Tamron SP AF Aspherical XR Di (IF) 28-75mm 1:2.8 Macro !!
Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2005 10:05 pmNow that is what I call a name 
Seriously though, due to our generous Patron, I have had a chance over the last few days to test run this lens. I've never reviewed a lens before, nor do I have any pretensions of expertise, let alone adequacy, so I'll just tell you what I think 
Initial Impressions: Although it is only a fraction of the size, weight and price of the venerable Nikkor 28-70, it is visably larger and heavier than the 18-70 kits lens. This is to be expected considering its' constant f2.8 aperture. It is fractionally smaller than a Nikkor 24-120mm VR and it sits well on my D70 with nice balance. The metal body and wide zoom ring look sturdy and fall comfortably into my hand during use. It looks and feels like a well built pro lens (which is how it is marketed).
AF: It doesn't have AF-S (or the Tamron equivalent), AF is via the focusing screw on the body. This doesn't really bother me as a lens at this focal range is more likely to be used for static subjects, people, snapshots,etc, not fast moving sports. All the same, even on the D70 it does the job very quickly with no noted hunting. I was quite impressed with its speed of focusing in a dimly lit room last Sunday whilst trying to chase red cordial charged children (more of that later).... All in all I'd struggle to notice the difference between this and the AF-S kit lens in focusing speed.
Performance: Ahh, the important bit
I'm not going to bullshit you, but this lens is sharp enough to shave with given suitable settings. I posted some test shots I took the day I borrowed it that you can look at here:
http://www.dslrusers.net/viewtopic.php?t=11236&start=30
It is good wide open, but really shines from f5.6. Last Sunday, my sisters three kids got baptised and I got the job as photographer. I had to deal with terrible light all day due to the weather, so all my pics ended up being flash or flash assisted. Now I know I should have read the intructions that came with the SB-800, but I didn't and I just let the camera and the flash work it out amongst themselves all day, but it all worked out suprisingly well. Yes I know I'm wandering off topic, but it suprised me how intelligent that damm flash is Anyway. back to my review...
Here is a pic that I took that day. It is nothing special in itself, although the kid is cute. I had about 200 pics to process and this got the same treatment as all the others. Basically, 90 seconds of levels-contrast-shadow adjustment and moderate sharpening. I have resized this pic for posting but have not applied any extra reshapening to this or the 100% crop that follows it. EXIF should be embedded, but it is at 1/60s at f5.6 with bounce flash:
This is a 100% crop of the above image. Note the fine hair and the leftover food on her chin. Remember, I have not resharpened this for posting, just the original generic sharpen the first time I looked at it.
All in all, although I've never played with a Nikkor 28-70, I doubt it could do a much better job and when you factor in the weight,size and price differences, to me it becomes a no brainer. I'm off to Birdys tomorrow to return the loan lens and order one for myself PS: I forgot to mention the 28mm minimum size: There were a couple of times that I wished for the 18mm of the kit lens. I weighed up whether to switch lenses and lose resolution but in the end I used my "NIKE" wide angle adaptor. I took a couple of steps backward. Unless you are planning to take pics in a phonebox or huge pics of this wide brown land, 28mm (42mm in film terms) will do you 90% of the time.
PPS: Thank you to Thanh for the loan of the lens. I doubt that I will ever meet a kinder,more generous soul than you...
Seriously though, due to our generous Patron, I have had a chance over the last few days to test run this lens. I've never reviewed a lens before, nor do I have any pretensions of expertise, let alone adequacy, so I'll just tell you what I think
Initial Impressions: Although it is only a fraction of the size, weight and price of the venerable Nikkor 28-70, it is visably larger and heavier than the 18-70 kits lens. This is to be expected considering its' constant f2.8 aperture. It is fractionally smaller than a Nikkor 24-120mm VR and it sits well on my D70 with nice balance. The metal body and wide zoom ring look sturdy and fall comfortably into my hand during use. It looks and feels like a well built pro lens (which is how it is marketed).
AF: It doesn't have AF-S (or the Tamron equivalent), AF is via the focusing screw on the body. This doesn't really bother me as a lens at this focal range is more likely to be used for static subjects, people, snapshots,etc, not fast moving sports. All the same, even on the D70 it does the job very quickly with no noted hunting. I was quite impressed with its speed of focusing in a dimly lit room last Sunday whilst trying to chase red cordial charged children (more of that later).... All in all I'd struggle to notice the difference between this and the AF-S kit lens in focusing speed.
Performance: Ahh, the important bit
I'm not going to bullshit you, but this lens is sharp enough to shave with given suitable settings. I posted some test shots I took the day I borrowed it that you can look at here:
http://www.dslrusers.net/viewtopic.php?t=11236&start=30
It is good wide open, but really shines from f5.6. Last Sunday, my sisters three kids got baptised and I got the job as photographer. I had to deal with terrible light all day due to the weather, so all my pics ended up being flash or flash assisted. Now I know I should have read the intructions that came with the SB-800, but I didn't and I just let the camera and the flash work it out amongst themselves all day, but it all worked out suprisingly well. Yes I know I'm wandering off topic, but it suprised me how intelligent that damm flash is
Anyway. back to my review...
Here is a pic that I took that day. It is nothing special in itself, although the kid is cute. I had about 200 pics to process and this got the same treatment as all the others. Basically, 90 seconds of levels-contrast-shadow adjustment and moderate sharpening. I have resized this pic for posting but have not applied any extra reshapening to this or the 100% crop that follows it. EXIF should be embedded, but it is at 1/60s at f5.6 with bounce flash:
This is a 100% crop of the above image. Note the fine hair and the leftover food on her chin. Remember, I have not resharpened this for posting, just the original generic sharpen the first time I looked at it.
All in all, although I've never played with a Nikkor 28-70, I doubt it could do a much better job and when you factor in the weight,size and price differences, to me it becomes a no brainer. I'm off to Birdys tomorrow to return the loan lens and order one for myself
PS: I forgot to mention the 28mm minimum size: There were a couple of times that I wished for the 18mm of the kit lens. I weighed up whether to switch lenses and lose resolution but in the end I used my "NIKE" wide angle adaptor. I took a couple of steps backward. Unless you are planning to take pics in a phonebox or huge pics of this wide brown land, 28mm (42mm in film terms) will do you 90% of the time.
PPS: Thank you to Thanh for the loan of the lens. I doubt that I will ever meet a kinder,more generous soul than you...
