Sports: Tamron 150-600mm f5-6.3
In the spirit of the world cup coming to an exciting conclusion, here are a few shots taken at a youth soccer tournament on Friday with the new Tamron superzoom on my Canon 5D MK3. I always use the Canon 100-400mm L for outdoor sports in daylight, but thought I'd stress test the Tamron and see if the manufacturer had really fixed the AF issues that dogged the initial release of this lens at the end of 2013. I had returned my first copy earlier this year as it did not focus accurately and consistently, especially above 400mm on both my 5D and 7D bodies. Since then Tamron has issued a firmware (and maybe hardware) fix, but I haven't seen any action shots hence.
My intention for the Tamron is more bird and in-flight captures as that kind of extensive focal range makes it challenging for any lens to effectively capture action that moves quickly near and far and back again for 45 minutes straight. Getting 600mm for under $1100 is a true bargain. I owned the 50-500mm Bigma for Pentax, and its quality pales compared with this lens.
Overall my expectations were exceeded and I can see the value of the lens for shooting matches played on regulation-large pitches where 400mm is more limited. Compared with the 100-400L, I'd say that my keeper rate with the Tamron at this point is noticeably less, but I'm not drawing any definitive conclusions yet. I'm still new to the lens, I've never shot sports with it prior, and the heat wafting off the artificial turf was very much slowing my aging shooting reflexes.
Some other good things: the lens is very handholdable if one uses a grip, the VC (IS) works quite well, and I think Tamron has fixed the problem. A damn shame it's not in K-mount as the K-3 would blow people's socks off with it.
The bad news is that I've encountered a Error 1 message about the lens and body not communicating which is a new experience for me with this camera. I don't know if it is just my problem or one that will emerge with more stressful use by others. It could also be a symptom of my using a third-party grip that provides power. It doesn't happen with my 7D.
Examples--All shot at 6.7 and about 1/2000, ISO 800, cropped 15-35%.
1. 428mm
2. 400mm
3. 300mm
4. 375mm
5. 500mm
6. 483mm
7. 213mm
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