In-Depth Review: Tamron 150-600 f/5-6.3 VC

[TWI by Dustin Abbott]

Good morning, everyone, we are up and running but still missing bits and pieces that did not survive the transition. Some of the galleries are affected because the the plugin didn't make the transition. We will be working through the day to rebuild the missing pieces, but on a plus note, the site does appear to be stable.

 

[candc]

Good morning, everyone, we are up and running but still missing bits and pieces that did not survive the transition. Some of the galleries are affected because the the plugin didn't make the transition. We will be working through the day to rebuild the missing pieces, but on a plus note, the site does appear to be stable.

when i click on the url posted here or look up your website i am directed to domain.com?

 

[Lichtgestalt]

I was really excited about this lens and have put my 100-400L up for sale in anticipation of buying it. Now, I am very worried about the Tamron's performance at 600mm. Here are more of your crops at 600mm and f/6.3. For the first, I calculate the original to have been 1100x830 pixels, and the for the second, the duck's head, 1300x1300. Their quality has put me off the lens as I usually get very sharp images at those sizes.

how long do you take pictures?

noticed that your images with the SX50 are taken in bright harsh sunlight as it seems.
the one crop from him you showed not. seems like a dull overcast day to me the image was taken.

im still unable to read his review. now i get a blank hoster page yesterday it was 404.
but i will have a look at the review if possible.

fact is, who compares this tamron lens to a 600 f4 has much to learn.
people with a signature as long as yours should know what they can expect for 1000$

I was comparing it "with" another lens and not "to". And, it was not a 600mm f/4. The duck's head taken with the Tamron was in perfectly good light and you can see that it is soft, irrespective of any comparison..

all i can see is your examples. i will build my opinion when i have seen the whole review.

and to what 600mm you compare it with... is that a secret?
if you make such comparisation it would only be logical to give out such infos. :
no wonder people assume wrong things.

 

[Don Haines]

Cracking review! However, from my perspetive, I'm still interested in focussing on BIF when at 600mm. I'm not a birder, but if it is good for BIF, it'll be good for cheetah and other big cats running.

Just need someone to review that and if it's as good as the rest of Dustin's review, I might well get one.

Unfortunately BIF is hard to do this time of year where I live in Canada. There just aren't hardly any birds around! There also isn't any open water right now that might attract waterfowl. I'm afraid someone else will have to provide that kind of testing.

Funny you should say that.... I have a Snowy Owl hanging around and hope beyond all reasonable hope that by the time my lens (pre-ordered a month ago) arrives, that Snowy will still be around....

Even funnier, as I am waiting for a LONG!!! lens for birding, I was wandering around yesterday shooting Chickadees at 24mm.... yet I use them as justification for 600mm....

hi don,

i also pre ordered one but only a week ago. mine has not shipped and bhphoto now lists it as expected march 31, did yours ship?

Mine is coming from Camera Canada and has not shipped yet. No ETA yet...

 

[Lichtgestalt]

Good morning, everyone, we are up and running but still missing bits and pieces that did not survive the transition. Some of the galleries are affected because the the plugin didn't make the transition. We will be working through the day to rebuild the missing pieces, but on a plus note, the site does appear to be stable.

no your are not.... at least not in germany.

the link to your website that produced a 404 yesterday now shows a website: www.domain.com

 

[AlanF]

I was really excited about this lens and have put my 100-400L up for sale in anticipation of buying it. Now, I am very worried about the Tamron's performance at 600mm. Here are more of your crops at 600mm and f/6.3. For the first, I calculate the original to have been 1100x830 pixels, and the for the second, the duck's head, 1300x1300. Their quality has put me off the lens as I usually get very sharp images at those sizes.

how long do you take pictures?

noticed that your images with the SX50 are taken in bright harsh sunlight as it seems.
the one crop from him you showed not. seems like a dull overcast day to me the image was taken.

im still unable to read his review. now i get a blank hoster page yesterday it was 404.
but i will have a look at the review if possible.

fact is, who compares this tamron lens to a 600 f4 has much to learn.
people with a signature as long as yours should know what they can expect for 1000$

I was comparing it "with" another lens and not "to". And, it was not a 600mm f/4. The duck's head taken with the Tamron was in perfectly good light and you can see that it is soft, irrespective of any comparison..

all i can see is your examples. i will build my opinion when i have seen the whole review.

and to what 600mm you compare it with... is that a secret?
if you make such comparisation it would only be logical to give out such infos. :
no wonder people assume wrong things.

It is a closely guarded secret. Unfortunately, the secret has become exposed: it is written immediately under the photo (and under all my posts) that I have a 300mm f/2.8 and 2xTC. The data are also in the exif of the photo that it was taken on a Canon 7D with 300mm f/2.8 and 2xTC.

I always download photos that I discuss and check their exifs for information. In turn, I always included the exifs on what I upload so anyone can find out what mine were taken on and with.

 

[candc]

oh how true

http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2013/01/rogers-law-of-new-product-introduction

 

[pdirestajr]

Great review Dustin! Thank you for sharing.

 

[sanjosedave]

B&H updated in stock date to 3/31

 

[candc]

B&H updated in stock date to 3/31

that's for the nikon mount.

i spoke with someone there in the buying dept. they had a shipment come in and that went out in order of the pre-order list, they are expecting another shipment in by the end of the month but not sure of the quantity.

 

[CarlTN]

Dustin, thanks for doing the review. Looks like you put some effort into it.

Are the sample images cropped at 1:1, or are they downsampled? I notice they seem to be about half size. Would have been nice to see outdoor shots at full resolution and no cropping...to see where sharpness begins to fall off toward the borders...especially toward the long end. Also to see what the bokeh looks like. And most important of all (to me), how sharp is it at infinity focus at the long end?

It seems to me that with this lens, the main question would be, how sharp is it at 600mm? Did you compare it directly with anything else at or around 600mm (or even 500mm)? Like perhaps the Sigma 150-500? I notice Lensrentals compared it to the Sigma 50-500.

It appears the CA is low, so that's very good for Tamron.

Did you happen to discuss (with Tamron) whether they are actually making money off this lens at its introductory price?

Btw, I had no problems viewing your review just now...I clicked on the link at the top of this thread...not sure if the rest of your site displays.

 

[iowapipe]

Good morning, everyone, we are up and running but still missing bits and pieces that did not survive the transition. Some of the galleries are affected because the the plugin didn't make the transition. We will be working through the day to rebuild the missing pieces, but on a plus note, the site does appear to be stable.

no your are not.... at least not in germany.

the link to your website that produced a 404 yesterday now shows a website: www.domain.com

Yep, still problems. It 'can' take up to 3 days for a new domain IP to propagate, but 24 hours should hit the vast majority. Although, not knowing what all you did for your change, it is possible there is a conflict or mistake yet in the records.

 

[lescrane]

ephotozine weighs in

[/http://www.ephotozine.com/article... today) and out to take some very cold ducks.

 

[TWI by Dustin Abbott]

Dustin, thanks for doing the review. Looks like you put some effort into it.

Are the sample images cropped at 1:1, or are they downsampled? I notice they seem to be about half size. Would have been nice to see outdoor shots at full resolution and no cropping...to see where sharpness begins to fall off toward the borders...especially toward the long end. Also to see what the bokeh looks like. And most important of all (to me), how sharp is it at infinity focus at the long end?

It seems to me that with this lens, the main question would be, how sharp is it at 600mm? Did you compare it directly with anything else at or around 600mm (or even 500mm)? Like perhaps the Sigma 150-500? I notice Lensrentals compared it to the Sigma 50-500.

It appears the CA is low, so that's very good for Tamron.

Did you happen to discuss (with Tamron) whether they are actually making money off this lens at its introductory price?

Btw, I had no problems viewing your review just now...I clicked on the link at the top of this thread...not sure if the rest of your site displays.

The smaller images are crops, not downsized images, and are all within a few percentage points of 100%.

The problem has been having TOO much content in the review (and too many people looking at it), so I was breaking servers. I moved well over 500GB of info in about half of yesterday before things went down.

For everyone: We have good stability now, but not all of my content made the transition, so the work is not done yet. The review is missing quite a few galleries, but the majority of the text and some samples are there.

I am not a web designer, so I am treading water here. Thanks to all of you who have been understanding during this transition. People from around the world are looking (which is great!) but my website is far from the enterprise level in design. So far this review is costing me money

 

[Albi86]

Re: ephotozine weighs in

[/http://www.ephotozine.com/article...ell, when the price in EU goes down, that is.

 

[TWI by Dustin Abbott]

Re: ephotozine weighs in

[/http://www.ephotozine.com/article...t charts since I don't do that kind of thing.

 

[TWI by Dustin Abbott]

Other than perhaps the propagating for some countries, I think we have all the content back on line.

 

[Marauder]

Re: ephotozine weighs in

[/http://www.ephotozine.com/article...his will be an awesome lens to add to my bag!

 

[Drizzt321]

Anyone see the sudden price drop on the Sigma 150-500? Yea, someone feels threatened

Somehow I doubt Canon will suddenly offer a rebate for the 100-400L, sadly. Unless they announce a new version next month or something. Hey, it could happen! Maybe. And I might win the lotto tomorrow. Which means I can afford that new 100-400L 8)

 

[candc]

This lens is going to be in short supply and a big seller for a long time. It's appealing for two distinct types of photogs, those like the reviewer that don't primarily use the long lenses and those that do who want a packable alternative.