Tamron 70-300mm F/4.5-5.6 DI LD Macro

[Tom Peppiatt]

Hi guys,

Recently saw this lens online for a very cheap price, £99. Has anyone got this lens? And if you have, is it any good??

Cheers,

Tom

[SieSmith]

Tom, I have this lens, got it as part of my DSLR starter kit a couple of years ago.

How shall i say this? It's £99 for a reason. It needs to be stopped down to at least f8 to get anything like decent sharpness. It has no stabilisation, so you need fast shutter speeds with the narrow apertures, so it's only good in very bright conditions. The AF is quite tardy. It suffers badly from CA in contrasty areas. AND more importantly, at the focal length you probably want to use it (like me), 300mm, the image it produces is very very soft. The macro is only 1:2 and is limited to between 180 and 300mm of the range, unfortunately this is where it's sharpness drops off as well.
I'm not doing a very good job of selling my lens, am I? (Seriously you can probably get it even cheaper off ebay).

Please read this review which is quite accurate in my experience.

I can't remember whether you're a canon man or not, but to my mind you're better off saving up a few pennies and going for something like the 55-250 with IS, which is only around £200 or so. Buy an extension tube and you've got a closer focussing facility as well.

Hope this helps.

Cheers, Sie

[mondmagu]

Hi Tom,Sie is spot on.I also got this lens as part of a kit a few years back.I used it at first to see how it performed but it had sat in my bag for over a year, so last month I bought 55-250 IS,a much better lens.It is priced at roughly 140/150 GBP on Amazon.

Des

[wotcars]

i have this lens how much better would i be if say i traded it for either the nikon 55-200 or the 70 to 300 ?
or the Tamron AF 18-270mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD
many thanks

[SieSmith]

Sorry wotcars, can't help you with this i'm afraid. I have no experience of these lenses. I hope someone who can will be along in a short while.

Meanwhile take a look at Lenstip.com HERE, or SLRgear.com HERE, or DPReview.com HERE for some reviews. If you already know these sites then I apologise.

Cheers, Sie

[OldBoy]

Originally Posted by wotcars

i have this lens how much better would i be if say i traded it for either the nikon 55-200 or the 70 to 300 ?
or the Tamron AF 18-270mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD
many thanks

Get the Nikon 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 G AF-S VR IF-ED as it's one of the best lenses on the market for the price. I know Pros who use it all the time.

[wotcars]

many thanks for the replys

[chris-p]

One more lens to add into the mix is the Tamron 70-30mm VC. It's a direct competitor to the Nikon 70-300mm VR G lens.

I've got the Nikon (it's very good). The other half has the Tamron. The Tamron is cheaper and the IS is more effective. No difference in build quality and no difference in sharpness but I'd actually buy the Tamron now.

[ian clark]

Sorry Chris p cant agree that the Tamron is better than the Nikon.
I have both, why both?
Simple got duped into buying the Tamron when I got my D3100 just before Christmas.
OK the optics Might?? be as good but the mechanics are awful mine is very juddery on the zoom so took it back they tryed several others all the same and one actually refused to wind back down from the 300 setting.
So bit the bullet and bought the Nikon smooth as a babies bum

[chris-p]

Originally Posted by ian clark

Sorry Chris p cant agree that the Tamron is better than the Nikon.
I have both, why both?
Simple got duped into buying the Tamron when I got my D3100 just before Christmas.
OK the optics Might?? be as good but the mechanics are awful mine is very juddery on the zoom so took it back they tryed several others all the same and one actually refused to wind back down from the 300 setting.
So bit the bullet and bought the Nikon smooth as a babies bum

No need to apologise

There is always variation in products but it sounds like you've had some bad luck with that. I've used many Tamron 70-300mm VCs and not a single one has ever put a foot wrong.

Just different experiences.