Is it worth buying a Tamron 70-200mm f2.8?

thatliz

thatliz

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I've been lucky enough to have been asked to photograph a major UK music festival this summer and since none of my current lenses are really up to the job, I've found myself in the market for a new one (any excuse!)

After a bit of research I've now got my sights set on a Tamron 70-200mm f2.8 as it seems to be fairly versatile and not overly expensive. I just wondered if anyone here has any experience of photographing festivals to know whether this would be a good investment and if not, what other alternatives are worth considering?

I have considered renting a couple of lenses, but I think I'd be too scared of taking them to a festival what with the amount of mud, booze and various objects being thrown around the crowds!

Thanks in advance!
 
The tamron has the slowest autofocus of all the 70-200mm lenses.

I'd recommend an HSM equipped Sigma instead... and yes, a 70-200mm is the staple lens for large outdoor festival photography!
 
I tried a Tamron 70-200 and it had major back focusing issues and the focusing was very slow in good light, I think you would struggle in poor light.
 
To add, I used my Sigma HSM Macro II lens (purchased used for £415 from here recently) at an indor festival on Saturday. At times I was shooting 1/125 F2.8 ISO 12800 and the lens still achieved focus fine on my 5D3 - so I am pretty confident of it's capabilities in that scenario.

I can blame myself for the missed shots entirely!
 
I have a Sigma 70-200mm 2.8 OS and have used it for shows in a large club house, it is on a D200 with ISO's up to 1600.

I am by no means even a good amateur but if you would like to see some images there are some in my Flickr account

HTH

Paul
 
I looked at the Tamron for a long time but I heard nothing but bad things. I went with the Sigma 70-200 2.8 and use it for many shows, including festivals and I can't recommend this lens enough. It can be had used for around £400 and it's worth every penny.
 
Thanks so much for your help, everyone :) Good to know that I'm going down the right route with wanting a 70-200mm... Not so good to hear about the Tamron's focusing problems though!

It certainly sounds like the Sigma will cope a lot better with low light and hopefully keep up with the speed that I shoot at when I'm at shows. I have no idea where I'm going to find £400 but it seems I'd be stupid not to get this lens for the festival.

Also, Paul, your images have given me a great insight into the results I could achieve with this lens, so thanks for pointing me in the direction of your Flickr page :) And Richard, I love your website! Always nice to see work from a fellow gig photographer!
 
Whilst the Tamron is very sharp, it reviewed very well in a recent DPreview 70-200 zoom test on a canon or nikon it uses slow micro motors to focus which results in poor af performance.

On a Sony it will use the screw drive focus which is a lot quicker, especially on the higher end models and its stabilised so it makes a much better proposition.
 
Ive shot a nighttime cycle race and it performed well in my opinion, at a large UK music festival I would expect the stage to be fair well lit as far as photos go but if I had money to burn it would be a nikon vr2 version but then you need another £1000 more ! I love the tamron 70-200 and used to live on my camera 99% of the time now the 300mm f4 lives there
 
If only I had that sort of money to spare, haha!

I'm hoping that the main stages will be well lit, but I'm not sure what the light will be like at night or in some of the smaller tents. I've also been asked to photograph festival-goers and get some general atmosphere shots, so this lens is going to have a lot to cope with!

I'd be using the 70-200mm on my Nikon D7000 so it's starting to sound like the Sigma might be a safer option. Just got to hope I can find one for a reasonable price...
 
You make it sound so simple! Sadly I've already got a credit card that's nowhere near being paid off as I used to to tide myself over between jobs last year. I doubt my credit rating will be good enough to get a second card, hence having to go for the cheapest option at the moment :(
 
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