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Tamron lens are they really that bad

python118
Posted 07/06/2012 - 14:27 Link
Hi all, looking at the price of tamron lens they are cheeper then others, but what are they like to use. Speeking to a salesman at the bham nec show, i said how come tamron have got a bad reputation, he said what, he said it was the first he had heard of it, this is where i had realized i had put my foot in it. LOL
Mike-P
Posted 07/06/2012 - 14:43 Link
Nothing wrong with Tamron, some of their lenses are excellent and others are average at best.

Like all manufacturers, they have their good and bad lenses.
Blythman
Posted 07/06/2012 - 14:53 Link
10-24, 17-50, 28-75,70-200, 90 macro are all quality lenses I believe. And all f2.8 except the 10-24.

The build quality of the 17-50 has been questioned, but it does come with a 5 year warranty.
Alan


PPG
Flickr
snappychappy
Posted 07/06/2012 - 14:53 Link
I had the Tamron 70-300mm lens for a while and found the results to be very good, certainly for the cost of the lens. Even posseses a decent macro facility.


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seckar woods mushroom by SFB579, on Flickr
Frogfish
Posted 07/06/2012 - 15:22 Link
Blythman wrote:
10-24, 17-50, 28-75, 70-200, 90 macro are all quality lenses I believe. And all f2.8 except the 10-24.

The build quality of the 17-50 has been questioned, but it does come with a 5 year warranty.

What Alan said. All quality lenses, some of those are outstanding.

The 70-300 is an amazing value for money lens.
http://frogfish.smugmug.com/ Pentax. Pentax DA*300/4, Cosina 55/1.2, Lens Baby Composer Pro & Edge 80, AFA x1.7, Metz 50 af1.
Nikon. D800. D600. Sigma 500/4.5, Nikon 300/2.8 VRII, Sigma 120-300/2.8, Zeiss Distagon ZF2 21/2.8, Zeiss Distagon ZF2 35/2.0, Sigma 50/1.4, Nikkor 85/1.8, Nikon TC20EIII, Nikon TC14EII, Kenko x1.4, Sigma 2.0
AndrewH
Posted 07/06/2012 - 19:53 Link
I also have the 70-300 with macro - value for money it cannot be beaten (IMHO of course!).

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IMGP2347 by Andrew:H, on Flickr

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IMGP1514 by Andrew:H, on Flickr

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127c by Andrew:H, on Flickr

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IMGP4167 by Andrew:H, on Flickr
Oso
Posted 09/06/2012 - 13:36 Link
I use Tamron lenses for my Pentax 35mm bodies, as mentioned, real value for money.

Oso
MatthewEl
Posted 09/06/2012 - 15:41 Link
I use a pair of Tamron lenses; 10-24 & 70-200. Can't fault either so far, and very good value.
Floggitt
Posted 09/06/2012 - 16:48 Link
Very pleased with my Tamron 90 mm macro is superb on it.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
John's Law: If it isn't broke, it bloody soon will be.
fatspider
Posted 09/06/2012 - 19:38 Link
I will expand on the last post:

Tamron are renowned for their Macro lenses, as far as I am aware they have never made one that has been less than excellent.
My Names Alan, and I'm a lensaholic.
My PPG link
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bwlchmawr
Posted 09/06/2012 - 21:01 Link
I purchased a Tamron 70-300 from a forum member. I had a wonderful two weeks with it but then, one day, it made a horrible graunching noise and the autofocus stopped working. Put me off a bit.
Best wishes,

Andrew

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Mandrake
Posted 09/06/2012 - 22:48 Link
The 17-50 is excellent. I had a 70-300 though and really didn't like it - horrible purple fringing, big and not particularly sharp. My DA-L 55-300 knocks spots off it.

Ultimately, I think Tamron is like any manufacturer of any kind of product - sometimes they get it right, sometimes they don't. Sigma, Pentax, Ford, Vauxhall, Coca-cola, Pepsi - no-one makes every product perfect, and a lot of it is down to personal opinion.
Simon

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smudge
Posted 29/06/2012 - 11:24 Link
I have also had the perception that Tamron lenses are in some way inferior - based on nothing more than the fact that they are cheaper and the plastic they use feels a bit naff. However my one Tamron, the 10-24, gave me a surprise today.

I'm waiting in for a parcel to be delivered so I thought I would kill time doing an informal comparative test of my standard zoom lenses. Just out of interest I decided to include the 10-24, not thinking it would compare well.

The lenses I compared were:
Pentax 16-45
Pentax 16-50
Pentax 17-70
Pentax 18-55 WR
Sigma 24-70 2.8 (non HSM)
Sigma 17-70 (non HSM)
Tamron 10-24
Pentax 21mm (just out of curiosity to see how a prime would do)

I set them all to 24mm (except the prime obviously) and f4.5, put the camera on a tripod, mirror up remote release, and took flat on pics of my bookcase full of books and DVDs.

The results surprised me. There was no noticeable difference in colour rendering but the sharpness did vary. The sharpest across most of the frame was the Tamron, closely followed by the Sigma 24-70, with the Sigma perhaps a little better at the edges. The other lenses were all o.k. but not as sharp as the best two.

I know this is not exactly a scientific test and it only covered one focal length and one aperture but it has made me view the Tamron with a new respect.
Regards, Philip
dinneenp
Posted 29/06/2012 - 11:47 Link
Blythman wrote:
10-24, 17-50, 28-75,70-200, 90 macro are all quality lenses I believe. And all f2.8 except the 10-24.

The build quality of the 17-50 has been questioned, but it does come with a 5 year warranty.

Hi,
I have a Tamron 17-50 f2.8 lens. The grip for zooming has become stiff, lens is having trouble zooming and the grip can be rotated past 17 or 50mm setting. just noticed it today...

As far as I know I didn't get any material into it, keep it in a camera bag.

any ideas how I go about fixing it?
Pa.
Cheers,
Pa
http://www.photoblog.ie where every post have a musical reference as it's title.
beakynet
Posted 03/07/2012 - 13:32 Link
I have only one Tamron lens (the 70-300) and it performed exactly as I expected it to. I bought it because it was cheep, but have to say it turned out to be value for money for me. It has not been replaced with a total of over £700 of lenses and the quality is markedly better, but not £600 better!
Bodies: K5IIs, K7, MZ5n, LX, MV
Lenses: DA*16-50, DA18-55WR, DA18-135, DAL35, M50 F2, A50 f1.4, FA50 f1.4, DA*50-135, DA55-300, Tamron 70-300, DFA 100 WR Macro, M135 f3.5, Sigma 120-400 APO DG HSM, Tokina 500 f8.0
Flash: Metz 58, Metz 48
Accessories: BG4, Pentax right angle finder, Pentax mirror adaptor lens, O-ME53 Viewfinder Loupe
Auto 110 System: Auto 110, Winder, 18mm, 24mm, 50mm, 70mm, 20-40mm, AF100P, 1.7x telecon

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