My observations and thought on the Tamron 150-600mm

grandpaw

Senior Member
My observations and thoughts on the Tamron 150-600mm

Some of my observations about the Tamron 150-600mm lens

Auto focus seems to be fast and accurate. A few times I could not get the lens to focus at all because I was shooting with the range limiter switch on that is located on the barrel of the lens and was too close to the subject for the lens to focus. As soon as I set it to full range to focus it popped right in focus. My fault. When shooting at longer distances you can turn on the focus limiting switch on the barrel of the lens and it will speed up the focus by eliminating the closer distances for the lens to travel while obtains focus

I have very good results shooting handheld but they are even better using a tripod. Remember when using a tripod to turn OFF the VC and also you need to remember to turn it back on after removing it from the tripod.

I am a fairly big guy and have good shooting technique which is required for any longer lens. I will say that I have been very impressed with the "VC" or vibration control that this lens has and I think it works very well. I have taken shots at the full 600mm, hand held, at 1/30 sec. and even took one at 1/5 sec but I do have very steady hands with good shooting technique that allows me to shoot at the longer focal lengths. Your results will vary a lot from what I get.

By having the longer focal length I do not need to crop near as much in Photoshop because I am able to fill my frame more in camera with the longer lens. By having this ability of not having to crop as much in PhotoShop more of the file is maintained and not lost due to being cropped. I have sold many 2ft by 3ft canvas prints and have also had a few made into the triple canvases where one image is split into three canvas prints covering a 3ft by 6ft area and displayed on a single wall. Having the larger files with less cropping really helps here. It doesn't matter how many megapixels your camera has if you have to crop parts of your picture away to get what you need to print, you are loosing all those megapixels that you paid money for when purchasing your camera.

When shooting handheld I find that setting the ISO to 500 usually allows for fast enough shutter speeds when shooting handheld.

When shooting a longer focal length the longer in length you shoot the less the depth of field you will have, also the closer you are to the subject decreases the depth of field..

This lens does not come with a case but I have found that the Lowpro 13x32 cm case is a perfect fit. It can be found HERE.

This is the UV filter that I purchased to go on my Tamron. It takes a 95mm filter and this is the one I purchased to go on mine. Look HERE

I am VERY HAPPY with this lens and would highly recommend it to anyone that may be considering a similar lens. I think it is worth every penny that it costs and more. Remember if you get one to make sure it has a Nikon mount or whatever type your camera will need. I find this lens to be sharp and to produce very good pictures.

These are random thoughts about this lens and I will be adding other observations as they come up. Jeff

I would like to add that when I was doing research on this lens before buying it I looked at many pictures on the web. Either there were very sharp pictures or soft ones. After looking at the EXIF data on the pictures I came to the conclusion that the soft pictures were due to poor technique or just inexperience on what settings to use for longer focal lengths. This lens will produce great pictures if you set your camera correctly and have good shooting technique. Basically, in my opinion, the lens will deliver a great image if the person using it has the know how and ability to use a longer focal length lens.
 
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WayneF

Senior Member
Re: My observations and thoughts on the Tamron 150-600mm

Thanks. I'm eager, but I've had one on order at B&H for three months, but so far, no go.


When shooting a longer focal length the longer in length you shoot the less the depth of field you will have, also the closer you are the depth of field gets shorter also.

Sure, but also, we could say there are offsetting properties. The longer the lens, and the closer you stand, the larger the subject is in the frame. Larger subjects are larger detail, simply seen better, which don't need as much maximum resolution. Long and close also do have advantages. :)
 

grandpaw

Senior Member
Re: My observations and thoughts on the Tamron 150-600mm

Thanks. I'm eager, but I've had one on order at B&H for three months, but so far, no go.




Sure, but also, we could say there are offsetting properties. The longer the lens, and the closer you stand, the larger the subject is in the frame. Larger subjects are larger detail, simply seen better, which don't need as much maximum resolution. Long and close also do have advantages. :)

Marilynne said she had talked with a guy that had one on back order at B&H and there were 134 ahead of him. Good luck, and I hope you get one soon. The reason I said what I did about the depth of field was to bring it to peoples attention that haven't used longer lenses that the focus can get very critical at longer focal lengths especially if the subject is close.
 

WayneF

Senior Member
Re: My observations and thoughts on the Tamron 150-600mm

Marilynne said she had talked with a guy that had one on back order at B&H and there were 134 ahead of him. Good luck, and I hope you get one soon. The reason I said what I did about the depth of field was to bring it to peoples attention that haven't used longer lenses that the focus can get very critical at longer focal lengths especially if the subject is close.

B&H contacted me recently about something else, and I asked about this order, about where I stood, and they said their disclosure policy was they cannot say. Could be this guy just didn't have access of the data? I have not called them, and of course, they don't know when they will arrive.

I've seen your pictures posted here... awesome.

Regarding the depth of field... agreed that telephoto is short of it up close. But up close is farther for telephoto, and this too can be an advantage. :)
My notion is those wanting the f/1.8 lenses to blur the backgrounds of their outdoor portraits, are missing the point.
85mm would be better, but the 35mm or 50mm lens are so short, f/1.8 doesn't even do much, unless the subject is very close, which then is poor perspective for portraits (standing way too close).

What they don't seem to realize is that maybe the 120mm or 200mm telephoto they already have does the same thing, probably much better.
 

Marilynne

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Jeff, the guy I spoke with waited four months before he got his.

Spoke with another guy yesterday who had no wait since he bought it in Feb. before it became popular. His is for a Canon. He said he did have to send it back for a software update.
 

Geoffc

Senior Member
Re: My observations and thoughts on the Tamron 150-600mm

Grandpaw is spot on.

I bought a lens in the uk on a Monday, tried it on Tuesday and managed find a second on Wednesday, so we owned two by Friday. My wife and I had been waiting months for the release date and I just got really luck. On several occasions I've had to check the exif as the images are sometimes similar to my 70-200. Ok not quite as good but very pleasing.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 

iamntxhunter

Senior Member
Re: My observations and thoughts on the Tamron 150-600mm

Can you provide a link to some of your pics so I can get a look at what one can expect using this lens.
Thanks for the write up you did here.
 

grandpaw

Senior Member
Re: My observations and thoughts on the Tamron 150-600mm

Can you provide a link to some of your pics so I can get a look at what one can expect using this lens.
Thanks for the write up you did here.

The last several posts in my thread were taken with this lens. To make sure just put your pointer over each picture and the data will show up.

My thread http://nikonites.com/project-365-and-daily-photos/6629-grandpaws-image-thread.html#axzz3Ef2S7pcj

I looked and all the pictures from the current one back to the picture of the sun going down back to August 23rd of this year were taken with the Tamron lens. I might add that almost all but two or three were taken handheld.
 
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Woodyg3

Senior Member
Contributor
Thanks for the review, Jeff. I sure could have used this lens today to get a little better reach shooting a shy sandpiper.

I hate waiting around for this lens to become available.

ARGH!

:)
 

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
Great write up Jeff,the only thing i feel the need to add is with the lens being f6.3 and the light conditions we have here in the UK i have found it struggling on occasion to grab focus,it needs saying this is not a lens problem but its hitting the limit of the cameras ability to focus.i am talking about overcast days or small birds in dark areas.
I said before this is a very infrequent occurrence and would still buy the lens because its benefits far out weigh this very slight hiccup.
 

photogramps

Senior Member
Have to be honest and say that I have never experienced the lens struggling to get focus ... I have used it mainly with a D800 and a couple of times with the D4 and have found it to be very positive.


I would also say that I use it on a tripod and gimbal and do use VC on, I find that there is still enough vibration from my hands being on the lens and camera for it to make a difference. Now this maybe due to the 'elongated' nature and construction of the lens, I don't know, but I have noticed a difference with and without in my personal circumstances.
 
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grandpaw

Senior Member
Great write up Jeff,the only thing i feel the need to add is with the lens being f6.3 and the light conditions we have here in the UK i have found it struggling on occasion to grab focus,it needs saying this is not a lens problem but its hitting the limit of the cameras ability to focus.i am talking about overcast days or small birds in dark areas.
I said before this is a very infrequent occurrence and would still buy the lens because its benefits far out weigh this very slight hiccup.

I haven't used it much on my D7000 to say much about it but I will say that while doing my research before buying one that people said that it did seem to work better on a full frame camera. When I tried it once on my D7000 I did not experience any problems with the focusing.
 

Lee532

Senior Member
Great write up Jeff and I have to agree with everything you say. I love mine on my D610 and I am really happy that I got one. A lot of lens for the money.
 

RussellHons

Senior Member
I picked one up today at the camera store. I took it to the zoo and shot a couple 100 shots on my D7100 and loved it. It was a partly cloudy day, shot handheld at both ends of the zoom and got great, crisp, tack sharp images. Looking forward to shooting a lot more with it soon.
 

iamntxhunter

Senior Member
Re: My observations and thoughts on the Tamron 150-600mm

I picked one up today at the camera store. I took it to the zoo and shot a couple 100 shots on my D7100 and loved it. It was a partly cloudy day, shot handheld at both ends of the zoom and got great, crisp, tack sharp images. Looking forward to shooting a lot more with it soon.

Would you please post your pics for our eyes to see what you captured. :)
 
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mikew_RIP

Senior Member
Re: My observations and thoughts on the Tamron 150-600mm

I picked one up today at the camera store. I took it to the zoo and shot a couple 100 shots on my D7100 and loved it. It was a partly cloudy day, shot handheld at both ends of the zoom and got great, crisp, tack sharp images. Looking forward to shooting a lot more with it soon.<br/>

Would you please post your pics for our eyes to see what you captured. :)

He posted some here

http://nikonites.com/telephoto/24828-post-your-150-600-tamron-shots-18.html#axzz3FFJ5QUC8
 

grandpaw

Senior Member
I just thought I would let you know that this lens can be bought, I just got my second one today so a friend of mine can give it to his wife!!! This first one I got when I walked into the store and asked if they had one and this one took me three weeks to get. Just thought I would let you know that they can be found if you look in the right places.
 
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