| Author: | | Pentaxian Registered: January, 2009 Location: East Bay Area, CA Posts: 6,622
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 13, 2012 | Not Recommended | Price: $500.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | decent macro IQ | | Cons: | Stuck aperture! | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 6
Value: 8
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I wanted to wait until i had taken several shots with this lens before i added my review, BUT, after buying it used from a forumite, I used it one time before the aperture locked up. I've read several cases of this issue with Tamron lenses and feel i should warn you that if you are remotely considering buying a Tamron lens, buy it new for the warranty.
It has been months and i never got around to sending in my lens nor am i thrilled with the thought of having to pay a repair on a defective lens since mine is not on warranty.
Just be careful folks.
[EDIT: so i did send it to Tamron and they wanted something like $160 to repair their own defect which I shall not pay...this paperweight sits in a drawer]
| | | | | | | Pentaxian Registered: August, 2011 Location: Melbourne Posts: 4,847
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: December 11, 2011 | Not Recommended | Price: $330.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | exceptionally sharp across frame | | Cons: | annoying and klunky AF/MF swap, poor quality control, poor AF in LV | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 2
Value: 7
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Let's first get the image quality out of the way; it is superb across the frame. You would be hard-pressed to tell the difference between edges and centre even at 100%. I was amazed that applying edge sharpening in Aperture often has no discernible effect, it's already as sharp as it gets!
I compared sharpness in a few real-world shots with my DA 55-300 at 90mm and my DA 40 and DA 70 Limiteds at closer range to give roughly the same field of view. At frame centre the DA 55-300 was as sharp as the Tamron, but even half way to the edge it was no match. The Limiteds are nicely sharp across the frame - as sharp as you would normally need and excellent for both landscape and portraiture - but the Tamron is another step up. Brutal! Indeed, probably too brutal and clinical for portraits. Perfect for macro use though.
Now to the things I don't like. First, in some of my first few shots with this lens it overexposed by about 3 stops on my K-5! I was shocked, and set about figuring out what was going on. I eventually found the aperture blades were sticking. With the lens off the camera the prong that works the blades was not going all the way back to the fully stopped down position as it should. Five minutes of manually moving it back-and-forth, and slightly bending it fixed the problem. It has not recurred. But not a good start. I would still say it slightly overexposes on macro shots, though this is not related to the sticking problem.
My major concern though is the horrible AF/MF switching procedure. You have to set the AF/MF switch on the camera AND engage or disengage the clutch on the lens (for Pentax and Sony mounts, but not for Canon or Nikon). We are even warned on the instruction sheet that failure to coordinate the two can cause damage to either camera or lens or both! Especially with a macro lens, where one often needs to switch to manual, this is a genuine pain. And dangerous. Very very annoying; very very silly.
When engaged, AF is generally quick and precise, aided if necessary by the focus limiter. But not in Live View when using it for macro. Most of the time, it simply will not focus at all in those circumstances. For longer range shots it is fine though.
Another minor annoyance is the supplied screw-on hood. Compared to similar hoods on Pentax lenses, the Tamron is very fiddly to engage, whether putting it on for shooting or in reverse for storage. Whereas the Pentax hoods just seem to go on immediately and without any special care, the Tamron hood frequently takes me several attempts to find the thread. The same can be said for the rear cap.
This is my first macro lens, and I admit I am having trouble coming to grips with the tiny depth of field. In one of my first shots I had an ant's head in focus but its body was out of focus! Obviously, I need to stop down more. But then that means using very high ISO and/or a tripod with long exposures. Quite tricky in practice with anything that moves. Even flowers in a gentle breeze sway in and out of focus as you're trying to compose and take the shot. But that's the nature of the beast.
So, do I recommend this lens? Am I happy I bought it? Well, still unsure. The Pentax DA 100mm WR macro was and still is an attractive alternative. In the Pentax's favour: single operation AF/MF switch, weather sealing, the lovely Pentax DA focus clutch, 100mm may be better for macro than 90mm, comparable image quality, superior build. In the Tamron's favour: much cheaper, focus limiter, aperture ring if you need it, 90mm better for portraits. I will persist with the Tamron, but one day, in a fit of exasperation, I may just trade it in for the Pentax. Or maybe I'll get used to its idiosyncrasies.
| | | | | New Member Registered: July, 2013 Posts: 2 | | Review Date: October 18, 2023 | Recommended | Price: $140.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Optical performance, price, aperture ring | | Cons: | Garish 90s graphics, focus hunting | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 8
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-50
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For some reason, the Pentax mount version of this lens was significantly cheaper than the Canon/Nikon mounts I found on Amazon. The seller listed the condition as very good, but considering the lens age, I would have rated it excellent+. Optically, it performs as expected - superbly. Right out of the box I made images of flowers in the yard that astounded my girlfriend. If I ever need a portrait lens, it'll do that very well. It has (by design) a long focus range, so it hunts a lot in low light if you're using it in a non-macro situation. For macro, I use manual focus, so the long throw is highly effective. It's not as sharp as my Rikonon 135mm F2.0, so I can't give it a 10 in that department. My only personal beef with it is the bold gold lettering, only because it clashes with its conservative Pentax and Sigma siblings. Other reviewers have noted that as a positive.
If you have a need for a full frame macro lens with manual aperture control ability that is bargain priced but delivers professional results, this lens is a top choice.
| | | | | Forum Member Registered: January, 2021 Posts: 88
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 16, 2021 | Recommended | Price: $215.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Decent AF with focus limiter, Aperture ring, Close focusing down to 1:1 | | Cons: | | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Handling: 8
Value: 8
Camera Used: KP
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Mine was the 272E version; the focus throw is approx. 270 degrees and the diameter 71.5mm. Focus limits are: full range, 29-40cm, and 45cm to infinity.
Looking back at the wide open shots I took when setting the AF Fine Adjust, I can see it was mildly decentred: not too much of an issue with flowers in the centre of frame and stopped down; might be something to be wary of if your subject is flatter and more square on.
Sharpness:
On APS-C very even across the frame except at the absolute widest apertures. Wide open, I'd rate it as 7/10. This rises to 9/10 at f/4, and stays at this level before falling to 8/10 at f/11. It drops again at f/22 to 7/10. f/32 is a usable 6/10, but shows all the dust on your sensor.
Contrast is excellent and the colours pleasing, but it's not quite so fresh feeling as the Pentax 100mm WR - greens in vegetation are lighter and brighter with that lens, for instance.
Aberrations:
- Purple glare around highlights at f/2.8, only if looked for at f/4, gone by f/5.6
No noticeable aberrations except when wide open.
Bokeh:
Wide open shooting is not my style. Out of focus areas are pleasant enough, but can be spoiled by the purple-edged highlights at the widest apertures.
Handling:
Very good. It may be bigger and heavier than 50-200 kit lenses, but it's still comfortable. It's deeply recessed, so the centre of gravity remains near the camera. If you've used a kit lens, then you'll be prepared for how much it extends.
I had no problems switching from AF to MF and vice versa, or using the focus limiter.
The focus throw of around 270 degrees makes manual focus a cinch; I even managed to focus stack successfully.
Given how deeply recessed the front element is I'm not sure the lens hood is needed, except if you're using a filter. Access to any filter is slightly awkward with the lens hood fitted; the hood reversed blocks the focus ring.
Autofocus:
I had no issues with focusing, but I would do it manually for close-up work. It covers a lot of ground, so can be slow - the focus limiter helps a lot. Once it thinks it's found its target, it tends to be bang on. Remember to configure the AF Fine Adjust setting on your camera.
Recommended?
Yes. If you don't have a macro lens, then YES! (Prepare to have your eyes opened).
Unless you need weather-resistance, I'd recommend the 272E over Pentax's 100mm WR as it should be 50-60% of the price and works well as both a macro and short telephoto. Purely manual focus macro lenses are even better value, though.
| | | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: January, 2019 Location: Geelong, Australia Posts: 341
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 4, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $400.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharpness, Macro, Aperture control | | Cons: | focus speed, noisy, fucus hunt | |
After using this lens for 12 months (quite frequently) i have found this to be an excellent lens overall with only a few minor issues.
Macro is 1:1 and just awesome. Portraits turn out beautiful with this lens and gives nice vibrant colors eliminating he need to always use RAW as the JPEGs turn out very very nice.
Picture clarity is amazing but lacks a little at long distances.
Where it fails a little is the noisy focus, often jumpy focus hunting and the focus speed is not as good as some lenses I own. Not as slow as a Sigma 35mm ART lens, but nowhere near as fast as my 55-300PLM.
Being able to set aperture manually is a big bonus when shooting manual.
Manual focus is easy after switching on the body and then the lens, a little tedious but effective.
Manual focus is a little speedy and a more turn for less focus speed is desirable for myself to fine tune a little easier.
All in all, I gave the lens a 9 but it should be around 9.5.
| | | | | New Member Registered: January, 2019 Posts: 14 | | Review Date: January 29, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $275.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | | | Cons: | Plastic, light, aberration, less sharp than Vivitar S1 105 2.5 | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 6
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 8
Value: 8
Camera Used: K-3II
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Very good lens.
 | | | | | Junior Member Registered: May, 2018 Posts: 34 | | Review Date: December 10, 2018 | Recommended | Price: $350.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Takes fabulous, sharp, photos | | Cons: | Autofocus can hunt but I prefer manual focus anyway | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 8
Value: 9
Camera Used: Pentax K-1
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I shot this lizard in Barbados. This has been cropped by about 50% and sharpened and had the WB altered automatically. It shows the detail you can expect even if you only half fill the frame with the subject. Original file was 14+mb. More detail than can be seen in this version reduced during upload it seems.
| | | | | New Member Registered: April, 2011 Location: Dorset , UK Posts: 6
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: June 18, 2018 | Recommended | Price: $205.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | sharpness and bokeh | | Cons: | AF sound | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 8
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-70
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This Tamron lens is very very good optically (surely by far the most important aspect of any lens) !
Sharpness is wonderful and out of focus areas are smooth and I like them a lot !
AF speed (on Pentax K-70) is ok, it hunts sometimes but AF noise is horrendous )-:
MF is easy enough to implement (pull back the lens focusing ring and switch camera to MF (which you don`t have to do but then the cameras AF will override your MF and the focusing won`t be very smooth)
As you probably know there sadly are very few macro lenses that fit Pentax cameras, this Tamron being one of them. I can`t compare them with Pentax lenses but I can compare them with both Sigma 105mm OS macro and Sigma 150mm OS macro lenses (Nikon fit) and both have superior AF in speed, accuracy and lower noise and are possibly even sharper ! However, both are bigger and heavier and more expensive too !
I do recommend this lens, it`s not perfect but it does allow a great deal of fine detail to be recorded !
| | | | | New Member Registered: November, 2017 Posts: 5 | | Review Date: November 24, 2017 | Recommended | Price: $200.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Bokeh, sharpness, amazing overall image quality | | Cons: | no aperture ring for using on manual cameras | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
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I have the E72 version on my K1 and the SP Di in Nikon mount, both version is very great, soon pictures available.
Excellent lens also recommandable for portraits.  | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: February, 2014 Posts: 421
7 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: February 6, 2017 | Recommended | Price: $229.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharp, fast, nice colors & contrast | | Cons: | Weird AF / MF clutch | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 7
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-5IIs
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This lens is an amazing value when you buy it used. There are older version with model numbers 72e and 172e, but this one is 272e which supposedly is best for digital sensor.
Never mind the macro capabilities, this lens is also an amazing medium telephoto on crop sensor. Wonderful portraits, sometimes even too sharp. Colors are very nice and the contrast follows. Auto focus is very fast when you use the limiter, which will not allow you to focus closer than 45cm but that's what you want for a telephoto.
I did a lot of searching for and researching about what telephoto to get for nice portraits. Those lenses are very expensive, as there is no Pentax 85mm with autofocus below $1000. Closest to my budget was Samyang 85mm 1.4 (which is MF) but that lens is not sharp until 2.8, so you get some nice bokeh but if you want sharp, then you need to stop down to (guess what) F/2.8.
Macro is a very interesting and satisfying form of photography and it does require a lot of experimenting and learning until you start producing something really good.
With this lens you have both macro and a nice autofocus telephoto.
 | | | | | Senior Member Registered: September, 2008 Location: Omaha, NE Posts: 106
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: October 22, 2016 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: N/A |
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Just wanted to say that it works on K-1.
| | | | | Junior Member Registered: June, 2012 Posts: 47
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: July 21, 2016 | Recommended | Price: $350.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Sharpness, macro | | Cons: | af hunt, lens creep, purple fringing | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 9
Camera Used: K200D
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very sharp wide open, prone to purple fringing when high contrast
af hunts in low light. lens creeping
focus limit is very useful
| | | | | New Member Registered: February, 2016 Location: Montreal Posts: 4
5 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: February 17, 2016 | Recommended | Price: $300.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | bokeh, sharpness, construction, price | | Cons: | autofocus | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: Pentax K5
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It's a amazing macro lens. Very performant, sharpness. The only "default" is that it's a little bit slow (autofocus), but it's better to use the manual mode with a macro lens. It's clearly the best macro lens to beginning.
 | | | | | New Member Registered: August, 2015 Posts: 13
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 9, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $428.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Very sharp from wide open! Nice bokeh! Fine color and contrast. Low cost. | | Cons: | None | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-5, K-3
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Almost ideal lens (may be, it lacks the ultrasonic motor)! I want the same, but for 135mm! And 300mm to!
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: December, 2012 Location: Wild-Nord-East Hungary Posts: 149
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: June 8, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $300.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Very sharp, contrast, color, build, focus limiter, price | | Cons: | I so far not found | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-30, K-3 II
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I purchased used, not primarily to photograph macro; lacked on analog routine 135 mm.
The DA 70 / 2.4 behind this is the best lens, which I have.
F2.8 aperture portrait is pleasant and nice bokeh; f4: portrait is almost too sharp.
The limiter is very useful; the focus so is very fast and accurate.
Limiter without a little hunting.
Bokeh narrow on opening at the somewhat confusing
The front lens sits deep enough, it can be used without a lens hood.
Manual with focus adjustment on my old Pentax (P30n) is also useful.
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