pathfinder
Aug-15-2006, 07:30 PM
I have been looking for a smaller, lighter lens with a zoom range from tele to long tele and the Tamron SP200-500 f5.6-6.3 Di LD (IF) seemed ideal. I have had good luck with most of Tamron's Di series of lenses - this lens is suitable for APS or full frame cameras.
It does not have IS, of course, but it only weighs 2.7 pounds. Compare that to a Canon 500f4 IS L that weighs 8.5 pounds.
The Tamron lens is 9 inches long. The lens hood must be another 9 inches long also - a very effective lens hood I must say. The filter diameter is 86mm and the filter can be rotated without reaching down into the lens hood by a dial. The minimum focus point is 8.2 feet -much closer than the Canon 500 F4 L IS minimum focus point is 14.8 feet.
This is a serious telephoto that will fit on a motorcycle for travel out west....... which was one of my primary criteria.
Anyway, it arrived late this pm and so I took it out to the garden to shoot in the early evening shade on a 20D which we all know will not AF at f6.3 according to Canon. It was not very bright - I set my ISO to 800, f 6.3 to f9 or so, and shot without flash in AV mode, handheld 1/320th to 1/100th at 500mm. In short, I did everything I could to create unsharp, poorly focused images. But I think this lens has real promise if used with more appropriate technique. A tripod and flash for instance.
The truth is that the 20D WILL AF at f6.3 at 500mm with this lens if the light is not too dark - I think it will AF in normal shade easily and quickly. Interesting. I did not see any birds of interest so I shot butterflies as they are in abundance right now.
Handheld freeform, ISO 800 20D f6.3 1/320th ( way too slow of a shutterspeed) It can't possibly be any good!! But look at this image....Nice Bokeh!!
http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/88452053-L.jpg
It was not a fluke either - here is another shot. These are both the full images without cropping, so my composition could be improved by cropping, but I thought you might rather see the whole frame.
1/200th f6.3 ISO 800 500mm 20D
http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/88451246-L.jpg
These shots have had my usual post processing - YES - they have been sharpened with Smart Sharpen in PSCS2 - that is how I usually process all my shots. There has been zero noise reduction and look how nice a 20D image can look at ISO 800:):
I know this is not a very serious technical lens evaluation. I am not shooting brick walls to evalute pixels.
I was wanting to see if this lens has possibilties for wildlife, and I think it has great possibilities. I frequently see wildlife along the back roads of New Mexico and Colorado and used to be limited to 200mm. Now maybe I can reach the antelope again:):
I'll even bring this lens to Florida with me this fall, Harry!!
(If you think this is more appropriate for Accessories than the Wildlife Thread, Harry, feel free to move it. I just thought it might be interesting to wildlife shooters in particular.)
Here's a mourning dove for ya- shot at 1/100th f9 ISO 800 500mm - The slight blur IS due to camera movement not lens resolution limits.
http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/88450787-L.jpg
Here is a review of the Tamron 200-500 lens http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/lenses/tamron_200500_563/index.htm
It does not have IS, of course, but it only weighs 2.7 pounds. Compare that to a Canon 500f4 IS L that weighs 8.5 pounds.
The Tamron lens is 9 inches long. The lens hood must be another 9 inches long also - a very effective lens hood I must say. The filter diameter is 86mm and the filter can be rotated without reaching down into the lens hood by a dial. The minimum focus point is 8.2 feet -much closer than the Canon 500 F4 L IS minimum focus point is 14.8 feet.
This is a serious telephoto that will fit on a motorcycle for travel out west....... which was one of my primary criteria.
Anyway, it arrived late this pm and so I took it out to the garden to shoot in the early evening shade on a 20D which we all know will not AF at f6.3 according to Canon. It was not very bright - I set my ISO to 800, f 6.3 to f9 or so, and shot without flash in AV mode, handheld 1/320th to 1/100th at 500mm. In short, I did everything I could to create unsharp, poorly focused images. But I think this lens has real promise if used with more appropriate technique. A tripod and flash for instance.
The truth is that the 20D WILL AF at f6.3 at 500mm with this lens if the light is not too dark - I think it will AF in normal shade easily and quickly. Interesting. I did not see any birds of interest so I shot butterflies as they are in abundance right now.
Handheld freeform, ISO 800 20D f6.3 1/320th ( way too slow of a shutterspeed) It can't possibly be any good!! But look at this image....Nice Bokeh!!
http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/88452053-L.jpg
It was not a fluke either - here is another shot. These are both the full images without cropping, so my composition could be improved by cropping, but I thought you might rather see the whole frame.
1/200th f6.3 ISO 800 500mm 20D
http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/88451246-L.jpg
These shots have had my usual post processing - YES - they have been sharpened with Smart Sharpen in PSCS2 - that is how I usually process all my shots. There has been zero noise reduction and look how nice a 20D image can look at ISO 800:):
I know this is not a very serious technical lens evaluation. I am not shooting brick walls to evalute pixels.
I was wanting to see if this lens has possibilties for wildlife, and I think it has great possibilities. I frequently see wildlife along the back roads of New Mexico and Colorado and used to be limited to 200mm. Now maybe I can reach the antelope again:):
I'll even bring this lens to Florida with me this fall, Harry!!
(If you think this is more appropriate for Accessories than the Wildlife Thread, Harry, feel free to move it. I just thought it might be interesting to wildlife shooters in particular.)
Here's a mourning dove for ya- shot at 1/100th f9 ISO 800 500mm - The slight blur IS due to camera movement not lens resolution limits.
http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/88450787-L.jpg
Here is a review of the Tamron 200-500 lens http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/lenses/tamron_200500_563/index.htm