Jessops .....Tamron 70-300mm f4/5.6.......................£99.95p

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admirable

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I have one of these that stays in my house as a "spare" zoom, I have to say that I have owned it since my first Dslr (1000d) and compared to even the canon lenses that are a little more expensive I just would not recommend it! I find it very very soft,... Just my thoughts
 
Haha, I just brought this lens a few days ago, so am still finding my feet with it. It does seem to be a bit unforgiving, if you use the wrong settings. More experimentation needed though.

It is soft at full zoom, but then i hear most 'budget' lenses are like that. So I'm wondering if to get a 2xconverter for it, that way I can keep it at about mid zoom. That should keep images sharp shouldnt it?
 
you get what you pay for as they say, but I've never used this lens.
 
ohjin22 said:
It is soft at full zoom, but then i hear most 'budget' lenses are like that. So I'm wondering if to get a 2xconverter for it, that way I can keep it at about mid zoom. That should keep images sharp shouldn't it?
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Not sure about that :( I thought that a converter might well cause the loss of some sharpness. But I'm not certain of that...
 
They are not a terrible lens for the price....but if you hunt around you can pick up a (far superior ) canon 55-250IS for very little more...I bought one for £100 used but mint off fleabay
 
It isn't a special price - the Tamron has been £100 for ages from a number of retailers.

It's an okay price for an okay lens....noticeably soft at the long end.

As for the converter question...adding any size of converter will decrese the image quality. As to how noticeable this is up for debate but given this isn't the sharpest lens at the long end adding a converter can only make things worse.
 
ohjin22 said:
Options are limited on the sony alpha
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Not at all if your happy to delve into the pre-owned market...fill your boots with the best glass ever made in the Minolta G series of lenses.
 
I would not put a converter on this lens, as has been said, it's an ok price for a more or less ok lens, but you do have to watch out for the softness wide open at full zoom, esp in low light, there are decent results to be had from this lens, BUT you need to be aware as it is prone to chromatic aberration . The sigma 70-300 apo dg is a better lens, but also more expensive.
 
As for the converter question...adding any size of converter will decrese the image quality. As to how noticeable this is up for debate but given this isn't the sharpest lens at the long end adding a converter can only make things worse.
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Thats why I was saying about keeping at mid zoom. If 2x300=600 so zooming out to what would normally be 200(when the lens is sharp) would result in the ezuivilant of 400mm (And would hopefully would still be sharp. That was my thinking anyway.

The sigma 70-300 apo dg is a better lens, but also more expensive.
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I did have a Sigma 70 - 300 at one point, but the AF doesnt like sonys much, So hence I swaped it for the Tamron.

Correct me if im going about this wrong, but,

part of the problem I think with a zoom lens is that you have to have quite a high shutter speed (to cut out motion from the subject, and motion from hand shake/ shutter movement). But to get the shutter speeds I want 1/250-500, I have to turn the ISO up which then introduces noise, which in turn removes detail from the image. The sony A200 seems to be quite unforgiving with the low ISO levels. At ISO 400 the noise is quite noticable.

So after reviewing finaces, and looking at statistics/reviews, Im wondering if to change up to another body, I see cameras like the sony A500 have a more flexible ISO sytem and with the increased sensor size, the image quality is better.

But then it may all be down to Im a rubbish photographer. and i should stop blaming the kit. lol
 
ohjin22 said:
Thats why I was saying about keeping at mid zoom. If 2x300=600 so zooming out to what would normally be 200(when the lens is sharp) would result in the ezuivilant of 400mm (And would hopefully would still be sharp. That was my thinking anyway.
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No not really - The lens is too soft really for this to be workable.....if your heart is set on this lens then better IQ for 400ish mm range would be to shoot at 300mm and crop the pic rather than use a converter at all.


ohjin22 said:
I did have a Sigma 70 - 300 at one point, but the AF doesnt like sonys much, So hence I swaped it for the Tamron.

Correct me if im going about this wrong, but,

part of the problem I think with a zoom lens is that you have to have quite a high shutter speed (to cut out motion from the subject, and motion from hand shake/ shutter movement). But to get the shutter speeds I want 1/250-500, I have to turn the ISO up which then introduces noise, which in turn removes detail from the image. The sony A200 seems to be quite unforgiving with the low ISO levels. At ISO 400 the noise is quite noticable.

So after reviewing finaces, and looking at statistics/reviews, Im wondering if to change up to another body, I see cameras like the sony A500 have a more flexible ISO sytem and with the increased sensor size, the image quality is better.

But then it may all be down to Im a rubbish photographer. and i should stop blaming the kit. lol
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Your not wrong with the shutter speed etc. but it's not solely a problem with zoom lenses...unless you go for fast glass you will have this issue with all camera/lens combo's but as you have noted more expensive bodies handle increased ISO issues better.

Maybe a good tripod might help you to keep shutter speeds and ISO a bit lower?
 
ohjin22 said:
It is soft at full zoom, but then i hear most 'budget' lenses are like that. So I'm wondering if to get a 2xconverter for it, that way I can keep it at about mid zoom. That should keep images sharp shouldnt it?
Click to expand...
Hi, I have a Nikon 55-200 VR lens and I can assure it's not soft at full zoom...
 
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