Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD VC (Vibration Compensation) Aspherical (IF) Macro Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras
Details
- Availability:
- Usually ships in 1-2 business days
- List Price:
- $949.95
- Our Price:
- $579.00
- Savings:
- 39%
- Average Customer Rating:
- 4.5 out of 5
- Manufacturer:
- Tamron
- Release Date:
- 2007-10-01
Ready to Buy?
- List Price:
- $949.95
- Our Price:
- $579.00
Features
- State of the Art Vibration Compensation Mechanism (VC) reduces blurred images induced by camera movement
- Remarkably Compact at less than 4" long and weighing only 19.4oz.
- Revolutionary MFD of 19.3 throughout entire zoom range yeilding a 1:3 Macro Magnification Ratio
- Unique Zoom Lock Mechanism for Enhanced Portability
- Flower-shaped Lens Hood and 6 Year Warranty are included, accepts 67mm filters.
Description
Camera shake can ruin your photos, particularly at telephoto or in low light. Tamron's state-of-the-art Vibration Compensation mechanism incorporated into the award winning 28-300mm zoom gives you blur-free hand-held images for incredible results. Macro Magnification Ratio - 1 - 3 at f=300mm, MFD=0.49m Filter Diameter - 67mm Flower-shaped Lens hood Diameter 3.06 x Length 3.9 (78 x 99mm) Weight - 555 grams (19.4 ounces)
Camera shake can ruin your photos, particularly when taking telephoto shots or shooting in low light conditions. This Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 macro zoom lens, however, fights camera shake with its state-of-the-art vibration compensation (VC) mechanism, which delivers blur-free handheld images for incredible results. The proprietary VC mechanism employs a three-coil system that moves the VC lens electromagnetically based on signals originating from the movement of three steel balls. The lens element that compensates for vibration is held in place by the balls, so there is little friction and the movement is quite smooth. The end result is a technology that makes it possible to create exceptional images at slower shutter speeds under conditions where a tripod used to be necessary. You can also use subject movement to good effect with the lens, bringing out the contrast between motion and stillness, or shoot without a flash to evoke the genuine atmosphere of the scene.
The lens covers an extremely broad range of focal lengths, from a wide 28mm length to a super-telephoto 300mm length (the 35mm equivalent of 43 to 465mm). Even better, the vibration compensation works throughout the entire zoom range, giving you the freedom to create a wide variety of different images. Other details include a macro magnification ratio of 1:3, a rotational zoom, a minimum focusing distance of 19.3 inches, and a 67mm filter diameter. The lens, which measures 3.06 inches in diameter and 3.9 inches long, carries a six-year warranty.
Spotlight customer reviews
Disappointed
[ Posted: 2008-11-25 ]
If you really care about very sharp photos, don't buy this one. I have tried every setting available and even with the VC off, the mirror up on my Canon40D and using a tripod, the pictures are very soft.
The older Tamron 18-200 is sharper, and the Canon kit lens that came with my Rebel camera is even sharper.
Very satisfied Customer
[ Posted: 2008-11-23 ]
Tamron AF -28-300lens for Nikon
Very satisfied with the purchase, Great service and shipping before I expected .
Great lens for what it is.
[ Posted: 2008-11-14 ]
Having acquired this lens yesterday as a general purpose walk around lens I wanted to post my initial feelings on this piece of glass. Tamron optics tend to be "middle of the road", neither super stellar nor super awful. This lens, however, does go far beyond the middle towards stellar.
The good:
The VC on this lens is on par with Nikon's VR. Tamron will tell you it's better because of 3 axis control, but I'm not buying it. Still, the VC is really capable and at 300 mm you can get a usable result at 1/40th of a second with good technique.
Color reproduction is good, too, and the lens provides a nice amount of contrast. Probably the best result I've seen out of a Tamron to date.
Sharpness is actually amazingly good stopped down, and not bad wide open either. This is what impressed me the most with this lens.
The bad:
The VC is loud. You can hear it work. I guess some people may find that assuring, but I find it slightly annoying.
Focus is about as slow as a glacier indoors. Outdoors, it's OK, but not super snappy. It hunts a lot and I find myself using manual focus in somewhat dim indoor light. This is not surprising, given the lens maximum aperture of f/6.3 at telephoto and 3.5 at wide angle.
The small max aperture also dims the viewfinder substantially, again, not so bad outdoors but indoors, it's like you're wearing sunglasses.
The Neutral:
Like all lenses on a 35mm sensor, there is light fall off on the corners. It is pretty well controlled, and disappears by f/8. But, it is helped by the fact that its maximum aperture is small, so that helps mitigate light falloff.
Overall:
If you are looking for a capable walk around lens that won't break the budget or your back, this is the lens to buy, period. Probably not suitable for APS-C sensor cameras (it becomes a 42-450 then), but on a 35mm sensor camera, this lens is a gem. If you have a APS-C sensor, consider the Tamrom 18-250 VC lens. It is every bit as good as this lens is.
better than expected
[ Posted: 2008-10-18 ]
I bought this lens for D300. the overall built quality is fair for $599 lens. With my D300, I used AF fine tune to maximize the sharpness, however, it turns out that it always back focus when I shoot the object on the shadow and the background is brighter.
So, I suggest to turn AF fine turn off. (- -")
VC is so good and very useful
Wonderful lens for many situations, not good for low light environments
[ Posted: 2008-09-30 ]
I am a serious amateur photographer and the types of photos I do the most are of people, street photography, architecture and landscapes.
I was attracted to the Tamron 28-300 given its broad range and its very light weight and compact size. I also own the Canon 75-300 USM IS and the Canon f4L 70-200. The Tamron seem to me like a great lens for travel and field trips in which I do not want to take a big bag of lenses and accesories with me.
I am very satisfied with the lens. It does a great job across the whole range and is very sharp and delivers great colors. It is quite compact when it is closed or at 28mm and it grows significantly at 300mm. It is a great lens for street photography as it is not a big, intimidating canon. It does an awesome job on street photography, where you can capture buildings by opening the lens or zoom into people easily with the 300mm zoom. The VR shake redeuction also works great, I do not have a very steady hand and still, I was able to capture very crisp photos at 1/100th of a second with the zoom at 300mm.
Where the lens performs poorly is in low light situations. I recently shot a Salsa dance show with low light and the Tamron's performance was very dissapointing. It took too much time to focus, and by the time it was ready you probably had missed the moment you were trying to capture. It basically turned my Canon 1D Mark III into some kind of a compact camera in terms of its low speed.
In summary a great lens for daylight photography and a rather poor lens in demanding night and low light environments, like dance shows.
Find street photos and salsa dancer photos I took with the lens here(cut and paste this in your browser):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/carreon/tags/tamron28300mm/