Opinion Required

[ozczecho]

Hi Everyone,

Firstly gotta say what a great forum. I have just spent about 3 hours perusing the various threads and information on this site and already have learnt alot..thank you.

Anyway I have a quick question to ask. I have two 70-300mm lenses and wanted to know which one will serve me better....

I have the Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6D ED Lens as well as the Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 LD Macro 1:2.

Not being an expert its very hard to judge the merits of each lens. I have read a lot of information on the Nikkor lens and that the ED helps in minimising chromatic aberration, and that generally the Nikkor lenses are better then Tamron. Then again the Tamron has the Macro feature....

Cheers

ozczecho

[Nnnnsic]

I'd bet that the Nikon is the better of the lenses... the 70-300 ED will probably be sharper than the Tamrom and from what I understand, the macro feature on that Tamron is more of a gimmick.

And welcome, by the way.

[xorl]

Since you have both lenses you can compare them, that would be a good way to find which lens performs the best.

The Tamron has about twice the magnification with macro compared to the Nikkor, but it still isn't all that good compared to a real macro lens.

I don't see much value in the consumer "macro" zooms. I'd personally lean towards keeping the Nikkor. At the moment I'm using a Nikkor 70-300G (*cough*) with closeup filters until I can get the macro lens that I want. It works fairly well when stopped down.

[ozczecho]

Since you have both lenses you can compare them, that would be a good way to find which lens performs the best.

Is there a standard way of comparing the quality of the lens? I tried taking different shots of the same subject using different apperatures and zoom, but to a novice like me the output looked very similar. True, the Nikkor had slightly sharper coulours., but thats the only difference i could make out....

[sirhc55]

ozczecho - welcome

I think you have answered your own question

A controlled test is the only way for you to decide on which lens to keep. I would lean more towards the Nikon glass. Remember that it is your eyes that determine what you like - just the same as music and your ears

[Greg B]

I'd bet that the Nikon is the better of the lenses... the 70-300 ED will probably be sharper than the Tamrom and from what I understand, the macro feature on that Tamron is more of a gimmick.

And welcome, by the way.

Welcome ozczecho.

Notwithstanding the insightful remarks of our FUDmin, macro is macro, and the macro feature on the Tamron is macro. There are lenses of varying quality, and there are different macro ratios. The prime macros typically are 1:1 and provide the best quality. The Tamron (and the Sigma with similar specs) is 1:2. The Tamron is not an expensive lens, but it can be used for macro work quite satisfactorily. Not a gimmick in sight.