| Author: | | New Member Registered: November, 2014 Posts: 1 | | Review Date: December 5, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $680.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharpness, fast lens | | Cons: | not dust proof ; no quick shift focus ; far not stealth | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 8
Value: 9
Camera Used: Pentax K5
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Very good lens at a reasonable price, very sharp even wide open. After 3 years of normal use I can see not so many but yet some specks of dust inside the front lens. I think it won't affect that much the image quality, nevertheless I can't help but seeing them.
This lens is a great performer when shooting sports thanks to its aperture, but can also be used for portraits with very good results.
| | | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: July, 2014 Location: Paris Posts: 1,939 | | Review Date: November 3, 2014 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | IQ, bokeh | | Cons: | size, build | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 8
Value: 9
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This lens is great on FF, on crop it's a little too long (~105 - 300), the IQ is great and you cann't ask more than that
very big & heavy (at least for me), the bokeh is creamy and I think is great for wild life but not yet tested (I just borrow this big boy from a friend this week and let him play with my Pentacon 135)
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: February, 2011 Posts: 4,873
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 30, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $800.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharpness, Bokeh, Cost | | Cons: | No WR, No quick shift | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 7
Value: 10
Camera Used: Pentax K-5
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Don't believe the reviews you see online about generic Tamron's, tested on Canon or Nikon. Pentax's screwdrive is more powerful than on those brands.
The autofocus of this lens is as fast as any telephoto available for Pentax.
Sharp, great bokeh, cheap. Excellent value and the best telephoto available for Pentax.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: May, 2012 Location: Mission, B.C. Posts: 166
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 16, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $780.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | IQ, minimum focusing distance, price | | Cons: | Weight/size, manual focus, noise | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 6
Value: 10
Camera Used: Pentax K-3
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This lens is, without a doubt, my favourite telephoto zoom I've had the pleasure to use. I rented the 50-135 before I bought this, and found it to have better colours and arguably more pleasing backgrounds (and also it feels like it's less than half the size), but I found it to be slow as molasses to focus. The Tamron is a heck of a lot louder, but it focuses quickly and accurately on the K-3. The lack of a tripod collar on the 50-135 is also an annoyance (I like to shoot on a monopod, and the tripod collar makes it really easy to switch from landscape to portrait). The Tamron also has a shorter minimum focusing distance, which really appealed to me given my love for getting right up close and personal with my subjects while using a telephoto. IQ is pretty stellar; good wide open and nearly unbelievable at f4.
The only real complaint I have with the lens is the manual focus clutch system the Tamron implements, which is an ergonomic nightmare. To change from auto focus to manual, you have to not only flick the switch on the body, but also grab the focusing ring on the lens and pull it back. This two-step process might be forgivable, but the clutch mechanism is sometimes tricky, and it can take a little finesse to get it to disengage, which slows the whole process to a crawl. Even worse, disengaging the clutch moves the focus, so you have to start from scratch focusing. That being said, I'm sure that with practice the process will get easier, but every time I go through it I appreciate quick shift a little more.
Overall this lens is just about perfect for a budget 70-200. Silent focusing would be nice to have in some scenarios, but for the most part the screw drive is fine, and as I said it's fast and accurate. The manual focus clutch really sucks, there's no point sugar coating it, and I have to wonder why it was engineered that way, but other than that one sticky point I'd have no issues recommending this lens to anyone.
| | | | | | | Pentaxian Registered: February, 2010 Location: Northern Michigan Posts: 6,175
4 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 11, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $640.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Great lens for the price | | Cons: | Auto focus not always reliable | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 5
Value: 10
Camera Used: Pentax K-5iis
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I bought this lens primarily for photography work I do at the local zoo. I use it for event shooting at the zoo and when I need a slighter wider FOV than is provided by my DA* 300. I would have preferred the DA* 60-250, for the WR, the SDM, and the Pentax colors; but I couldn't justify paying the DA* price for a lens that covers a focal range I don't use all that often.
In terms of optical quality, this is a very good lens. DA* glass may be a tad sharper, a tad contrastier, with better color rendition (particularly of light blues and light greens), but the differences are subtle and often it requires a practiced eye to tell images from high end Pentax lens and this one apart. And this lens performs very well at all focal lengths, even wide open. It's possible, as some have suggested, that it might be slightly less sharp wide open at 200mm, but honestly, I'm not seeing anything significant. The real problem wide open at 200mm is the narrow depth of field, which means you have to absolutely nail the focus if you want the shot to be sharp. Unfortunately, AF may be the principle weakness of this lens. In good light, when focused on a contrasty subject, it's reliable most of the time. In poorer light, with less contrasty subject matter, reliability can diminish. Of course, the same can be said of nearly any lens. However, I find that my DA* 300 focuses more reliably than the Tamron. It's not necessarily a problem when shooting static subjects, where you can refocus and take multiple shots; but it can be a problem with things that are moving. Because of these AF weaknesses, this is not a lens I would recommend for sports or action photography.
Build quality of the lens is nothing special, but good enough for most purposes (it's not WR, of course). Yes, there is a fair amount of plastic; but I suspect the plastic is mostly on the outer shell. The mount is metal and I suspect the basic frame is metal as well. This lens contains quite a bit of glass and is heavy, despite the plastic outer shell.
There is no quick shift with this lens, or an MF switch. You have to change to MF on your Pentax camera and then shift the large focusing ring. So quick changes from AF to MF are challenging with this lens.
For static subjects, whether portraits, animals, or even landscapes, you won't find a better K-Mount lens covering the 70-200mm focal range at the Tamron price.
Below are some sample images.
Landscape at 107mm, f8:
@ 70mm, f4:
@ 115mm, f3.5:
@ 140mm, f3.5
@ 200mm, f2.8
Addendum:
I've had the opportunity to use the lens on a full-frame camera. It works very fine on the larger sensor as well. I haven't taken any wide open shots (the DOF is pretty narrow), but stopped down the lens is sharp edge to edge.
With the K-1:
@100mm, f16
 | | | | | New Member Registered: November, 2013 Location: Port Orchard, WA Posts: 10
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 20, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $700.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Super Sharp, solid, accurate, fast aperture. | | Cons: | Lens is large. | |
This lens is amazing if you take the time to make your photos accurate. This is easily the sharpest lens that I own. It is sharp straight from 2.8 and remains sharp all the way to 200mm. I have read that there is some falloff in detail at 200mm/2.8, but I haven't seen that pixel peeping in my own photos. In terms of sharp, I would rather use this lens than my Pentax 50/1.7, as I have to do less work removing CA and working to make the lens sharp. The AF is fast, especially considering the amount of large glass it is moving. It is also extremely accurate. I would say that it is accurate to a fault as it seems to use tighter circles around the focus points than the Pentax 18-135 does. I'm not sure how this happens, but both this lens and my 17-50 exhibit this behavior. To me, this only shows that the lens is accurate and requires me to pay attention a little more to my focus points when using this lens.
The lens is large. Large enough that I have had to purchase a new bag, but I will still likely take this lens on occasion as a walk-around. It is not so heavy that I mind carrying it around for a few hours. My 500mm is about the same girth, slightly shorter, and quite a bit lighter and I have no issues taking that to the streets once in a while. The tripod mount is solid and handy.
Minor complaints: My only complaint is that it is not WR. I have no issues with the 2 step MF process, and considering the large size and throw of the focus ring, it allows for real accurate tuning of focus when in MF mode. The lens is as solid as any of my other lenses and I don't feel like I have to baby it at all. I will probably still baby it, because I just don't have the money to replace it. I don't really have any issues with the AF noise on this lens, because I like the solid sound and feel of the camera's drive system. It gives me confidence that I shouldn't have to replace some cheap tiny sonic motor.
This is currently my favorite lens, and will be on my camera when I am taking portraits or I need the throw (provided it isn't raining). Otherwise, I will have my Tammy 17-50 on there.
| | | | | Junior Member Registered: September, 2013 Location: Brwinow, Mazovia, Poland Posts: 46
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 17, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $830.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharpness and bokeh quality, build, attractive price | | Cons: | Purple fringing happens often | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-5
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I fell in love with this lens once I got it in my hands. What bought me first was sharpness and perfect bokeh. At the time I stay at home, not much chance to go outdoors, and squirrels and birds on my homestead appear to hide. Luckily, I had the chance to take two portrait sessions at my terrace. Faces, clothes: all are rendered perfectly with great colour and "3D feel". I do love the bokeh!
I was afraid of handling. No worries. As long as you can take pictures using a telephoto lens, no problems with camera shake. The lens is perfectly balanced in my opinion and handles very well.
Yes, the AF happens to miss the subject if you don't point exactly at the chosen point. Yes, switching to MF is a little bit weird but it is not a primary worry for a Pentaxian.
What is some point is the fact I could generate a big deal of purple fringing in situations I would have not expected that. A portrait session with a dark suit and white shirt: Always fringing where the suit met the shirt. An outdoor food photo which I often do: the edge of white plate against dark flora of my place: Purple fringing. Not that it is hard to correct in Lightroom, on opposite, it is very easy but I just only want to say: Purple fringing was the only negative point for me.
Overall, I have great expectations towards this lens. We'll see when the bicycle season really starts in my country...
All samples on K-5.
122.5mm, f/5.6
115mm, f/4.5
140mm, f/4.5
77.5mm, f/2.8
82.5mm, f/4
70mm, f/2.8
92.5mm, f/4 (bokeh!)
200mm, f/5.6, crop 30%
Macro test, Tungsten 500W. Distance=0.95m, f/8. Focal lenghts: 70, 87.5, 100, 130, 160, 200mm.
Taken a while ago... 200mm, f/4.
 | | | | | Forum Member Registered: November, 2012 Posts: 57 | | Review Date: February 9, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $707.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Image quality, well built | | Cons: | strange auto-focus switch mechanics, bad IQ at 200mm wide open | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 9
Value: 10
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Excellent lens especially for that price.
It's really well built and feels quite tough.
While I like the auto-focus switch mechanics itself it's still sort of weird that you have to disable the AF of the camera as well, so that's a minor issue, otherwise it handles really well. The Zoom ring moves very smoothly and also keeps its position very well, same goes for the focusing ring.
The Image quality is really nice, even wide open at f2.8 for any focal length below 200mm. At 200mm the image gets quite soft at f2.8, quite exceptionally actually but it is easily fixed by stopping down one f-stop, then the image is sharp again.
From what I tested the CAs are also very minor at any given configuration.
Overall a really nice lens, especially for that price it is absolutely stunning and I can only recommend it!
| | | | | New Member Registered: February, 2013 Posts: 4
2 users found this helpful
| | | | | New Member Registered: February, 2014 Location: South Carolina Posts: 5 | | Review Date: February 5, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $620.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharp, true colors, durable | | Cons: | poor auto focus | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 7
Handling: 9
Value: 10
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I bought this lens in 2011 after doing weeks of research. I chose this one over the Sigma 70-200 f2.8 because of the side by side comparison on dpreview.com. I was also not willing to spend over $1,000 on a lens, so this was the best I could afford. It has become a staple in my go-to lens collection for hiking and bird and reptile photography! For being a f/2.8 and only 600 bucks, this lens is more than amazing. Talk about sharpness. It is sharp, even at f/2.8. Of course, to be utilized to full capabilities a tripod would make it even sharper. Hand holding is completely possible. I have only once mounted it on a tripod, but usually always get sharp images when I hand hold. After f/10 it is mind-blowing how sharp images are after some post-processing (even before!).
The CA is only a problem for me in direct, super bright sunlight, and it is usually yellow or cyan. But it is completely fixable in post processing. Other than that, I have gotten very minimal to almost no CA. I found the colors to be very close to accurate, especially outside on sunny days.
The minimum focusing distance is only about 3 feet, which I got used to. 3 feet isn't too bad for a 70-200, but for a lens that claims to be a macro, I began wishing for less than a foot minimum focusing distance. To be honest, I didn't even notice the word "Macro" was in the lens name when I bought it, nor did I notice macro capabilities when I shot with it. It is not a true macro, though I had been using this as a macro lens until I got a "real" macro lens.
The auto focus is clumsy and slow for me, and sometimes the ring is hard to move from manual focus to auto and back. I almost always manual focus, so I'm not too bent out of shape with the focusing problems. It will hunt in low light, too. It is also quite loud. At a concert or play, I suggest not using auto focus because of how loud it is!
This is quite a heavy lens. When I first started using it, I thought my arms were going to fall off, but after using it so often, I don't really think about the weight. I go on 16 mile hikes with this thing now and am completely fine. Speaking of hikes, this thing has been on every single camping trip I have taken. Through rain, heat, bitter cold, fog, all kinds of weather that happens here on the East Coast. It has endured! The ring held in by three small screws at the top of the lens is coming loose, but I am sending that in to get fixed. I tightened them myself and they haven't started to loosen, a month after the fact.
Overall, I have no qualms with this lens. I don't use the auto focus much, so those issues don't particularly bother me. If you are on a hunt to find an awesome, fast telephoto lens and not shell out over $1,000, look no further!
Below are pictures I took with this lens on a k-7:
    | | | | | New Member Registered: October, 2013 Posts: 6 | | Review Date: November 2, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $450.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Great lens , even at 200 mm , very sharp | | Cons: | massive | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 10
Value: 10
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great lens , i bought secondhand , 3 months old for 300 euro , what a great lens , great sharpness  
all pictures at 200mm F5.6
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: October, 2011 Location: Rochester, MI Posts: 147 | | Review Date: September 7, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $550.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Great IQ, Constant 2.8, Price, "Macro" Capability | | Cons: | Big, Heavy, Poor AF | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 8
Value: 10
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The Good:
My lens bag didn't contain a FL beyond 70mm and I wanted a good zoom that I could use for all my telelphoto shots and this lens fit the bill. The image quality of the lens is fantastic. At wide open the lens is sharp. Stopped down to F/4 the lens is very sharp. Bokeh is fantastic and CA is very minimal and I would say excellent for a telephoto zoom this cheap. All the mechanics are internal so theres no retracting or extending sections when zooming or focusing. The screw drive AF is a bit loud but not terribly so.
The Bad:
The lens is BIG. Like, much bigger than the DA* zooms in a similar focal range like the DA* 50-135. Its also quite heavy as well. However, my own real complaint about this lens is the AF. For those focus critical shots theres really no chance of the AF being accurate enough. Its somewhat slow and for some reason very inaccurate on my K-5. It works well enough for many daylight situations but I often find myself having to perform manual focus on many shots I wouldn't normally have to with other lenses.
The Gist:
I really like this lens. I've really only just started using it but I very quickly learned that its capable of taking some fantastic photos. I think its by far the best value in fast telephoto zooms out there. If you're looking for a telephoto zoom (or prime even) without spending a lot I think this lens is easily the best choice on the market right now.
 | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: March, 2007 Location: U.K. Posts: 685
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 7, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $782.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Optics | | Cons: | Autofocus | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 8
Value: 10
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Fantastic value compared with comparable lenses. My newly acquired today Tamron SP AF 70-200mm F/2.8 Di LD [IF] Macro Lens has been put through the mill to make sure it's OK. After much deliberation I've set the AF adjustment on my K-30 to -5, it's OK at default but definitely better at this setting, it was slightly front focusing so that the subject was only just on the edge of the in-focus region. This didn't seem to change with FL.
As for sharpness/colour/contrast issues, there aren't any - it's almost perfect but f2.8 is a bit softer than f4 (razor sharp at all FL) much as you would expect but still extremely usable. The AF is generally fast enough for most things, no full rotations unless pointed at a white wall or something. I bought this after seeing some YouTube videos that showed it was slow on a Canon body but much faster on a K-5. My old Tamron 70-300 f4-5.6 was good enough for fast-ish AF on my K-30 so I reckoned this 70-200 would be also. It is but not always, mostly it goes to a new focus position in a blink but sometimes it goes there and does a little tremble before locking, I've noticed there's a tiny bit of backlash in the lens gearing not there on the 70-300. I've set my K-30 to release priority to enable me to decide when to finish pressing the shutter and a few dozen shots showed me that this could be a viable solution when the lens hesitates - nothing was out of focus when I released after the main movement.
The AF is not loud but obviously can be heard being screw drive. Focus seems to hold good if the zoom is adjusted, always useful.
All in all, I'm happy with this lens at £500, it performs wonderfully as far as the optics are concerned - I've got a load of low light high ISO images a friend took at a wedding reception with his Canon 5DmkIII and 300/2.8 L prime (£5k)/ 24-70 2.8 L (£1.7k) and this K-30+Tammy competes at the same ISOs! Not as good but strewth it's close.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: August, 2009 Location: Southeast USA Posts: 390
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: June 5, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $769.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Image quality, value, build quality | | Cons: | No aperture ring, rear cap mounting, quick shift doesn't really do anything | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 7
Value: 10
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This is a great lens overall, but especially great for the price. I paid $769 new, which gets me the 6 year warranty.
I've only had the lens for a week but so far I've loved the images that this can help me produce. Very sharp images and it can focus pretty close too (not a true macro lens, despite the Tamron advertising copy). 70-200 is a great range of focal lengths for me because I love portraiture.
Unlike the Tamron 28-75, nothing on this lens changed when focusing or zooming. It maintains a constant shape whatever the focus or zoom, which will be good for minimizing dust entry.
Nothing to elaborate on the pros, so here are the cons:
For whatever reason, when I'm at a long focal length, the camera feels the need to do one full cycle through the focus ring before finding focus. I haven't noticed this happening on my Tamron 28-75.
I find the rear cap difficult to get on, as you apparently have to have it in just the right position because of the rear cap design. Unlike the Tamron 28-75, the front hood is much easier to take off.
The quick shift doesn't do anything to override the camera body's focus setting, so it's largely pointless. It could be that I need to have the camera AF setting on AF.A??? (I have the K-30)
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: February, 2009 Location: egypt Posts: 435 | | Review Date: May 19, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $900.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | very sharp.ballanced well.awesome bokeh | | Cons: | | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 9
Value: 10
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I bought the lens new from B&H.The lens is tac sharp at wide open and the focus is very good when used with my k5.I found it very quick compare with my pentax prime/fa 35 f2+fa 43+fa77/.
the color render is very similar to the pentax fa 35 f2. it is prime like than a zoom like.
thanks tamron for still keeping pentaxians this fantastic lens.
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