is always running great mail-in rebates too. Keep reading after the break/jump for my full review of this lens!
Where I Tested This Lens
I was excited to see this lens when it was first announced because for a long time I've felt that some of the other bigger manufacturer's have been a little lax with making good 70-300mm (or other more consumer oriented) zoom lenses while they've been focused on updating their more expensive telephoto lenses. Canon hushed me with their new 70-300 f/4-5.6L IS lens, but it is in a totally different price range! I got to play with this lens at Canon Expo and I was impressed with the short amount of time I spent with it. After Canon Expo I took off for Yankee Stadium where I shot with the Tamron SP 70-300 f/4-5.6 Di VC USD on a Nikon D700 body. In retrospect I wish I had brought my D300s along for the trip because 300mm on a full frame sensor wasn't quite enough reach based on where I was standing. The 1.5x crop factor would have let me fill my frame much easier.
The Stabilization Myth
I talk with customers in our store who are frustrated with the images they are getting from their 55-200mm f/4-5.6 DX VR (or similar) zoom lenses. A common phrase is "My pictures are coming out blurry! I thought this lens was stabilized" While the lenses are stabilized, image stabilization only compensates for the vibrations in the lens, not in real life. (That would be quite an accomplishment!) Image stabilization is important to have in a telephoto lens, but it's important to know when to use it and how it works. Turn off Vibration Control when using this lens on a tripod!
 |
|
Wall of facsimile signatures of Yankee Legends
102mm f/4.2 1/5s ISO 400
|
SPECIFICATIONS
Tamron's Alphabet Soup
SP: "Super Performance" This is the designation Tamron uses to separate their top of the line lenses from the rest of their lineup. Tamron has been strictly an optics company for a long time and they know what they're doing. All SP lenses are well built and very good optically.
Di: "Digitally Integrated" Tamron has engineered this lens, both with lens design and coatings to be optimized for use on both full frame and APS digital SLR cameras. The lens can also be used on modern 35mm film cameras.(no aperture ring, so it is useless on older film cameras, be sure to check compatibility if you are going to use this lens on a film camera)
VC: "Vibration Compensation" This is Tamron's name for lenses that are stabilized. The VC in this lens works particularly well and it seems all of the major optics manufacturers have made good strides in stabilization technology over the past year. The 70-300 is no exception and it is actually my favorite part about the lens. I was able to shoot at very low shutter speeds and get sharp images. There are samples later on in the review under the "Performance" section.
USD: "Ultra Sonic Drive" If you're a Nikon shooter, this is a similar system as Nikon's "Silent Wave Motor". For Canonites, think USM (Ultrasonic Motor). USD ensures for quick and quiet Autofocusing. Under the performance section I will detail my experience, but the lens works both quickly and quietly.
XLD: "Extra Low Dispersion" This is the magical glass that Tamron uses in it's high-end lenses for chromatic aberration control. This is very important for telephoto lenses. For those of you who have been around for a while, you will probably remember the horrible chromatic abberation on older tele lenses. Tamron also claims XLD glass results in better sharpness, contrast, and overall image quality. The glass they use has similar properties to the flourite glass Canon uses in it's legendary "L" series line of lenses.
Construction: 17 elements in 12 groups
Effective Focal Length: 70-300mm
The effective focal length does seem to very very very slightly shift to be "shorter" when focusing the lens on a closer subject. This is called breathing and it is typical with telephoto zoom lenses.
Angle of View: 34°21'-8°15'
On a full frame sensor.
Maximum Aperture: f/4-5.6
Minimum Aperture: f/32-45
Minimum Focusing Distance: 1.5m (59.05 in)
The actual front element will be closer to the subject.
Maximum Magnification: pan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> 1:4 (at f = 300mm: MFD 1.5m)
Aperture Diaphragm: 9 Blades
Filter Thread Size: 62mm
Full Extended Length: 151.1mm (5.9 in)
Weight: 765g (26.98 oz)
Mounts: Available for Canon, Nikon, and Sony.
Lens Cap: Standard 62mm Lens Cap. A rear cap is also included and its appearance will vary based on which lens mount you have.
Lens Hood: Included petal shaped shade.
PERFORMANCE
 |
| Can the Tamron SP 70-300 keep up with CC Sabathia's fastball? 300mm f/5.6 1/2500s ISO 400 |
Focusing Speed: Fast. Nothing to complain about here. As you can see from the above image, the Tamron lens did fine focusing on moving subjects. Granted baseball players don't move as much as basketball or hockey players, but I could tell the lens was focusing fast enough to keep up with the complex/advanced 3D tracking system in the Nikon D700. Focus didn't "snap" as quickly as a 70-200 f/2.8 lens would, but it was close. The images are also cropped in (again I wish I had brought my D300s for the crop factor) so you can see focus is accurate. (Click to enlarge the image)
Focusing Accuracy: As I mentioned, the lens was able to keep pace with the AF system on my D700 so that's good enough for me, but how accurate was the focusing? Sometimes less expensive lenses seem to be "keeping up" but are really taking out of focus pictures. Using continuous AF on the D700 was a breeze, I would say almost all of my shots were in focus. Sometimes over the course of a burst one or two shots would be out of focus, but I find this to be the case with many lenses, including very expensive ones.
 |
|
Robinson Cano fouls a pitch off
300mm f/5.6 1/1600s ISO 400
|
Manual Focusing: I did not use manual focus for any shots, but the ring turns smoothly with a low amount of resistance. I can't imagine why anyone would try to manual focus this lens. If you are in low light, put a TTL flash on your camera that has AF-assist and shoot away. If you don't want to use flash in your photographs, you can disable the flash and use the big red AF crosshair on the flash only.
Stabilization: Wow. I was amazed how well the Vibration Compensation works in the Tamron SP 70-300 f/4-5.6 Di VC USD. It was by far one of the best stabilization systems I have ever used in a lens. It works much better than my old Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G VR and is about on par with what I've seen from the new Nikon/Canon 70-200 f/2.8 lenses. The smaller size of the lens (because of it's slower aperture) probably plays a factor too. If you need to photograph at slower shutter speeds, the Tamron SP 70-300 f/4-5.6 Di VC USD will compensate for all of your jitters, but don't forget it won't magically freeze moving subjects! Here are some examples of photos and 100% crops I took at slow shutter speeds. (Click to enlarge)
 |
| mmmm steak... 110mm f/4.2 1/13s ISO 400 |
 |
| 100% Crop of above image |
 |
|
The Late Thurman Munson's jersey hanging in his locker which has been preserved in the Yankees Museum
116mm f/4.2 1/30s ISO 1600
|
 |
| 100% Crop of above image |
Falloff/Vignetting: Low. This isn't a fast aperture lens so falloff and vignetting are low. You will never see any of it on a crop sensor. On a full-frame sensor you may notice very slight vignetting when shot wide open, but only if you took a picture of a blank white wall or bright sky. Easily corrected in post production.
Sharpness: Overall I was highly impressed with the sharpness of this lens. Wide open it is good and stopping down once makes for very sharp images. It doesn't have the same "pop" or "wow" factor that a 70-200 f/2.8 lens does, mainly because of the separation between subject and background that a telephoto lens at f/2.8 can create. (See the Bokeh section below.)
 |
| MTF Chart looks good! |
Teleconverters: Fuhhhgeeddddaaaboooutttitt!!!! Don't bother trying to use a teleconverter with this lens. You probably won't be able to use AF and the viewfinder will be dark, even under bright sunlight. If you want to use teleconverters, try a lens like the Tamron 70-200 f/2.8.
BOKEH
You weirdos know who you are and I point it out every time! If you're reading this part of the review, don't give up on this lens just because the Bokeh isn't like a 85mm f/1.2L lens. The Tamron SP 70-300 f/4-5.6 Di VC USD isn't a fast lens, but it is still long. The range of 70-300 is more than enough to create a flattering separation between your subject and background even if you are shoot ing at f/5.6. Again subject distance makes a huge difference. In the first shot you can see how much the background separates because I was close to my subject. In the second shot, the background is knocked out of focus, but not nearly as much because I was much further away. Here are a few examples:
 |
| 86mm f/4.1 1/8s ISO1600 Subject Distance: 2.5m |
 |
| 300mm f/5.6 1/2000s ISO400 Subject Distance: 28.2m |
SUMMARY
This one is easy. Right now the Tamron SP 70-300 f/4-5.6 Di VC USD is about the best $450 you can spend on a full frame telephoto lens for your camera. If you're going to be shooting indoor sports such as basketball, save yourself the frustration and check out a 70-200 f/2.8 lens. Tamron makes an excellent one themselves in fact. However for all outdoor/daytime uses, the new Tamron SP 70-300 VC works fine. I hate to stick it to Nikon and Canon, but the Tamron looks better than their respective offerings. My general rule of thumb with third party optics is that they will be optically fine, but not up to par on build quality, construction, focusing speed, etc... this isn't the case with the Tamron SP 70-300 f/4-5.6 Di VC USD. It's built like a tank, focuses fast, and it has best in class image stabilization. I highly recommend this lens for anyone looking for a lens in the 70-300mm range that doesn't need an aperture of f/2.8.
If you happen to own the Tamron SP 70-300 f/4-5.6 Di VC USD I would love to see some of your photos and hear feedback from you. Were your experiences with the lens similar to mine? Feel free to comment here or e-mail me [email protected]. ALL PHOTOS IN THIS REVIEW ARE PROPERTY OF THE NEW YORK YANKEES AND MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL.