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Tamron AF XR Di LD Macro SP 28-75mm F2.8 Review RSS Feed

Tamron AF XR Di LD Macro SP 28-75mm F2.8

Sharpness 
 8.6
Aberrations 
 8.6
Bokeh 
 8.4
Handling 
 8.9
Value 
 9.1
Reviews Views Date of last review
77 276,886 Tue July 5, 2022
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Recommended By Average Price Average User Rating
94% of reviewers $355.82 8.79
Tamron AF XR Di LD Macro SP 28-75mm F2.8
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Description:

Tamron claims that this lens is the most compact and lightest in the history of fast zoom lenses.

The Tamron 28-75mm is a versatile "walk-around" lens suitable for landscape/scenery, low light and night photography, portraits, sports/action, and weddings.      


Tamron SP 28-75mm F2.8 XR Di LD IF AF
© www.pentaxforums.com, sharable with attribution
Image Format
Full-frame / 35mm film
Lens Mount
Pentax K
Aperture Ring
Yes (A setting)
Diaphragm
Automatic, 7 blades (rounded)
Optics
16 elements, 14 groups
Mount Variant
KAF
Check camera compatibility
Max. Aperture
F2.8
Min. Aperture
F32
Focusing
AF (screwdrive)
Quick-shift
No
Min. Focus
33 cm
Max. Magnification
0.256x
Filter Size
67 mm
Internal Focus
Yes
Field of View (Diag. / Horiz.)

APS-C: 54-22 ° / 46-18 °
Full frame: 75-32 ° / 65-27 °
Hood
Included
Case
Lens Cap
Included
Coating
Multi-coated
Weather Sealing
No
Other Features
Zoom Lock
Diam x Length
92x73 mm (3.6x2.9 in.)
Weight
510 g (18 oz.)
Production Years
to 2018
Pricing
USD current price
Engraved Name
Tamron SP 28-75mm F2.8 XR Di LD IF AF
Product Code
A09
Reviews
User reviews

Price History:



Add Review of Tamron AF XR Di LD Macro SP 28-75mm F2.8
Author:
Sort Reviews by: Date | Author | Rating | Recommendation | Likes (Descending) Showing Reviews 16-30 of 77
Pentaxian

Registered: February, 2015
Posts: 12,177
Review Date: April 6, 2015 Recommended | Price: $350.00 | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: Image quality, relatively cheap, full frame lens
Cons: Build quality, sharpness on edges
Sharpness: 8    Aberrations: 8    Bokeh: 9    Handling: 8    Value: 8    Camera Used: K-5   

This lens is similar to the Tamron 17-50 in terms of built quality and image quality. My copy may have an issue because it lacks sharpness on the edges of the APS-C frame. I see this lens, as a future full frame standard zoom if it is a good copy. Given that images are blurred on the edges of the APS-C frame, I wonder how bad it would be when used with a full frame body. But for now, I'd only write the pros and cons of this lens as I used it on APS-C.

Pros:
- great sharpness in the 2/3 of the frame (center)
- fast f/2.8
- sharp when closed 1 stop, tack sharp when closed two stops
- cheap
- reliable AF
- works with 24x36 image circle
- Tamron 5 years guarantee


Cons:
- a bit heavier that 17-50 (feels like 28-75 has more glass)
- noisy AF
   
Forum Member

Registered: January, 2010
Location: Akershus
Posts: 69
Review Date: March 8, 2015 Recommended | Price: None indicated | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: value for $, size, reasonable sharp
Cons: weight, lens hood fitment
Sharpness: 8    Aberrations: 10    Bokeh: 7    Handling: 10    Value: 10    Camera Used: K-3   

I picked one second hand, but in spotless condition. For the money, and size, it is really great value. Reasonably sharp, and unlike other reviews here, no problems with AF, at least doesn't seem to hunt any more than other lenses. Zoom ring is smooth, and has nice weight to it. Only thing which irritates me is lens hood fitment, tolerance while putting it on/off is really small, on I always knock off lens cap while at it, and that lens extends while zooming/ focusing. Focal length is everyones personal preference, I wish it would be bit wider, but it might suit you just fine.
   
Site Supporter

Registered: March, 2007
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Posts: 2,915
Review Date: January 5, 2015 Not Recommended | Price: $300.00 | Rating: 6 

 
Pros: sharp above f5.6
Cons: very soft at f2.8, heavy
Sharpness: 6    Camera Used: K20D   

I purchased this lens and planned to use it as a walk around lens. I especially wanted the option to use f2.8 in low light situations. My Tamron 28-75mm was always very soft at f2.8. It was good at f5.6 and above, but that wasn't what I needed. Plus I found the lens to be too heavy and bulky for a walk around lens.
   
Veteran Member

Registered: August, 2011
Location: Austin, Texas
Posts: 328
Review Date: December 11, 2014 Recommended | Price: $250.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Size, Speed, Sharpness, Focal Length Range
Cons: Autofocus can hunt a bit
Sharpness: 9    Aberrations: 9    Bokeh: 9    Handling: 9    Value: 10    Camera Used: K-20 and K-3   

I picked my copy up for only $199 (it had a broken filter ring, missing shade, and a small scratch on the front element). I was able to find the replacement filter ring at my local camera repair station and found a shade online. Overall it ended up costing right at $250 and is very much worth it. I was looking for a match to my Tamron 10-24 and it is perfect. Those two lenses can do 99% of everything I photograph with excellent performance. I am a long time Leica rangefinder user (B&W Film) and my lens kit has been 24, 35, 50, 90 and the two Tamron lenses feel equivalent on my Pentax SLR. Only addition in mind is a true macro prime.
   
Senior Member

Registered: July, 2011
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 282
Review Date: December 5, 2014 Recommended | Price: $300.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: Size, weight, price, IQ, FF compatible
Cons: Tamron QC, indecisive focus, OEM lens cap
Sharpness: 10    Aberrations: 9    Bokeh: 8    Handling: 9    Value: 10    Camera Used: Pentax K-x, Pentax K-5   

Easily my most well used lens, going on it's 2nd body now and performs just as well..........possibly even better on my new K5 than previous K-x. Nothing more really to add to previous reviews other than I went through two to get a good one. If it were not for the reviews here and elsewere, I'd probably never known my first was sub-standard, as it was pretty good out of the box. But my 2nd one is in a word, "EXCEPTIONAL"

Image quality rivals the primes I have, and therefore saves much time without the need to swap lenses most of the time. Only reason this lens comes off nowadays is when doing longer tele or tripod work where I have time to compose and use my manual primes (that are within it's focal range) instead.
   
New Member

Registered: June, 2014
Location: Singapore, Singapore
Posts: 8
Review Date: November 29, 2014 Recommended | Price: $250.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Sharpness, Price, Value
Cons: Auto Focus
Sharpness: 9    Aberrations: 8    Bokeh: 8    Handling: 9    Value: 10    Camera Used: Pentax K-30   

This lens is pretty sharp for what its worth. Auto focus hunts a bit. And the focusing distance being 33 cm, its quite good for a casual macros. If focused properly, its damn sharp. Here is a sample shot to show how sharp it is. This was shot at f2.8.

   
Veteran Member

Registered: July, 2014
Location: Paris
Posts: 1,939
Review Date: October 9, 2014 Recommended | Price: None indicated | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: sharp, color
Cons: slow AF
Sharpness: 9    Aberrations: 9    Bokeh: 9    Handling: 9    Value: 9    Camera Used: K5 IIs   

this lens is sharp...if you can focus right, the IQ has nothing to discussed about, just the AF is slowwwwwwwww, yeah, in low light you may want to switch to MF !!
   
Senior Member

Registered: December, 2012
Posts: 135

2 users found this helpful
Review Date: May 26, 2014 Recommended | Price: $475.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: IQ, price, size and weight (for a FF f2.8 2,7x zoom)
Cons: Some geometric distortion at 28mm, loud AF, focus ring turns on AF
Sharpness: 10    Aberrations: 8    Bokeh: 8    Handling: 9    Value: 10    Camera Used: Pentax k-5II   

This is my most used lens as the FOV (42-112mm FF), wide constant f2.8 aperture, and top image quality make it a very fine lens for portrait.

It's reasonably small and light (for it's kind) and built quality is very good (for the price, although not on par with other pro f2.8s) as is image quality (although I did have to correct back focusing).

Highly recomended if you don't need a wider FOV and don't mind the AF noise.
   
Veteran Member

Registered: September, 2013
Posts: 306
Review Date: September 22, 2013 Not Recommended | Price: $450.00 | Rating: 6 

 
Pros: Good from f5.6
Cons: F2.8 very soft, big cos ff lens
Sharpness: 7    Aberrations: 8    Bokeh: 7    Handling: 8    Value: 4   

F2.8 is too soft. Thats whynot recomend this lensbuy sigma 17-70 its better.
   
Veteran Member

Registered: August, 2009
Location: Southeast USA
Posts: 390

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: June 5, 2013 Recommended | Price: $308.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Inexpensive, constant 2.8, versatile, reasonably sharp
Cons: Rear cap mounting, hood mounting, zoom throw a bit uneven
Sharpness: 8    Aberrations: 9    Bokeh: 8    Handling: 7    Value: 9   

I've had this lens for about 1.5 months now. It is a great all-purpose lens for my needs, which is mostly candid portrait length shots. 28 mm is wide enough for when I personally want wide. My copy is a front focuser but luckily I have the K-30 which can adjust for this. The pros are listed in the Pros field and I have nothing to elaborate on there.

BTW, for anyone for whom this lens will be the first zoom lens - although it is an internal focusing lens, the length of the lens does change when zooming.

Cons:
On my copy, the snap-on hood is difficult to take off sometimes. I feel like one of these days I'll damage the lens assembly because of the force required to unseat it.

I don't know if it's my caveman intellect or whatever, but I find the rear cap difficult to put on. Usually it takes me a couple of full rotations before I can get the rear cap to go on. It feels like the aperture lever would be damaged if I ever tried to force the cap on the wrong way.

My copy's zoom ring has uneven resistance throughout the zoom range, but this was not a huge big deal for me. It gets better if you "warm it up" by rotating through the zoom range a couple of times.
   
Senior Member

Registered: October, 2012
Location: Dubai
Posts: 144
Review Date: March 24, 2013 Recommended | Price: $380.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: Sharp, fast,
Cons: Hunts a bit in low light
Sharpness: 9    Aberrations: 8    Bokeh: 8    Handling: 9    Value: 9   

Great walk around lens, great bokeh.
   
Site Supporter

Registered: November, 2010
Location: California
Posts: 2,223

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: January 4, 2013 Recommended | Price: $395.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: Sharp, light weight, easy to use, IQ
Cons: Hood welds itself to front element
Sharpness: 10    Aberrations: 10    Bokeh: 10    Handling: 10    Value: 10   

Too bad things first: Hood attaches itself so hard that it is difficult to remove, and a little noise in the AF. Other than that, this is the perfect lens for almost every occasion. For extra wide angle, you have to get another lens. I do recommend it.


Tamron33-2.8-Test1-1 by Palenquero, on Flickr



Tamron28-75-2.8-Mandarines3-1 by Palenquero, on Flickr
   
New Member

Registered: October, 2012
Posts: 24

2 users found this helpful
Review Date: November 23, 2012 Recommended | Price: $425.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: Perfect range on DSLR, perfect size, sharp & colourful
Cons: Nothing that is the lens's fault
Sharpness: 10    Aberrations: 10    Bokeh: 10    Handling: 10    Value: 10   

The thing that would make me most upset about "having" to go to a full frame camera, is that there is no 45-135 f2.8 on a full frame (the DA* 50-135mm would be my DREAM on a FF but is only for APS-C image circle).
See, because although this is a full frame lens, 28-75mm makes way more sense on a crop sensor to me. The 28 is wide enough for most things - no, not for landscapes and real estate etc., but that's not "most things", and you have a superwide (like a 10-20) for that stuff, if you're into it. 28 is wide enough to get families at BBQs etc. 75mm is long enough for some portraits and the like... EVERYDAY things. It might be a touch longer (my dream would be like 35-105) - but this is as close as it gets, and it's nice and small too.

I recommend this lens before Tamron jump on the stupid 24-70mm band wagon.
Not much else to say really - it's sharp, we know that, it's contrasty, and you're getting the sweet spot of its FF capability when used on crop.
Comes with a hearty recommendation from moi.
   
New Member

Registered: August, 2011
Location: Boston
Posts: 1
Review Date: November 13, 2012 Recommended | Price: $485.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: Most things
Cons: Not HSM/SDM or something like that
Sharpness: 10    Aberrations: 10    Bokeh: 10    Handling: 10    Value: 10   

Best everyday type lens on dSLR - parties, gatherings etc. Long enough, wide enough... perfect.
Replacement for the kit lens but about 63 times as good, not expensive either.
   
Senior Member

Registered: June, 2011
Location: Berlin
Posts: 197
Review Date: August 31, 2012 Recommended | Price: $350.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Sharp, FF support,
Cons: Heavy, soft at f/2.8, slow AF
Sharpness: 9    Aberrations: 7    Bokeh: 8    Handling: 8    Value: 9   

This is a very good lens, the best alternative for the kit. I can use it on both film camera (full frame) and digital camera.

At f/2.8 the lens is a bit soft. At 28mm the distortion is much visible.

Sample picture (A monkey in a Pagoda in Tay Ninh, Viet nam). Taken at f/2.8,

Add Review of Tamron AF XR Di LD Macro SP 28-75mm F2.8



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