Shallow Review: Tamron 150-600 f/5-6.3 VC vs 300mm/2.8 II +2xTC III

[AlanF]

How good do you think the IS is at 600mm? It doesn't seem like 4 stops to me.

depends.

how do you calculate that it is not 4 stops?
you shoot handheld with and without VC and look how many stops you need to see no blur from your tremors?

or you just say you should be able to handhold it at ~1/30s. @600mm.

http://www.ephotozine.com/article/tamron-sp-150-600mm-f-5-6-3-di-vc-usd-lens-review-23866
It is claimed in this review that 50% of his shots at 1/40 s are sharp. Most of mine are blurred at that speed.

 

[jrista]

How good do you think the IS is at 600mm? It doesn't seem like 4 stops to me.

depends.

how do you calculate that it is not 4 stops?
you shoot handheld with and without VC and look how many stops you need to see no blur from your tremors?

or you just say you should be able to handhold it at ~1/30s. @600mm.

http://www.ephotozine.com/article/tamron-sp-150-600mm-f-5-6-3-di-vc-usd-lens-review-23866
It is claimed in this review that 50% of his shots at 1/40 s are sharp. Most of mine are blurred at that speed.

Sharpness at such speeds is entirely subjective. Given the kind of use cases this lens will most likely be used for (birds, wildlife and other action with cropped sensor cameras), at 1/40s, your likely going to get considerable blur, even if you have steady hands. Your subjects will be moving, and even a small amount of movement (ESPECIALLY for birds) at anything under about 1/800s results in blur.

I used to try to keep my shutter speed slower with the 7D to keep noise levels lower (and avoid having to go over ISO 1600), however for passerines, they are so jittery and constantly on the move that anything under about 1/800s (and in the case of the really small, super hyper birds like chickadees or bushtits and the like, even shutter speeds of 1/1250s and slower) results in subject blur. This was even the case with the EF 600mm f/4 II on a heavy duty tripod and gimbal (GT3532LS + Jobu Pro 2).

The only time your going to get stable 1/40s shots hand-held is if there is no motion in the scene. I had the luck of getting a 1/6s handheld shot ONCE in my entire time photographing:

Night Heron at Night
Canon EOS 7D + EF 600mm f/4 L II
1/6s @ f/4 ISO 3200

The only reason I was able to get the shot is because the bird was literally motionless for the entire time it took me to uncap the lens, stabilize myself so that I was motionless, configure the right camera settings, and take the shot. This was about a half hour or so after sunset, during the last minutes of civil twilight/first minutes of astronomical twilight. It was truly "night". Unless you intend to go around photographing night herons at night, I don't expect many nature photographers who get the Tammy 150-600 will be getting many sharp handheld shots at such low shutter speeds.

 

[Albi86]

BTW, I used zone AF in my 5D3 with the central group.
AF was set to Case 3: focus on subject entering the focus area.
This is because I find it often difficult to keep a flying bird on the active AF area. However, I suspect that my movement trying to follow the bird caused some loss of sharpness. Shots at 1/2000s look better than those at 1/1000 but still not tack sharp in any point - i.e. it doesn't seem the focus is off.

Any suggestion?

 

[AlanF]

Thanks Jon, I am sure you are right. The heavy cropping we do with birds is stretching the camera to its limits and we need much higher speeds than indicated by the old rule and the number of IS stops. Further, I think I have read that the old rule of thumb that you need a shutter speed of faster than 1/f breaks down at as f increases and so a 600mm requires more than 1.5x the speed at 400mm. The 1.6x crop factor on the 7 or 70D comes into it as well, and again more than 1.6x.

 

[philmoz]

Thanks to a tip from Roo, I picked up this lens on Friday.
First serious tests this evening and so far it's looking pretty good (IMO) - will take a bit of practice though, keeper rate is a bit low

Larger versions plus some more images here - http://www.pbase.com/phil_a_mitchell/tooradin

Phil.

 

[Lightmaster]

How good do you think the IS is at 600mm? It doesn't seem like 4 stops to me.

depends.

how do you calculate that it is not 4 stops?
you shoot handheld with and without VC and look how many stops you need to see no blur from your tremors?

or you just say you should be able to handhold it at ~1/30s. @600mm.

http://www.ephotozine.com/article/tamron-sp-150-600mm-f-5-6-3-di-vc-usd-lens-review-23866
It is claimed in this review that 50% of his shots at 1/40 s are sharp. Most of mine are blurred at that speed.

well that doesn´t mean it has to be the lens or VC.
exactly what i meant.
are you able to hold a different (canon) 600mm lens at that speed?

i know people who can handle 600mm with IS at 1/30s or 1/40s but im not one of them.
as im not one of the guys who can shoot a 600mm handheld without IS at 1/600s.

you can´t just say "the rule is 1/focal length and this is a 4 stop VC so i should be able to hold it at 1/40s". that´s taking YOU out of the equation.

when you look at professionell bird photographer most of them use a tripod or at least a monopod.
for a good reason.

next thing i will buy is a gimbal.

 

[AlanF]

How good do you think the IS is at 600mm? It doesn't seem like 4 stops to me.

depends.

how do you calculate that it is not 4 stops?
you shoot handheld with and without VC and look how many stops you need to see no blur from your tremors?

or you just say you should be able to handhold it at ~1/30s. @600mm.

http://www.ephotozine.com/article/tamron-sp-150-600mm-f-5-6-3-di-vc-usd-lens-review-23866
It is claimed in this review that 50% of his shots at 1/40 s are sharp. Most of mine are blurred at that speed.

well that doesn´t mean it has to be the lens or VC.
exactly what i meant.
are you able to hold a different (canon) 600mm lens at that speed?

i know people who can handle 600mm with IS at 1/30s or 1/40s but im not one of them.
as im not one of the guys who can shoot a 600mm handheld without IS at 1/600s.

you can´t just say "the rule is 1/focal length and this is a 4 stop VC so i should be able to hold it at 1/40s". that´s taking YOU out of the equation.

when you look at professionell bird photographer most of them use a tripod or at least a monopod.
for a good reason.

next thing i will buy is a gimbal.

Here is a recent quote from Art Morris, one of the most famous professionals of all time:

"2) The Sharp, Fast, Versatile 300mm ƒ/2.8
For years I had my eyes and my mind closed to the 300mm ƒ/2.8 lenses. That all changed when I borrowed one for my big Antarctica trip with Cheesemans' Ecology Safaris in early 2012. I loved it so much that I extended the loan and brought it along to Japan for a month. On the Southern Oceans trip, I needed to travel light; the Canon 300mm ƒ/2.8L IS lens was my big lens. It was great in the Zodiacs® and great for handheld birds-in-flight photography with or without the 1.4x TC. I used it with the 1.4x TC for all of my sea eagle flight photography in Hokkaido, and it was great for the snow monkeys as well. Aside from the light-gathering ƒ/2.8 speed, the lens is mind-bogglingly sharp.
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, EF 300mm ƒ/2.8L IS USM, Extender EF 1.4x III, handheld "

http://www.outdoorphotographer.com/how-to/shooting/long-lens-tips-and-techniques.html

Professionals use tripods or hand hold according to circumstances. The 400/5.6 was (and still ) is so popular because hand holding is necessary for much bird in flight photography. Now, we can use the Tammy or 300/2.8 - we are so lucky.

 

[Rienzphotoz]

Night Heron at Night
Canon EOS 7D + EF 600mm f/4 L II
1/6s @ f/4 ISO 3200

So, the effective FOV is 960mm at 1/6sec ... show off just kidding ... but that is very impressive! 8)

 

[mackguyver]

show off just kidding ... but that is very impressive! 8)

+1 - Great shot and amazing shutter speed!

 

[Albi86]

Thanks to a tip from Roo, I picked up this lens on Friday.
First serious tests this evening and so far it's looking pretty good (IMO) - will take a bit of practice though, keeper rate is a bit low

Phil.

Hi Phil, I really like your #2!

Have have you been finding the AF on flying birds?

 

[philmoz]

Thanks to a tip from Roo, I picked up this lens on Friday.
First serious tests this evening and so far it's looking pretty good (IMO) - will take a bit of practice though, keeper rate is a bit low

Phil.

Hi Phil, I really like your #2!

Have have you been finding the AF on flying birds?

Thanks.

I struggle to keep any flying birds in the viewfinder, let alone within the cameras AF area, so it's hard to make any real comment on the lens AF. When I did manage to follow a bird the lens AF seemed to work ok.

Phil.

 

[miah]

Tried out the Black Rapid RS-4 this afternoon. The Tammy is very comfortable hanging from it. As some might know, my 5DIII once fell off the 300mm when it was slung over my shoulder. I'd like to secure the 5DIII to the Black Rapid and also have an extra safety link from the Tammy/camera to the shoulder strap in case the screw comes loose from the Tammy tripod bush. I am thinking now of getting the Black Rapid wrist strap, screwing that into the 5DIII and threading its loop through the shoulder strap that is attached to the lens tripod mount. Has anyone tried something like this or has a better suggestion?

Sorry for the tardy reply, AlanF, but this is the first chance I've had to take photos of my strap set-up. I haven't yet dropped a lens or body, but I came close to dropping my 5D one time when changing lenses from my shoulder strap. So, like you, I prefer a fail-safe.

I prefer the Joby strap to Black Rapid. I like their rubber bushing/style of lock-nut better and I can adjust the length of their strap very quickly with one hand/no buckles. That means I can wear it long enough to hold my camera/lens beside my waist, gun-slinger style for quick action, then quickly suck it up under my arm pit if I want to scramble up a rock without banging the camera into everything.

Both body and lenses-with-collars are equipped with Induro PU-60 base plates for my tripods.

I attach the Joby slider to a Kirk 1" Std Quick Release which attaches to either the camera, for short lenses, or collars, for long lenses. This allows me to quickly doff the strap and attach either the body or lens to my tripod in a heartbeat. I got the idea to use the Kirk SQR from Neuro, and it hasn't let me down yet.

Next, I use an Optek neoprene wrist leash (very soft and comfortable) on my right wrist, making sure to tighten up the toggle. It stays on my wrist all day. I modified the tip of the leash by sewing on a 5/8-inch, male-side, Fastex Side-Release buckle. I then sewed a very short female Fastex buckle to the right-hand strap bracket on the 5D body, using a short length of webbing. Make sure any leash attached to the camera body itself--chest strap or wrist strap--is as short as possible to minimize wind flappage.

This set-up allows me to have both my lens and camera attached to me at all times, together and/or independently. The wrist leash is long enough that I can still get into my backpack, take a drink of water, etc., without unclipping myself from the camera body, as the whole rig hangs at my side from the chest strap. If I want to change lenses while all leashed up? No problem. Lenses with or without a collar? No problem. Quickly jump to a tripod regardless of lens? No problem.

This is the most versatile set-up I've come up with. I don't like hand straps--something you were leaning towards--because they often use up the body's tripod mounting threads where I'd prefer to have a base plate. Too, though they offer some added stability, they're too slow to get in and out of as circumstances change. Finally, you can see in the photos that I keep my collars rotated 90-degrees when dangling the camera/lens from my Joby so I can quickly lift the body by its grip and rest the barrel of the lens on my left hand. Obviously, I have to loosen the collar screw and rotate things right-side up when jumping to a tripod. I find this 90-degree collar tilt also puts the body/lens in the best gun-slinger position for a quick-response shot.

I hope this helps.

 

[wickidwombat]

So I picked up this lens yesterday here in shanghai I think i got the only retail copy available until next month
and went out to the bund to test it out.

first I'm not a birding kind of guy so these shots are really beginner BIF stuff, I've tried with the 300 f4L and 2X TC before but wasnt very happy and had a low keeper rate so never got into it much

I also have to say until now i have been a card carrying life member of the Tamron Hate Club.

Some initial feelings on the lens
build is very solid It feels like a 100 f2.8L IS macro on steroids, lots of plastic but the good sort.
tolerances feel tight and precise
zoom ring is too tight for my taste and it has way too long of a throw (this could have been reduced by at least 50% IMO, hopefully it will loosen up over time. The nikonian direction is a minor annoyance but i've shot both nikon and canon so its far from a deal breaker for me. Perhaps they made the zoom too stiff to reduce potential for zoom creep, its very very stiff initially off the 150 mark going up and less stiff from 600 going down.

Balance on the 5D feels a little front heavy (I think a 1D body will have perfect balance with this lens), I wasn't shooting with any kind of strap just carried it loose either by the camera grip or by the tripod foot which i had turned up to the top so it didn't get in the way of trying to zoom.
The focus ring is great really smooth and fast.

first thing i had a problem with was it wouldn't focus at all, I thought oh great here we go : farrrkking tamron, but i went into my menus and turned on continue to focus when impossible setting (cant remeber the exact words and too lazy to check) which i had off and this seemed to clear that up.

unfortunately the day was really crappy lots of contrast leaching smog, light rain drizzle so i teste dout the the weather sealing combo of the 5Dmk3 and this lens a little as i had no protection for the camera or lens so they got a little wet. nothing major though I didn't feel the rain was heavy enough to need an umbrella.

the smoggy hazy sky made trying to get focus on white birds quite difficult especially when they were backlit but the lens tracked exceptionally well. I tried it in spot (epic fail) switched to zone and realised i need more practice before i try that again with fast moving birds so put it in area and just left the AF in the hands of canon's AF engineers.

anyway here are some shots I got, I don't use burst still just single shot silent and all shots are timed, back button focus and Dof button for engaging servo.

 

[wickidwombat]

some more

 

[Dylan777]

So I picked up this lens yesterday here in shanghai I think i got the only retail copy available until next month
and went out to the bund to test it out.

first I'm not a birding kind of guy so these shots are really beginner BIF stuff, I've tried with the 300 f4L and 2X TC before but wasnt very happy and had a low keeper rate so never got into it much

I also have to say until now i have been a card carrying life member of the Tamron Hate Club.

Some initial feelings on the lens
build is very solid It feels like a 100 f2.8L IS macro on steroids, lots of plastic but the good sort.
tolerances feel tight and precise
zoom ring is too tight for my taste and it has way too long of a throw (this could have been reduced by at least 50% IMO, hopefully it will loosen up over time. The nikonian direction is a minor annoyance but i've shot both nikon and canon so its far from a deal breaker for me. Perhaps they made the zoom too stiff to reduce potential for zoom creep, its very very stiff initially off the 150 mark going up and less stiff from 600 going down.

Balance on the 5D feels a little front heavy (I think a 1D body will have perfect balance with this lens), I wasn't shooting with any kind of strap just carried it loose either by the camera grip or by the tripod foot which i had turned up to the top so it didn't get in the way of trying to zoom.
The focus ring is great really smooth and fast.

first thing i had a problem with was it wouldn't focus at all, I thought oh great here we go : farrrkking tamron, but i went into my menus and turned on continue to focus when impossible setting (cant remeber the exact words and too lazy to check) which i had off and this seemed to clear that up.

unfortunately the day was really crappy lots of contrast leaching smog, light rain drizzle so i teste dout the the weather sealing combo of the 5Dmk3 and this lens a little as i had no protection for the camera or lens so they got a little wet. nothing major though I didn't feel the rain was heavy enough to need an umbrella.

the smoggy hazy sky made trying to get focus on white birds quite difficult especially when they were backlit but the lens tracked exceptionally well. I tried it in spot (epic fail) switched to zone and realised i need more practice before i try that again with fast moving birds so put it in area and just left the AF in the hands of canon's AF engineers.

anyway here are some shots I got, I don't use burst still just single shot silent and all shots are timed, back button focus and Dof button for engaging servo.

Those are good looking BIF shots wickidwombat

For $1000ish - this lens seems to get better and better - Esp. when it in the right hands of photographers

 

[Albi86]

Wombat, I feel like my initial impressions are exactly the same as yours. Like you, also for me it's the first time having such a long lens and trying focusing on crazy moving targets.

I had decent results with Zone AF but I'm looking forward to test the automatic 61pt selection.

 

[Rienzphotoz]

A colleague of mine, (a newbie in DSLR photography) needed some assistance to get the stuck filter on his EF-S 18-135 IS lens, so we went to the local Canon dealer (my office recently moved just 5 minutes walk from the Canon/Nikon/Tamron dealer ... me very happy) ... anyway, when we went to the store I was very surprised to find the Tamron 150-600 VC lens in display (apparently they've got 12 of them) ... usually in this country we receive new lenses a good 6 - 8 months after their release, so I was very pleasantly surprised to see this lens (also, this is an indication that this mighty Tammy is very popular even in this small country and that is the reason why the dealer here got them so quickly) ... anyway, the very customer friendly salesman (he's the one in the suit in the below pic) allowed me to play with the lens with his 5D MK III (unfortunately I was not carrying my camera, as it was meant to be a short visit to get the stuck filter off the lens ... so I don't have any sample images to compare).
Having played with the lens for about 10 minutes, these are my first impressions of Tamron 150-600 VC lens:
1. The AF, accuracy & speed are very very good (just as good as the EF 100-400 L IS)

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 :-\ :-\ :-\

Anyway, here is an image made at the store with the Tamron 150-600 VC & Canon EF 100-400 L IS, next to each other ... compared to the Tammy the build quality of Canon is far superior.

PS. Image below is made with a mobile phone, hence the great quality ;D

 

[CarlTN]

some more

Nice job! Quite a frame filling experience you had, and the composition looks fine to me, can't tell you lack experience with BIF (of course I'm no expert myself). But I'm more interested in how they would look from say, I don't know...200 yards away? You were obviously within 80 to 100 feet of these. The more elusive wildlife, is not as tame as a seagull.

 

[AlanF]

Canon IS vs Tamron VC

It was easier to frame a target with the Canon at 600mm as the image jumps about less, which is the reaon why a queried the number of stops the IS by the Tamron VC gains.
I tested today the Tamron VC at 600mm vs the Canon 300/2.8mm II + 2XTC III on a target about 40 m away. At 1/640s my keeper without IS/VC was about 50%. With IS on, the keeper rate of the Canon was about 50% at 1/40s. With the Tamron, the 50% keeper rate was about at 1/80s. So, I think in practice the Tamron is about 3 stops, in my hands, and the Canon 4 stops.

Build quality
If you think that the Tamron won't survive a fall, don't drop it. (Mine is now at the end of a Black Rapid Strap plus additional safety strap). But, how strong is the 100-400 L? Well, mine was attached to my 7D when sitting in a passenger seat, with the 7D between my knees and the lens pointing down. The camera slipped and the lens hit the floor from a height of about 20 cm, flat on to the front of the hood. That small jolt was enough to break the USM motor. The 100-400 is reported to have cases of bearing failures.

I am not going to do the test of dropping the Canon 300mm 2.8 and comparing it with dropping the Tamron from the same height. Anybody volunteering for that?

 

[mackguyver]

I am not going to do the test of dropping the Canon 300mm 2.8 and comparing it with dropping the Tamron from the same height. Anybody volunteering for that?

Alan, if you send me your lenses, I'll be happy to be the one who drops them and compares the damage

Thanks for your continued updates on this comparison. I've been getting out with my 300 + MkIII extenders lately and also had a chance to run the set through the FoCal battery of tests. Like your lens, my 300 + 2x is almost exactly the same sharpness at f/5.6 as it is at f/8, with just a slight bump at f/6.3. The AF consistency is the best of any of my lenses, with the 70-200 2.8 IS II a close second.

Also, I did some hand-holding with the 1.4x + EF12 + 2x and found the quality to be decent, but the light was really harsh and humidity high, so I'll have to give it another shot down the road...

Back to the Tamron, do you miss the other IS modes? I find myself using mode 3 a lot on the Canon and mode 2 will be my go to mode when I shoot some sports and fighter jets in the coming months.