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

[AlanF]

Having read lots of reviews and had several questions answered in this thread (thanks everybody), I have ordered the Tamron. The money I got for my 100-400 and Sigma 400 will more than pay for it. Even if it is not as good as the 300/2.8 II, I have some trips coming up when the advantages of the zoom and the lower weight will be important advantages. But, I am hopeful that stopped down it will rival the 300 + 2xTC.

 

[AlanF]

There are reports elsewhere that AF for BIF is problematic. Does anyone have experience of this?

There are also rumours that stocks to the big retailers are being withheld while Tamron sorts out the AF problem. Has anyone any knowledge of this?

 

[iowapipe]

There are reports elsewhere that AF for BIF is problematic. Does anyone have experience of this?

There are also rumours that stocks to the big retailers are being withheld while Tamron sorts out the AF problem. Has anyone any knowledge of this?

The only recent (stress, recent) reports I've read that are from 2 people who are very experienced both testify that; BIF tracking doesn't seem any worse than the Canon 400mm f/5.6 with a 1.4xTC on it, and the other person said his take is that he had reasonably good success and doesn't seem any worse than the Sigma or his Canon 300mm with a 1.4xTC (he feels he needs to have more practice with the lens at the 500-600 range).

I imagine we are mostly reading the same 4 or 5 blogs out there, and there are a few vocal people who don't imagine it will be good enough. But they haven't used the lens yet.

Like you, I just placed my order after 'carefully' sifting though the many preliminary reports. I really aimed to focus on those people with demonstrated skill at long lenses.

But, there aren't a lot of people who have taken the lens out yet due to bad weather.

 

[hoodlum]

There are reports elsewhere that AF for BIF is problematic. Does anyone have experience of this?

There are also rumours that stocks to the big retailers are being withheld while Tamron sorts out the AF problem. Has anyone any knowledge of this?

These BIF images look very good.

http://jjbird.smugmug.com/Photography/Tamron-150600-Lens/i-SCF5vdP

 

[AlanF]

Exactly about the choice of reviews. You have to know to handle a 600mm, and those who do know have produced some very good images. The lens has a five-year warranty, but I would prefer not to have to use it.

 

[Don Haines]

There are reports elsewhere that AF for BIF is problematic. Does anyone have experience of this?

There are also rumours that stocks to the big retailers are being withheld while Tamron sorts out the AF problem. Has anyone any knowledge of this?

The only recent (stress, recent) reports I've read that are from 2 people who are very experienced both testify that; BIF tracking doesn't seem any worse than the Canon 400mm f/5.6 with a 1.4xTC on it, and the other person said his take is that he had reasonably good success and doesn't seem any worse than the Sigma or his Canon 300mm with a 1.4xTC (he feels he needs to have more practice with the lens at the 500-600 range).

I imagine we are mostly reading the same 4 or 5 blogs out there, and there are a few vocal people who don't imagine it will be good enough. But they haven't used the lens yet.

Like you, I just placed my order after 'carefully' sifting though the many preliminary reports. I really aimed to focus on those people with demonstrated skill at long lenses.

But, there aren't a lot of people who have taken the lens out yet due to bad weather.

I can safely say that BIF tracking on a 60D is "somewhat less than stellar".... but on the other hand, the same holds true for every other lens I have tried on the 60D... I should have bought a 7D.... Come on 7D2!!! The market is ready for you!!!

 

[iowapipe]

Exactly about the choice of reviews. You have to know to handle a 600mm, and those who do know have produced some very good images. The lens has a five-year warranty, but I would prefer not to have to use it.

I just saw that someone pointed to an update on lenrentals blog referring to the 'possible' issue with AF, but when I followed the link it simply took me to the comparison review they did on the lens. I checked the most recent responses on the blog and didn't see anything pertinent either. This person claimed Tamron was aware of the AF, but hadn't run into it in their testing. But again, I didn't find that on the blog link he used, or on any new postings on the blog.

 

[TWI by Dustin Abbott]

On the BIF information - I have seen the same person stirring this up on a lot of levels. They have interacted with me personally, on my website, on a Flickr group I watch, and even on my YouTube AF review. They are very vocal, but their observations don't seem to reconcile with what I've heard from most people (and I get at least a half dozen emails a day.)

I did a high contrast contrast, high sharpness, high key look with this bison portrait and am really pleased with the way it looks.


Bison Formal Portrait by Thousand Word Images by Dustin Abbott, on Flickr

 

[slclick]

I thought I was done with Tammies but I think the pricepoint of this glass will let me take a chance on it. I'm not a birder by any means but have always desired longer glass for FF. Since the possibility for the 100-400 Mk2 is too ambiguous and waiting doesn't get you any images, I might spring for this and make an under 30 days decision.

 

[Albi86]

For Europeans:

Amazon IT has it on preorder for 1099€.

That's much better than Amazon DE (1199€), FR (1399€) and UK (1150£).

 

[Don Haines]

Exactly about the choice of reviews. You have to know to handle a 600mm, and those who do know have produced some very good images. The lens has a five-year warranty, but I would prefer not to have to use it.

I just saw that someone pointed to an update on lenrentals blog referring to the 'possible' issue with AF, but when I followed the link it simply took me to the comparison review they did on the lens. I checked the most recent responses on the blog and didn't see anything pertinent either. This person claimed Tamron was aware of the AF, but hadn't run into it in their testing. But again, I didn't find that on the blog link he used, or on any new postings on the blog.

I'm still learning to use this lens, but it holds great promise... One downside is that it does have visible chromatic aberation, but on the plus side, lightroom has the lens profile and corrects it very well.

The autofocus has had some problems on my 60D. AF would not work on close objects... then I realized that the switch settins was 15Meters to infinity, not 15Meters to 0...(OOPS!!!)... after that it worked fine It is very possible that some of the complaints are due to not knowing how to use the lens.... a 600MM lens takes a bit of time to learn how to use properly.

The IS seems to work quite well, so far most of my shots have been hand-held and no complaints.

All in all, I am VERY happy with this lens and would recommend it.

 

[Plainsman]

I am looking forward to trying out this lens.

If you get a good copy I think it might be as good as 300/2.8 IS (and maybe IS2 on a good day) with converters AT 420 and 600 without the darned inconvenience/extra cost. To get a half decent 600 with the 300/2.8 IS you have to stop down to f8 anyway.

The Tamron appears to be a very versatile and good value long lens which costs only a fraction of the price of a nice second hand 300/2.8 IS plus the two Canon converters.

It should also beat the Sigma 120-300/2.8 OS Sport plus converters on performance at 420 and 600.

It all depends on how much you want to use the 300-600 range.

 

[mackguyver]

It is very possible that some of the complaints are due to not knowing how to use the lens.... a 600MM lens takes a bit of time to learn how to use properly.

Don, thanks for the info and +1 on your comment above. User error is so annoying when it comes to poor reviews. It reminds me of every time I've sold a fast lens on eBay. I get emails saying the lens won't focus, etc. I have a long list of tips on AFMA, using tripods, etc., etc., etc. and each time I've sent that, I hear nothing but receive a positive review a few days later

Long lenses are challenging and little things like the focus limiter and AF & IS settings can make a big difference.

Happy to hear that this lens is looking so good and I hope you'll share some samples soon.

Also, I hope they are better than naturephotographer and Dustin's samples. Don't they realize that we want pictures of brick walls and test charts??? Real world samples, especially beautiful photos like the ones they are posting are so boring

 

[lenstrack26]

Has anyone seen any information regarding the possibility of adding a 1.4x or 2x extender to the Tamron? I guess some diminution of resolution would be expected plus a further reduction in aperture and loss of auto focusing, but it would still be interesting to know what the images looked like.

 

[Roo]

Exactly about the choice of reviews. You have to know to handle a 600mm, and those who do know have produced some very good images. The lens has a five-year warranty, but I would prefer not to have to use it.

I just saw that someone pointed to an update on lenrentals blog referring to the 'possible' issue with AF, but when I followed the link it simply took me to the comparison review they did on the lens. I checked the most recent responses on the blog and didn't see anything pertinent either. This person claimed Tamron was aware of the AF, but hadn't run into it in their testing. But again, I didn't find that on the blog link he used, or on any new postings on the blog.

I'm still learning to use this lens, but it holds great promise... One downside is that it does have visible chromatic aberation, but on the plus side, lightroom has the lens profile and corrects it very well.

The autofocus has had some problems on my 60D. AF would not work on close objects... then I realized that the switch settins was 15Meters to infinity, not 15Meters to 0...(OOPS!!!)... after that it worked fine It is very possible that some of the complaints are due to not knowing how to use the lens.... a 600MM lens takes a bit of time to learn how to use properly.

The IS seems to work quite well, so far most of my shots have been hand-held and no complaints.

All in all, I am VERY happy with this lens and would recommend it.

Thanks for that info Don!! I am just waiting delivery of mine here but the distributor confirmed that it should be at the retailers next week I will have a bit of time to practice with it before a very busy March...airshow, Grand Prix....

 

[AlanF]

I am looking forward to trying out this lens.

If you get a good copy I think it might be as good as 300/2.8 IS (and maybe IS2 on a good day) with converters AT 420 and 600 without the darned inconvenience/extra cost. To get a half decent 600 with the 300/2.8 IS you have to stop down to f8 anyway.

I'll give a comparison with the 300/2.8 II +TCs when my Tammie arrives after next weekend. I'll even show my favourite medieval brick chimney for Mac.

 

[TWI by Dustin Abbott]

I am looking forward to trying out this lens.

If you get a good copy I think it might be as good as 300/2.8 IS (and maybe IS2 on a good day) with converters AT 420 and 600 without the darned inconvenience/extra cost. To get a half decent 600 with the 300/2.8 IS you have to stop down to f8 anyway.

I'll give a comparison with the 300/2.8 II +TCs when my Tammie arrives after next weekend. I'll even show my favourite medieval brick chimney for Mac.

LOL! We'll be breathlessly waiting!

 

[hemidesign]

Another good review and samples (in japanese) enjoy!

Btw, this samples are so SHARRPP!!! wow!

http://forum.xitek.com/forum-viewthread-tid-1262048-extra--action-printable-page-1.html

 

[Don Haines]

A quick sharpness test....

The goal is to see what effect the F stop has on sharpness with the 150-600 when used at 600mm

All shot with a 60D from a distance of 20 feet and processed in lightroom. All images are with the Tamron 150-600 profile enabled and with chromatic aberration correction enabled.

The target is the fine print on the back of the packaging of a laser pointer... it was the smallest size printing that I could find lying around the house.

The first image has the colour balanced, sharpness slider at 0, noise reduction slider at 0

The second image has the sharpening slider at 80, noise reduction slider at 50, and blacks level at -50. There is a typo on the picture description.... The first bar is F6.3, not F5.6.

Obviously F8 or F11 is far sharper than F6.3 and it falls of by F16. With sharpening enabled, F11 appears slightly better than F8. When you consider that I could not see the pattern around the "danger" symbol when it was inches from my face, yet the lens could pick that up from across the house, this lens is great bang for the buck!....

 

[Plainsman]

A quick sharpness test....

The goal is to see what effect the F stop has on sharpness with the 150-600 when used at 600mm

All shot with a 60D from a distance of 20 feet and processed in lightroom. All images are with the Tamron 150-600 profile enabled and with chromatic aberration correction enabled.

The target is the fine print on the back of the packaging of a laser pointer... it was the smallest size printing that I could find lying around the house.

The first image has the colour balanced, sharpness slider at 0, noise reduction slider at 0

The second image has the sharpening slider at 80, noise reduction slider at 50, and blacks level at -50. There is a typo on the picture description.... The first bar is F6.3, not F5.6.

Obviously F8 or F11 is far sharper than F6.3 and it falls of by F16. With sharpening enabled, F11 appears slightly better than F8. When you consider that I could not see the pattern around the "danger" symbol when it was inches from my face, yet the lens could pick that up from across the house, this lens is great bang for the buck!....

With all due respect Don testing a 600 lens at 20 feet is a bit ridiculous - IMO! Nevertheless many thanks for your post.

But then I suspect Can/Nik, Tamron etc are optimising their optical designs to come out well in imatest reports at 30-40 ft and may not be all that sharp at distance.