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Tamron SP AF Macro 1:1 (# 172E ) 90mm F2.8 | | Latest Review Posted | Tokina ATX AF 400mm F5.6
Limited testing so far, but looks to be really sharp with only slight tendency to purple fringing, easily fixed.
I had been looking for a lens in this focal length for a while to go with my Pentax F*300. It might seem a small step up, but the extra 100mm gives significant additional reach (33% more) and it is noticeable. Especially useful for birds as I either get a 33% larger if shot from the same distance, or I don't have to get quite so close to get a useable image... So it allows me to be less intrusive to the birds I'm photographing.
The focus ring rotates when in auto-focus, so I need to adjust where I hold the lens, but there's plenty of fixed bodywork to the lens to grab hold of, this is only a minor problem and easy to learn a new grip to avoid it.
Screw-driven auto focus is fast and accurate, no problems there, and it's only marginally noisier than the F*300mm.
Other minor annoyance is the built-in lens hood... it's good to haveand is a good length, but there is no means of locking it in either extended of collapsed positions, so it keeps flopping forward/back if the lens is tilted too much... nothing a rubber-band won't remedy, but would be better if it were lockable as is the case with the F*300mm
Here's an early test shot in the garden of a "boring" Eurasian Tree Sparrow (male)…
http://www.rob-schumann.com/_assets/img/samples/IMG8323_DxO_Sparrow.jpg
Would I prefer to keep things in the Pentax family of lenses, probably yes... but I ... | |
