Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD Review
- Thread starter frtorres87
- Start date
Not so sure about this one. I thought I was going to see long track speed skating, but it ended up being short track. For those not in the know, short track is a tiny little oval track with really fast speeds. My problem was focusing on one racer on the short straightaway, but 99% of the time, the one I picked ended up being in the back of the pack. That means most of my group shots ended up being out of focus except for the last racer. I'm going to take the Nikon f4 with me tomorrow and compare those results with the ones from today. Here's a few from today:
I'm still weeding through all the shots from the f4, but I'll post a few once I have them done. I shot from a higher vantage point and had my ISO capped at 2500. I think I did a bit better with the f4, but I also paid a lot more attention to what I was doing (shooting from higher up really helped too). My problem is that I hate high ISO. The Tamron 2.8 didn't really gain anything for me when shooting with it, so I'll have to wait until the next long track event to really see any difference. I'm headed off to gymnastics next week, and the 2.8 should really give my shots a boost over the f4, ISO-wise that is. It also helps that gymnastics is 1000x slower than speed skating.
A few from the f4. These are a bit darker-the spot I was shooting was pretty dark compared to the rest of the track. The last snap shows how bright it was near the center of the ice. Both these and the Tamron shots had copious amounts of noise reduction, so I doubt any of them will look remotely sharp:
I just got my copy of the Tamron 70-200mm VC. I've been going round and round deciding on this lens and Nikon's 2.8 VRII version. I decided to try the Tammy because of price and because of the way Nikon handled the D600 fiasco. Honestly in the time it took me to receive the lens from B&H I already had buyer's remorse and had talked myself into playing with it for a day or two and then exchange it for the Nikon version. Pulling it out of the box I was little bummed (but knew beforehand) that it didn't have a case or bag. I can order one no problem, I guess they're just cutting cost where ever they can. The box was not damaged BUT the lens cap was jammed to where part of the outer circumference was actually jammed inside the lens threading. I was able to pry it free by hand but again a little disconcerting. No damage to cap or lens. Obviously QC missed that. The collar is well made, not as nice as the Nikon version but serviceable none the less. I like collars to act as a carry handle when the camera is inverted. This collar does not have enough space between it and the lens to accommodate a hand for carry. I've only been able to play with it in a half lit room (poor lighting) so I tested the focus speeds. With poor lighting it hunted around a bit but I don't think it was the len's fault. With adequate light it snaps right into focus... I mean literally snaps. It was so fast and quiet, I had to pull back and look to see if it actually moved. The focus breathing at 200mm seemed a bit worse than what I saw on Matt Granger's review but could just be me. For VC, I did 3 handheld shots at 400ISO and 1/13'. IMO two were sharp looking at 100% and one had the obvious handshake blur.
I compared images taken with my 85mm 1.8G (I consider my sharpest lens) and this lens. Again poor lighting had me shooting at 3200 and 6400ISO so I'm not confident in the tests but I can say that it was hard for me to discern between the two. IMO that's a plus for the Tamron. I plan to take it out in good lighting tomorrow to run it through its paces. I have to say, what I've seen so far I'm impressed with this lens. I like the build quality, focus speeds and IQ so far seem to be right up my alley. The lens did have some play when mounted, not as bad as my Sigma 150-500 but definitely worse than a Nikon lens). I was ready to give up on this lens before I even got it. Now that I have it in my hands I do believe this one will be a keeper. I'll know more after tomorrow.
I compared images taken with my 85mm 1.8G (I consider my sharpest lens) and this lens. Again poor lighting had me shooting at 3200 and 6400ISO so I'm not confident in the tests but I can say that it was hard for me to discern between the two. IMO that's a plus for the Tamron. I plan to take it out in good lighting tomorrow to run it through its paces. I have to say, what I've seen so far I'm impressed with this lens. I like the build quality, focus speeds and IQ so far seem to be right up my alley. The lens did have some play when mounted, not as bad as my Sigma 150-500 but definitely worse than a Nikon lens). I was ready to give up on this lens before I even got it. Now that I have it in my hands I do believe this one will be a keeper. I'll know more after tomorrow.
Scott Murray
Senior Member
I too wait for the photos 
vindex1963
Senior Member
PapaST glad you're giving it a chance I know mine is a keeper it does way more than expected.
Jury's still out on this lens. Today was too cold to really hunt for some shots. I took some tests and will posts some snippets of those pics. These were imported through lightroom but no PP except for cropping to show detail. Here's a squirrel:
200mm ISO320 f3.5 1/500' about 25 feet away
cropped to 100%
clock at 70mm ISO320 f3.5 1/500' about 10 feet away
same pic at 100%
blackhawk flew overhead and kind of caught me in the wrong focus/meter mode and against a brighter overcast sky
200mm ISO100 f2.8 1/2500'
same pic at 100%
11inch spidey figurine (it's my daughters) across the pool about 45' away
200mm ISO100 f2.8 1/250' look at the vignetting and distortion
same pic at 100%
outdoor shower about the minimum away 5'
200mm ISO100 f2.8 1/320'
same pic at 100%
Little birdie figurine at 7'
200mm ISO640 f2.8 1/320'
same pic at 100%
I've gotten fairly adept at grabbing focus with a single focus point. But I've experienced so far that this lens will take 1 or 2 out of a 10 shot series way off focus (release only on focus). I was pretty careful when focusing each time. So not sure what that could indicate. Then again, I'm just a schlub with a camera so that could be the reason. This particular test run, nothing really knocked my socks off as being super great for a lens that is lauded by DxO as being 1 point above the Nikon VRII. I'm still playing around with it though.
200mm ISO320 f3.5 1/500' about 25 feet away
cropped to 100%
clock at 70mm ISO320 f3.5 1/500' about 10 feet away
same pic at 100%
blackhawk flew overhead and kind of caught me in the wrong focus/meter mode and against a brighter overcast sky
200mm ISO100 f2.8 1/2500'
same pic at 100%
11inch spidey figurine (it's my daughters) across the pool about 45' away
200mm ISO100 f2.8 1/250' look at the vignetting and distortion
same pic at 100%
outdoor shower about the minimum away 5'
200mm ISO100 f2.8 1/320'
same pic at 100%
Little birdie figurine at 7'
200mm ISO640 f2.8 1/320'
same pic at 100%
I've gotten fairly adept at grabbing focus with a single focus point. But I've experienced so far that this lens will take 1 or 2 out of a 10 shot series way off focus (release only on focus). I was pretty careful when focusing each time. So not sure what that could indicate. Then again, I'm just a schlub with a camera so that could be the reason. This particular test run, nothing really knocked my socks off as being super great for a lens that is lauded by DxO as being 1 point above the Nikon VRII. I'm still playing around with it though.
dramtastic
Senior Member
Maybe, just maybe, from time to time we might want more than we should reasonably expect.
Last edited:
vindex1963
Senior Member
Yeap just maybe.
