Tameron 70-300mm?

Dean Wil

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Okay, im getting my SLR in a few weeks, its a D3000. And for an extra £200, along with the camera and the kit lens, i get a 8 gig SD card, a lowepro bag (i forget which one) and a Tameron 70-300 mm lens.

Is it worth my money? As its really the tameron im paying for i guess.

Whats the lens like?

Thanks,
Dean.

Also, im not interetsed on a debate about what camera im getting, the decisions been made my friends!
 
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Yea, well I think that the whole kit is worth the money, however the Tamron zoom lens hmmm - it is generally quite poor. However it is good value for money, so I am sure that for a start it would be good for you and you would probably like it. It have a nice range, but the AF is slow and the sharpness is bad.

It is up to you, whether you think you need it!
 
Yea, well I think that the whole kit is worth the money, however the Tamron zoom lens hmmm - it is generally quite poor. However it is good value for money, so I am sure that for a start it would be good for you and you would probably like it. It have a nice range, but the AF is slow and the sharpness is bad.

It is up to you, whether you think you need it!

Ill want a good zoom lens, cos i photograph wildlife, but if this lens isnt much cop, ill just get the camera and the kit lens, and buy a better zoom lens in the future...hmmm....
 
I think you can pick up that lens for about £130 ish. The only time I used a Tamron lens I wasn't happy with the IQ.

If this is to be your walkabout lens and depending on what you photograph the 70mm end might be too narrow (I think it is for my general photography) - I use a Sigma 18-200 as my 1st choice.

Hope that helps
 
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I got the Tamron a while back with the D5000 at a discounted price and sometimes use it now but its not of use for a lot of what I do. I find nothing majorly wrong with the lens but compared to higher models it perfoms understandably poor. AF isn't great either and sometimes it hunts around to get focus. Depending on your funds and how quickly you need the kit maybe save for 70-200 from sigma or tamron, or even the Nikon 70-300mm
 
I have that lens. It's not a great lens, but if light allows it try to use f8 (on reviews it seems to show the clearest image)
 
You can pick up an 8giggedy card for £15.

Tamron lens? Don't do it. I was using a Tamron 18-200 with a D40 - the zoom was great, but the lens was def flawed.

I use a Nikon zoom lens now and the difference in image quality is very noticeable.

If you were stuck for cash, you could get the Tamron. But if you are looking at spending £200, spend £225 and get the Nikon 18-105 VR.

Please don't buy the Tamron!
 
And to add to that, you can sell the kit lens for about £60 and buy your bag and memory card ;)
 
Plus 1 from me, I bought the Tamron 70-300 as a cheap starter lens to use with my 50D :thumbsdown:

I ended up returning the lens after a week & spent a few more £££ on a Canon EF 70-300/4-5.6 IS USM :thumbs:

Try & stretch your budget if you can.

Mick
 
They aren't that bad.. this is with the 55-200mm tamron.. only £99. 1/125th sec @ F8 ISO 100 bounced flash ..taken from 1m away.

watchoolookinat-1.jpg
 
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And a starter i am lol.

Me too mate, have you been into rgb-photo in Boro?

I bought my Canon lens from them, great staff & they are willing to help.

They sell "white boxed" kit lenses that have been seperated from the kits. Full warranty etc but usually much cheaper. They are worth popping in to speak to mate.

Mick
 
And a starter i am lol.

More importantly, what the hell is that thing Ian?

A psychotic bush cricket that plagued me for several days, every time I shifted it, it climbed the walls, walked across the ceiling and banzai leaped onto me...
 
Yea, well I think that the whole kit is worth the money, however the Tamron zoom lens hmmm - it is generally quite poor. However it is good value for money, so I am sure that for a start it would be good for you and you would probably like it. It have a nice range, but the AF is slow and the sharpness is bad.

It is up to you, whether you think you need it!

I have to totally disagree with that I have recently bought the Tamron 70-300 and have been delighted with the results,I use it for Football so you cant denigrate its AF speed (Admitadly its not a Canon 70-200 but it does the job) ,have a look at last weeks footy shots on My Flickr to get an idea of the results you can expect


http://www.flickr.com/photos/captainpenguin/sets/72157624768944755/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/captainpenguin/sets/72157624724245282/
 
If you buy a Tamron 70-300mm buy it from somewhere you can take it back for a refund - The CA (Coloured fringing around object edges - you can see it in the example shots linked to ) produced by this lens at longer focal lengths is stellar (not good)- my Bro returned the one jessops conned him into buying with a 50D - if you can find a used Canon 70-300mm IS USM approx £300 its a much better option,
 
I was looking at 70-300s last month and came to the conclusion unless you get a good one (as in more than the sigma and tamrons, possibly more than the basic nikon one, can't comment on canon) you're better off looking at the 55-200s. The cheap 70-300s aren't very good at all.

The Tamron 55-200 Di II can be had for £50-60 used in A+ condition, and so far mines been excellent for the money. Okay the focus isn't the fastest but I wasn't expecting it to be. All this said, I will be saving for a better lens once I am in a position to. I can post a pic or 2 from it later if you would like, but Flickr is blocked at work.
 
Me too mate, have you been into rgb-photo in Boro?

I bought my Canon lens from them, great staff & they are willing to help.

They sell "white boxed" kit lenses that have been seperated from the kits. Full warranty etc but usually much cheaper. They are worth popping in to speak to mate.

Mick

I havnt been in there no, where abouts is it? Ill check it out!
 
You are right Ian, however the 70-300 isn't very forgiving.

Yeah, that's the key problem. In the right conditions it is pretty good, but it really doesn't use light very well at all - if it is coming from the wrong angle (really it needs to be behind you), or there isn't enough the pictures are going to be very poor compared to most other lenses in the same situation.

I'm sure if people posted their best and worst pic taken with that lens the difference would be more massive than the same exercise done with other lenses.

To make it clear - I wouldn't recommend it.
 
I bought this lens, and as others have mentioned, the sharpness isnt very good at all, although I have taken some pics with it that I really like. In the shots I have posted on here from it, nobody has critiqued on the lens-specific problems that are being mentioned here.
 
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i got the tamron 70-300 along with my d3000 back in June and while it isn't that great of lens i have found my photographs improving because of the extra effort needed to get the best out of this lens. I will be replacing the lens soon but it has served me well and will serve any beginner well also. My main gripe with the lens, as most people have already said, is when it hunts for AF and struggles to do so.
 
tamron 70-300 has awful purple fringing. |If you want a budget 70-300 go for the sigma 70-300 apo, much much better.

This is the lens I'm using just now, and have had a few that have been hit by the purple fringing.....

..however I have also been getting some crisp photo's so it's all relative. I did get mine for £120(ish).
 
I have a Tamron 70-300 for my Sony A300.

My opinion?

Rubbish lens. Used it a few times and has since been stored in the cupboard for well over 8 months now. Cant complain as I only paid £55 for it from gumtree.

Much much prefer my 55-200 Sony lens over tamron all day.
 
For a budget zoom for a Nikon you really can't beat the Nikon 55-200 VR which you can pick up dirt cheap - I'm constantly impressed by the quality of the pictures from mine.
 
the whole bunch for 200quid ? it's not a gumtree ad ? :naughty:
If it's a genuine sale I would go for it :) can always sell. that's my moto.
 
it's very bad at 300mm, but even then - there are ways around it.
It's pretty ok at 200mm a bit stopped down
4976983204_dd4399f366_z.jpg
 
as above,got mine new for £115 2 years ago,has been great,little lacking in zoom for motorsport circuits,but very happy.

have a look at my posts with this lens.:thumbs:
 
this is a crop of a 300mm image and its wide open with a 70-300 ld di on my Sony A200

4989118869_df2b5167de_o.jpg


purple fringing is a big problem and I've had a lot of trouble getting really sharp images with this lens so much so that I'm starting to use my tokina 35-200 more and more. i only use it now when i need 300mm but as i only paid £45 for it :thumbs: it ain't a big loss
 
There are 2 Tamron 70-300s, the 70-300 LD (this one is poorly regarded) and the 70-300 LD Di (which according to many and some review sites is equal or just a bit better IQ wise than the Sigma 70-300 APO .... I've had both and the Tamron is indeed a touch better but maybe it was just my copy). However the Sigma felt a bit better build wise.
 
just to add my experiences of these lenses. the Sigma i have is the APO version which is apparently better than the non takes nice closeups using the pseudo macro close focus facility but its soft over 200mm

i also have the basic Nikon 70-300G which seems to be sharper than the Sigma but suffers more with purple fringing in some circumstances. the colours seem a bit flat too :shrug:
the airshow set on my Flickr was mostly shot with this ( certainly all the flying stuff anyway)

but like everyone has said the 55-200VR is a cracking lens thats prett sharp, seems to get good colours & doesn't suffer from the purple fringing so badly

its a lovely little lens for the money :thumbs:
 
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