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

[CarlTN]

wow!

what body is that on?
did you do much PP clarity and sharpening?
[/quote]

that is taken on a 70d, its good on the 6d also but i mostly have been using it on the 70d. it gives you a lot of reach in a nice relatively small package. perfect for hiking. here are a couple more that i also posted on the other thread, one is 500mm the other is 600mm. the squirrel is dxo default conversion, the pheasant has some usm applied in dxo as well as some shadow boosting
[/quote]

Nice work. So you prefer dxo to adobe?

 

[Roo]

2. Build quality is very poor in comparison to Canon EF 100-400 L IS (I don't think it will survive a fall) ... but considering its very low price and superb performance, I don't see how anyone can improve the build quality at that price point.

Unfortunately, the Tamron 150-600 VC lens price here (as usual) is very high i.e. US$ 1863 ... obviously I would not want to spend that kind of money on Tamron (despite its superb image quality, bcoz I am afraid that it may not last long due to its poor build quality) ... but ordering from USA at around US$ 1220 (1069+customs+shipping) sounds reasonable ... I was really excited about it for the past month or so, but after having held it in my hands, now I am in two minds :-\ ... my Sigma 150-500 OS has much better build quality then this Tammy and I know from my personal experience that lenses this big tend to get bumped into things very easily, so not sure if I want to spend US$ 1220 :-\ :-\ :-\

I'm a bit surprised at the build quality comment. I agree that the Canon 100-400 build quality is higher but then so is the price (50% higher here). However, I have owned the Sigma (sold it yesterday) and and had it side by side with the Tamron and I think the Tammy wins handsdown. Switches are recessed better into the barrel and feel more positive - the Sigma's always felt a bit loose and the white markings started wearing off them quickly. The barrel lock works better - no fiddling around with the zoom ring to lock it in place. The zoom ring itself is very smooth operating on the Tammy. The lens hood is also a nicer fit on the Tammy. The lens is plastic but it does feel solid.

 

[wickidwombat]

I feel the build quality on the tamron is really good certainly better than the sigma big zooms with the old crinkle paint finish (yuck! I shudder just thinking about it), like i said before it feels like the 100 f2.8L IS on steroids
i do understand that most equate metal and heavy with good build quality but some of the more modern plastics
are really excellent too and it keeps the weight down can you imagine how heavy it would be with a metal body?

I bet the canon replacement for the 100 to 400 has more weight saving plastic in it too

 

[Rienzphotoz]

2. Build quality is very poor in comparison to Canon EF 100-400 L IS (I don't think it will survive a fall) ... but considering its very low price and superb performance, I don't see how anyone can improve the build quality at that price point.

Unfortunately, the Tamron 150-600 VC lens price here (as usual) is very high i.e. US$ 1863 ... obviously I would not want to spend that kind of money on Tamron (despite its superb image quality, bcoz I am afraid that it may not last long due to its poor build quality) ... but ordering from USA at around US$ 1220 (1069+customs+shipping) sounds reasonable ... I was really excited about it for the past month or so, but after having held it in my hands, now I am in two minds :-\ ... my Sigma 150-500 OS has much better build quality then this Tammy and I know from my personal experience that lenses this big tend to get bumped into things very easily, so not sure if I want to spend US$ 1220 :-\ :-\ :-\

I'm a bit surprised at the build quality comment. I agree that the Canon 100-400 build quality is higher but then so is the price (50% higher here). However, I have owned the Sigma (sold it yesterday) and and had it side by side with the Tamron and I think the Tammy wins handsdown. Switches are recessed better into the barrel and feel more positive - the Sigma's always felt a bit loose and the white markings started wearing off them quickly. The barrel lock works better - no fiddling around with the zoom ring to lock it in place. The zoom ring itself is very smooth operating on the Tammy. The lens hood is also a nicer fit on the Tammy. The lens is plastic but it does feel solid.

I cannot comment on your copy of the Sigma ... but I've owned the Sigma 50-500 (non-OS) and 2 Sigma 150-500 OS lenses (one for Canon and the other for Nikon) and all 3 of them had better build quality then the Tamron 150-600 VC I held today. Perhaps the all plastic construction makes it look weaker, so take my comments "with a pinch of salt", coz I only played with it for 10 minutes ... but those are my thoughts on Tamron 150-600 VC i.e. excellent AF & IQ, but poor build quality. Like I said before, this does make this lens any less, it is worth every single penny and more.

 

[Albi86]

A lot of the "build quality" feeling is really subjective.

For example, I don't think my 24-70 f/4 L feels better than the Tamron. I also think that the new Sigma ART lenses have the highest subjective quality feeling after Zeiss, Leica and Voigtländer full-metal lenses.

 

[candc]

wow!

what body is that on?
did you do much PP clarity and sharpening?

that is taken on a 70d, its good on the 6d also but i mostly have been using it on the 70d. it gives you a lot of reach in a nice relatively small package. perfect for hiking. here are a couple more that i also posted on the other thread, one is 500mm the other is 600mm. the squirrel is dxo default conversion, the pheasant has some usm applied in dxo as well as some shadow boosting
[/quote]

Nice work. So you prefer dxo to adobe?
[/quote]

thanks,
i do like dxo, i import with windows live photo gallery, then i open dpp, i use the quick check to go through rate and delete the photos i don't want, i like it because its super fast. then i will use dxo to convert the shots. lr seems cumbersome to me.

 

[CarlTN]

wow!

what body is that on?
did you do much PP clarity and sharpening?

that is taken on a 70d, its good on the 6d also but i mostly have been using it on the 70d. it gives you a lot of reach in a nice relatively small package. perfect for hiking. here are a couple more that i also posted on the other thread, one is 500mm the other is 600mm. the squirrel is dxo default conversion, the pheasant has some usm applied in dxo as well as some shadow boosting

Nice work. So you prefer dxo to adobe?
[/quote]

thanks,
i do like dxo, i import with windows live photo gallery, then i open dpp, i use the quick check to go through rate and delete the photos i don't want, i like it because its super fast. then i will use dxo to convert the shots. lr seems cumbersome to me.
[/quote]

Interesting. LR is good if you like the way they are in total control of the catalog and everything...I don't really like it, but I like the way it looks, the tools, the interface of it all when editing, etc. I may try DXO someday...I just don't like how they are biased against Canon in their tests, haha...

 

[naturephotographer]

No 2 position VC (1 to allow panning)

Does the Tamron 150-600 have automatic panning detection? I use 'mode 2 IS' quite frequently for birds, and it makes a difference.

I was also curious about this so I contacted Tamron via their website and here is the response from Tamron USA:
-------------------------------------

"Thank you for contacting Tamron. Unfortunately the lens does not have a specific mode for panning. Of course the VC will try to compensate for any movement when panning in any direction but not like it would on some Canon lenses. Actually I usually recommend turning VC off when panning the lens if you can; VC is beneficial for camera shake but it also makes focus lag just a bit.

If you have any questions please ask.

Kind regards,

Brian Marley
Customer Service Supervisor
Tamron USA, INC"

 

[Drizzt321]

No 2 position VC (1 to allow panning)

Does the Tamron 150-600 have automatic panning detection? I use 'mode 2 IS' quite frequently for birds, and it makes a difference.

I was also curious about this so I contacted Tamron via their website and here is the response from Tamron USA:
-------------------------------------

"Thank you for contacting Tamron. Unfortunately the lens does not have a specific mode for panning. Of course the VC will try to compensate for any movement when panning in any direction but not like it would on some Canon lenses. Actually I usually recommend turning VC off when panning the lens if you can; VC is beneficial for camera shake but it also makes focus lag just a bit.

If you have any questions please ask.

Kind regards,

Brian Marley
Customer Service Supervisor
Tamron USA, INC"

Well that's unfortunate. Thanks for posting this.

 

[Albi86]

Thanks for posting, that's interesting to know.

 

[AlanF]

My experience is that the Canon 300mm f/2.8 II 4 stop IS is much, much better in mode 1 at freezing movement than is the Tammy. The shutter lag of the Tammy is, accordingly, less bothering, and I have found it negligible for big birds in flight. I use mode 3 for the Canon. At 600mm, I need 1/2000 for the Tammy without IS or VC for it to be absolutely sharp 100% of the time.

 

[CarlTN]

My experience is that the Canon 300mm f/2.8 II 4 stop IS is much, much better in mode 1 at freezing movement than is the Tammy. The shutter lag of the Tammy is, accordingly, less bothering, and I have found it negligible for big birds in flight. I use mode 3 for the Canon. At 600mm, I need 1/2000 for the Tammy without IS or VC for it to be absolutely sharp 100% of the time.

And what shutter speed do you prefer for the Canon with 2X TC in mode 3, for BIF? 1/1000? I've found that's not fast enough for small birds, but I guess that's not saying anything that's not obvious.

 

[Rienzphotoz]

A lot of the "build quality" feeling is really subjective.

For example, I don't think my 24-70 f/4 L feels better than the Tamron. I also think that the new Sigma ART lenses have the highest subjective quality feeling after Zeiss, Leica and Voigtländer full-metal lenses.

Absolutely, I totally agree that build quality is subjective. Like I said before, I am very impressed with its IQ and AF speed, but for my specific needs I am hesitant about Tammy's build quality.
Cheers

 

[AlanF]

My experience is that the Canon 300mm f/2.8 II 4 stop IS is much, much better in mode 1 at freezing movement than is the Tammy. The shutter lag of the Tammy is, accordingly, less bothering, and I have found it negligible for big birds in flight. I use mode 3 for the Canon. At 600mm, I need 1/2000 for the Tammy without IS or VC for it to be absolutely sharp 100% of the time.

And what shutter speed do you prefer for the Canon with 2X TC in mode 3, for BIF? 1/1000? I've found that's not fast enough for small birds, but I guess that's not saying anything that's not obvious.

Small birds are usually too fast for me at 600mm. Hovering birds of prey or lumbering heavyweights are what I can manage. And even for them the faster the better.

 

[CarlTN]

My experience is that the Canon 300mm f/2.8 II 4 stop IS is much, much better in mode 1 at freezing movement than is the Tammy. The shutter lag of the Tammy is, accordingly, less bothering, and I have found it negligible for big birds in flight. I use mode 3 for the Canon. At 600mm, I need 1/2000 for the Tammy without IS or VC for it to be absolutely sharp 100% of the time.

And what shutter speed do you prefer for the Canon with 2X TC in mode 3, for BIF? 1/1000? I've found that's not fast enough for small birds, but I guess that's not saying anything that's not obvious.

Small birds are usually too fast for me at 600mm. Hovering birds of prey or lumbering heavyweights are what I can manage. And even for them the faster the better.

Ok well you implied you didn't need 1/2000, so just wondered what speed you usually use.

 

[hoodlum]

The Digital Picture has posted their initial test results.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/News/News-Post.aspx?News=9162

 

[AlanF]

The Digital Picture has posted their initial test results.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/News/News-Post.aspx?News=9162

I have posted a series of links to different comparisons in the "Shallow review" thread