| Author: | | Veteran Member Registered: November, 2009 Location: Iowa Posts: 2,275 | | Review Date: April 1, 2011 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Very, very sharp, great colors, superb build quality, useful macro mode. | | Cons: | Prone to purple fringe | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 6
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 10
Value: 10
| |
This is a superb tele zoom. It's extremely sharp at all focal lengths, with very good color and detail resolution. The build quality is excellent. This lens is a solid hunk of metal and glass that feels great in the hand. The focusing ring, zoom, and aperture rings have the best action and feel of any zoom I've used. They operate very smoothly with no mechanical play or stickiness. The focusing ring is well damped and a pleasure to use, with a nice, long throw.
Some think it's a heavy lens, but to me it just feels solid. I think it's well balanced on the camera and it feels natural in my hands.
It is somewhat prone to PF wide open, (and VERY prone to it if you use a teleconverter) but that can be fixed in post. Stopping down helps.
I might also mention the macro mode on this lens is a lot more useful than many other zooms. A lot of zooms say macro, but it's a usually meaningless marketing gimmick. This lens is very useful for that purpose, though.
One comment about the other reviewer who had difficulty getting into macro mode: I think they have an issue with their particular copy. All you have to do to get to macro mode with this lens is slide the zoom all the way back toward the camera, focus it to minimum distance, then slide it back just a little more, and it pops right into macro. It's easy and smooth and there's no gut-wrenching force required.
I use mine with a P-K adapter, since the P-K "A" adapters for Pentax are stupidly high priced. Meh... I don't miss the "A" that much.
To sum it up, as long as you don't mind manual focus, this is an excellent medium-long tele zoom with prime-like sharpness, (even at 300mm) and superb build quality. I think it's a great addition to any medium to long tele shooter's kit.
| | | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: September, 2010 Location: Northeast Philadelphia Posts: 1,137 | | Review Date: January 2, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $60.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | zoom range, sharpness, color, bokeh, near-macro | | Cons: | big & heavy, zoom not very smooth | |
I agree with the other positive reviews here. This lens is a very solid performer throughout its range. I bought it largely because of what I read in these reviews, and I'm glad that I did.
This lens has an AE setting at f/32, which means that you can use the lens in auto aperture mode if, and only if, you have a Tamron Adaptall-2 P-KA adapter. I do not, so it is a 100% manual lens. This is not a huge downside; the P-K Adaptall adapters are much more common and much less costly than the KA versions, which go for $70-110 on ebay.
The macro is very useful and is quite sharp in the center of the field, particularly in the middle of the aperture range, but gets soft around the edges. It can be very difficult to get the lens into Macro mode at first. Here's how I was able to do it, with guidance from other forum members:
- Take the lens off of the camera if it's on there.
- Bring the zoom/focus ring to its shortest position, 60mm, 1.9m. In this position, he word "MACRO" on the zoom/focus ring will be about a half-inch offset from the word "MACRO" on the barrel of the lens.
- You should feel a notch as you turn the ring to this position, where you can push the zoom ring a little bit closer to the aperture ring.
- Holding the aperture ring, NOT the Adaptall mount, in one hand, push the zoom/focus ring toward the aperture ring while turning it in the direction that would cause the two "MACRO" words to line up. This would be counterclockwise if you were looking at the front of the lens.
- It might feel like nothing is going to happen, but if you work on it, eventually it will turn and align and you will be in macro mode.
- At this point, the zoom/focus ring won't turn, but slides out - you can see the macro scale on the barrel.
As others have mentioned, the highest magnification macro setting brings the front of the lens almost in contact with the object, and the field of view is very narrow.
Here are a few photos. I know that I have not used this lens to the fullest of its ability. I've just been monkeying around with it.
300mm, f/8
macro mode, probably at 1:3 or 1:4
300mm, f/5.6 (I think)
macro mode
macro mode, f/3.8.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: March, 2007 Posts: 3,381 | | Review Date: December 10, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $95.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharp thru the zoom range, construction | | Cons: | Zoom creep at severe angles, some PF | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 10
| |
Agree with all the prior comments. This is an excellent performer and a great bargain. If you have a tight budget, want flexibility, excellent IQ, great build quality and enjoy or don't mind MF, buy one. You won't regret it. This one was a 'new old stock' copy complete with box and original papers with warranty card.
| | | | | Junior Member Registered: May, 2008 Location: Canberra, Australia Posts: 34 | | Review Date: August 24, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $40.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Sharp, good construction, useful macro | | Cons: | heavy, zoom creep, manual focus with DSLRs | |
This is a lens I always like to keep in my camera bag for its versatility. It is sharp throughout the focal range, particularly at the wide end. Telephoto shots are a little soft wide open, but sharp if stopped down a little. The macro function is extremely useful on my copy, with brilliant sharp shots at near life like magnification.
The zoom mechanism in mine is very loose, and it needs to be held at all but absolutely horizontal inclines, however as you need to hold the lens to focus it, this doesn't seem so much of a problem as with auto focus lenses.
Some of these lenses sell for high amounts, but if you see a cheap one it's definitely worth a try.
| | | | | | | Forum Member Registered: April, 2010 Location: Adelaide Posts: 84 | | Review Date: May 3, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $100.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Great IQ and excellent build quality. | | Cons: | A bit heavy, but it is metal! Hood is a bit flimsy. | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 5
Handling: 6
Value: 7
Camera Used: K-5
| |
I have admired this lens since the mid eighties when I bought my first film SLR. For various reasons I never bought one, and ended up with an inferior model. When I was looking for my first DSLR, I stumbled across an almost mint example and it largely influenced my decision to buy a Pentax/Samsung DSLR. The lens came an olympus mount. Unfortunately a KA mount cost me as much as the lens!
I have just upgraded from a Samsung GX-10 to a GX-20 and added a Samsung battery grip which feels a lot more balanced with the Tamron lens. Compared to the lens, the original hood is a bit flimsy so I carry a rubber version instead. The rubber hood is also slightly deeper, which helps as the lens is a little prone to flare.
I have to agree with the other comments. This lens's IQ is really good at most focal lengths. Perhaps just marginally soft at 300mm, but nothing a little sharpening can't fix.
If you don't mind focusing yourself and a bit of extra weight, it is definitely a much better buy than a cheap new 70-300mm.
Update May 2014. I recently updated my GX-20 to a K-5 and the Tamron definitely performs well on this camera too. A battery grip feels even more essential when using the 60-300mm on the K-5.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: November, 2008 Location: North Carolina , USA Posts: 2,271 | | Review Date: May 2, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $20.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Great IQ for a super zoom | | Cons: | You don't hear me say this often but IT'S HEAVEY | |
This was another happy Tamron surprise for me . Great color , contrast and sharpness. I think some may become uncomfortable shooting this handheld over a prolonged time.
This has become the kids outdoor sports and wildlife lens for me!
Update- My first copy looked like it had been stored in the bottom drawer of a diesel mechanic's tool box bt took great pics. I bought a pretty / newer copy that was pristine but the IQ was not as good. Go figure?
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: May, 2008 Location: Rhode Island Posts: 4,180 | | Review Date: November 26, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $90.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Awesome IQ, throughout the zoom range! | | Cons: | Difficult to get the lens into the Macro mode | |
This is an awesome lens--it is that simple. When you compare it to other manual focus options in this range it really stands out. It achieves zoom through push & pull, and is one of the few lenses of this design which actually stays in focus when zoomed in and out.
While reasearching it, I heard it referred to as the "zoom that doesn't know it is a zoom"--it lives up to its billing IMHO. Contrast & sharpness is not something you will need to tease out of images from this lens with software!
If you need an inexpensive tele-zoom, this fills the bill. My Tammy AF 70-300ld macro has not been used since I got this lens. It is so much better, that I do not mind manual focus. However, its metal build adds siginificant weight to its much younger AF sibling, though hand holding is not an issue.
I would give it my "Most Surprising Performance" award--it loves working on the K20d.
***My award of "10" is keeping this lens compared to similar equipment of and before its day i.e., apples to apples rating. Check out some images taken with it.
Finally. wide open PFing shows up in high contrast areas--not a problem for me, but still needs mentioning.
| | |
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
