Product Review: A09 Tamron SP AF28-75mm F/2.8 XR Di

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="182" caption="Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Model A09"][/caption]

Hello again, Nathan here for another review. This time its the A09 Tamron SP AF28-75mm F/2.8XR Di. Thm range. The lens is available for Nikon F, Canon EF, Sony A, and Pentax K mount cameras. The Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 is a compact and lightweight zoom lens with an f/2.8 constant maximum open aperture throughout the zoom range.According to the Tamron website, the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 is built with "special glass material such as LD glass, XR glass, and Ashperical lens elements that are used in order to achieve the compact design and outstanding specifications not found in conventional lenses and to ensure high image quality" (source). After taking the lens for a field test, I completely agree with the previous statement. I did not do a traditional lens test-- no lens sharpness charts, no focusing charts, MTF curves, or other"doo-dads" like that. I think those lens test solutions do not give an accurate representation of lens performance-- Sometimes, a photo shoot requires a bit of problem solving. I think the true way decide if a lens (or any kind of photo equipment) is great or extremely awful is taking it on a field test and seeing how it contributes to overcoming the situation during a shoot. [click "see more"]

Some of us want to see how a lens performs in a real life situation! In my case, the situation I put the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 (mounted on a D300) in was a concert at The Brooklyn Museum of Art featuring up and coming rapper, Theophilus London-- photographing with nothing but the dim available light.

The lens was a joy to use.

It felt great in my hands. I prefer a lens that has some weight to it so it did not feel cheap, and this lens had that. It was not too heavy for it to be a hassle to carry or too light to the point were it felt cheap. This lens is also significantly smaller than it's Nikon (24-70mm f/2.8G) and Canon (24-70mm f/2.8L) counterparts.

The lens features a switch to change between auto-focus and manual focus as well as the Zoom Lock Mechanism  to keep the front element from moving when the lens tilted up or down.

Using a lens with a variable aperture design would have been nearly impossible even with the D300 at it's maximum ISO. The constant f/2.8 aperture of the Tamron 28-75mm at all focal lengths helped me get the shutter speeds I wanted an that I could never get with a lens that "closed down" at longer focal lengths-- unless of course, if the lighting was better, or if we were ever allowed to use flash.

The lens produced smooth out of focus backgrounds (I refuse to use the word "bokeh"--oh no i just used it!) at f/2.8 and at both its shortest (28mm) and longest (75mm) focal length.

For those of you wondering if the lens produces "sharp" images, I don't have a definite answer for you. When I viewed the images enlarged on the screen they looked sharp to me, but maybe your eyes are different. We could go for years discussing if a lens is sharp or not, but that's a completely different article.

So the big question is: why Tamron?

The first reason that comes to mind to pick the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 over the Nikon or Canon counterpart, is the PRICE! The Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 being priced at more than $1,000 than the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G and a little under $1,000 than the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L, is already a reason to consider this lens. With the price of the Nikon and Canon lenses, you can have money left over to buy a camera body or other goodies you want to get with your left over seven to nine hundred dollars with the price of the Tamron Lens. The only thing that some people may complain about is that the Tamron lens doesn't have is the Auto focus override (M/A function) that it's Nikon and Canon counterparts have (I use the word counterpart a lot haha). They may also complain that the auto focus sound is "loud." It does have a little sound to it, but unless you are photographing in a Monk training ground or super secret agent mission the sound really isn't a problem-- to me at least haha.

If you want something light and compact, this could be the lens for you! Like I said The Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 is much smaller than the Nikon and Canon versions of the wide to mid range telephoto.

So what is your opinion? Would you go for the money saving/getting a bang for you buck option and get the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8, or go big and get the Nikon or Canon versions?

comments and opinions are appreciated!