Tamron 150-600 f/5-6.3 VC Availability

[mackguyver]

Somehow, I do not think that Tamron will be upset with having someone who is reviewing thier lens saying that they wish to add one to thier personal kit..

Very true, though they might not take too kindly to a reviewer saying the opposite I'm definitely curious about this lens, but give the overlap of my 70-200 2.8 IS II and 300 2.8 IS II + 1.4x and 2x extenders, it's hard to justify it for anything other than convenience. I'm anxious to see Justin's take on it, which will require another does of courage on his part to fend off the usual "I don't mean to be offensive" review-hating trolls ;D

 

[AlanF]

As this is a variable aperture lens, does anybody know at what focal lengths the aperture changes happen?

I do, and I will be sharing that exact information in my upcoming review (which will be allowed to go live next week).

Why are you holding back such a small snippet of information - it will hardly spoil your review?

 

[troy19]

As this is a variable aperture lens, does anybody know at what focal lengths the aperture changes happen?

I do, and I will be sharing that exact information in my upcoming review (which will be allowed to go live next week).

Why are you holding back such a small snippet of information - it will hardly spoil your review?

maybe it's because he is under nda ?

 

[jthomson]

I was at the Lensrentals web site today and they have the Tamron 150-600mm VC etc available for preorder. Hopefully this means Roger will soon get a few to play with, and give his take on the lens.

 

[Rienzphotoz]

For $1100, it wouldn't surprise me if an image cropped from the current Canon 100-400L at 400mm gives IQ that's at least as good as the Tamron at 600mm.

I doubt that very much. The 100-400 has to throw away a third of the image to get the same FOV ... on a camera like 5D MK III, this new Tamron at 600mm should give around the same IQ as the 100-400 at 400mm, if not better. Price isn't necessarily an indicator of quality anymore e.g the Sigma 35mm f/1.4
Besides not everyone can afford 600mm f/4 lens ... this 150-600 makes a great choice for people like us who can't afford or justify to purchase lenses that cost over $12000

 

[AlanF]

As this is a variable aperture lens, does anybody know at what focal lengths the aperture changes happen?

I do, and I will be sharing that exact information in my upcoming review (which will be allowed to go live next week).

Why are you holding back such a small snippet of information - it will hardly spoil your review?

maybe it's because he is under nda ?

Dustin
Are you under a non-disclosure agreement or are you just holding back information?

 

[Rienzphotoz]

Every now and then a classic is made... About 25 years ago Tamron came out with a 90mm macro lens that was comparable to anything else out there and at half the price.... I hope that they can pull it off again... I doubt it, but I hope they can do it.

+1 ... they have done an excellent job with the 24-70 VC and I wish Tamron does make this 150-600 a very good lens and wish them all the best ... it will only benefit the consumers.

 

[Don Haines]

As this is a variable aperture lens, does anybody know at what focal lengths the aperture changes happen?

I do, and I will be sharing that exact information in my upcoming review (which will be allowed to go live next week).

Why are you holding back such a small snippet of information - it will hardly spoil your review?

maybe it's because he is under nda ?

Dustin
Are you under a non-disclosure agreement or are you just holding back information?

The operative word here is allowed....

 

[Rienzphotoz]

As this is a variable aperture lens, does anybody know at what focal lengths the aperture changes happen?

I do, and I will be sharing that exact information in my upcoming review (which will be allowed to go live next week).

I eagerly await your review ... by the way when you say "next week", is that on Monday 20th January? if so, isn't that a bit late, coz the lens (according to B&H) will be available for purchase from tomorrow (17 January).

 

[TWI by Dustin Abbott]

As this is a variable aperture lens, does anybody know at what focal lengths the aperture changes happen?

I do, and I will be sharing that exact information in my upcoming review (which will be allowed to go live next week).

Why are you holding back such a small snippet of information - it will hardly spoil your review?

maybe it's because he is under nda ?

Dustin
Are you under a non-disclosure agreement or are you just holding back information?

That would be the former.

 

[Kiboko]

I had the pleasure of trying one out and using it this afternoon, - it's in the UK shops folks! LCE pricing it at £1170. It was about the same size roughly as my old Canon 100-400 L lens, the weight was much as I expected it to be, - considerable heavier than my current 400 f5.6L, but not a problem, I hand-held it on a 7D to take a number of shots, it felt nicely balanced and the IS worked well. It focused very swiftly without hunting despite fading light. In short, I want one! But here's the dilemma. I've been told that if I use it on a F/F body the images might be soft at the edges. Someone else said there could be distortion at the edges of the images used on a F/F. Both advised that being an independent brand it might be better to use it on a crop body, despite perhaps, a lower IQ and/or more noise from a cropped sensor. Even more disappointing was the advice to go for the proprietary brand equivalent-range lens on a crop body rather than risk the Tamron, - and this from a sales rep. who was going to be selling it! Whilst I could happily accept the advice to go for the crop body, (if I was really to gain from that, - greater reach but more noise or lower ISO ceiling as against possible soft edges or distortion using a F/F body), being advised that the manufacturers' own lens would be a better bet in respect of IQ (at double the cost) deflated me somewhat, given the hype been given to this lens, and the affordable price. And the sales reps. advising me hadn't tried it for themselves of course. Indeed they might not have personally tried similar long lenses on both crop and F/F bodies to be able to justify their contention. Would be interested in other's ideas on this, before I commit!

 

[Rienzphotoz]

My concern is the slow AF at 600mm as he was comparing to the 100-400mm.

+1 they can have market-disruptive IQ/price ratio but if the AF is sub standard it just really lets the air out of that baloon.

This may give you an idea
Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD - 600mm auto focus speed test

 

[Rienzphotoz]

Here is an unboxing video with music from some very old video game ;D ... be warned that the first 3 and a half minutes are a complete waste of time ... but you do get to see the lens after that, for a very loooong annoying period of time ... at 8.50 mins he does a size comparison between Sigma 150-500 OS & Tamron 150-500 VC (that is probably the only interesting part about this video).
TAMRON SP 150-600㎜ F/5-6.3 Di VC USD(Model A011)開封動画

 

[Don Haines]

I had the pleasure of trying one out and using it this afternoon, - it's in the UK shops folks! LCE pricing it at £1170. It was about the same size roughly as my old Canon 100-400 L lens, the weight was much as I expected it to be, - considerable heavier than my current 400 f5.6L, but not a problem, I hand-held it on a 7D to take a number of shots, it felt nicely balanced and the IS worked well. It focused very swiftly without hunting despite fading light. In short, I want one! But here's the dilemma. I've been told that if I use it on a F/F body the images might be soft at the edges. Someone else said there could be distortion at the edges of the images used on a F/F. Both advised that being an independent brand it might be better to use it on a crop body, despite perhaps, a lower IQ and/or more noise from a cropped sensor. Even more disappointing was the advice to go for the proprietary brand equivalent-range lens on a crop body rather than risk the Tamron, - and this from a sales rep. who was going to be selling it! Whilst I could happily accept the advice to go for the crop body, (if I was really to gain from that, - greater reach but more noise or lower ISO ceiling as against possible soft edges or distortion using a F/F body), being advised that the manufacturers' own lens would be a better bet in respect of IQ (at double the cost) deflated me somewhat, given the hype been given to this lens, and the affordable price. And the sales reps. advising me hadn't tried it for themselves of course. Indeed they might not have personally tried similar long lenses on both crop and F/F bodies to be able to justify their contention. Would be interested in other's ideas on this, before I commit!

Nice shop to avoid....
The lens could be soft at the edges.... unlike the 100-400 which is renowned for a razor-sharp image across the entire view.... NOT!
They say the lens works better on a crop body?!?!?!?!? That would definitely be a first for Tamron if it were true...
Use an equivalent range zoom lens????? Did they say who makes one? How come nobody else knows of an equivalent lens?
And all this from people who have not tried the lens.... WOW!!!!!
Nice shop to avoid!

 

[Rienzphotoz]

I had the pleasure of trying one out and using it this afternoon, - it's in the UK shops folks! LCE pricing it at £1170. It was about the same size roughly as my old Canon 100-400 L lens, the weight was much as I expected it to be, - considerable heavier than my current 400 f5.6L, but not a problem, I hand-held it on a 7D to take a number of shots, it felt nicely balanced and the IS worked well. It focused very swiftly without hunting despite fading light. In short, I want one! But here's the dilemma. I've been told that if I use it on a F/F body the images might be soft at the edges. Someone else said there could be distortion at the edges of the images used on a F/F. Both advised that being an independent brand it might be better to use it on a crop body, despite perhaps, a lower IQ and/or more noise from a cropped sensor. Even more disappointing was the advice to go for the proprietary brand equivalent-range lens on a crop body rather than risk the Tamron, - and this from a sales rep. who was going to be selling it! Whilst I could happily accept the advice to go for the crop body, (if I was really to gain from that, - greater reach but more noise or lower ISO ceiling as against possible soft edges or distortion using a F/F body), being advised that the manufacturers' own lens would be a better bet in respect of IQ (at double the cost) deflated me somewhat, given the hype been given to this lens, and the affordable price. And the sales reps. advising me hadn't tried it for themselves of course. Indeed they might not have personally tried similar long lenses on both crop and F/F bodies to be able to justify their contention. Would be interested in other's ideas on this, before I commit!

Nice shop to avoid....
The lens could be soft at the edges.... unlike the 100-400 which is renowned for a razor-sharp image across the entire view.... NOT!
They say the lens works better on a crop body?!?!?!?!? That would definitely be a first for Tamron if it were true...
Use an equivalent range zoom lens????? Did they say who makes one? How come nobody else knows of an equivalent lens?
And all this from people who have not tried the lens.... WOW!!!!!
Nice shop to avoid!

+1

 

[Kiboko]

Ought top make it clear that the alternatives are the Tamron 150-600 on a F/F body or 100-400 (or 400 prime) on a cropped body, giving the 600mm reach.

 

[dlleno]

My concern is the slow AF at 600mm as he was comparing to the 100-400mm.

+1 they can have market-disruptive IQ/price ratio but if the AF is sub standard it just really lets the air out of that baloon.

This may give you an idea
<you tube video>

I could live with that! lol

As for the edge sharpness question. We will know the details soon enough, but my guess is that the FF users who can't shell out 10x the price for a big white will be content with some amoung of edge softness that is greater than the big white primes. that just goes without saying.

and I agree with Don; I'd avoid that shop. or that salesperson, as the recomnmendation seems to have been based on an ideology, not results.

 

[mackguyver]

I had the pleasure of trying one out and using it this afternoon, - it's in the UK shops folks! LCE pricing it at £1170. It was about the same size roughly as my old Canon 100-400 L lens, the weight was much as I expected it to be, - considerable heavier than my current 400 f5.6L, but not a problem, I hand-held it on a 7D to take a number of shots, it felt nicely balanced and the IS worked well. It focused very swiftly without hunting despite fading light. In short, I want one! But here's the dilemma. I've been told that if I use it on a F/F body the images might be soft at the edges. Someone else said there could be distortion at the edges of the images used on a F/F. Both advised that being an independent brand it might be better to use it on a crop body, despite perhaps, a lower IQ and/or more noise from a cropped sensor. Even more disappointing was the advice to go for the proprietary brand equivalent-range lens on a crop body rather than risk the Tamron, - and this from a sales rep. who was going to be selling it! Whilst I could happily accept the advice to go for the crop body, (if I was really to gain from that, - greater reach but more noise or lower ISO ceiling as against possible soft edges or distortion using a F/F body), being advised that the manufacturers' own lens would be a better bet in respect of IQ (at double the cost) deflated me somewhat, given the hype been given to this lens, and the affordable price. And the sales reps. advising me hadn't tried it for themselves of course. Indeed they might not have personally tried similar long lenses on both crop and F/F bodies to be able to justify their contention. Would be interested in other's ideas on this, before I commit!

Nice shop to avoid....
The lens could be soft at the edges.... unlike the 100-400 which is renowned for a razor-sharp image across the entire view.... NOT!
They say the lens works better on a crop body?!?!?!?!? That would definitely be a first for Tamron if it were true...
Use an equivalent range zoom lens????? Did they say who makes one? How come nobody else knows of an equivalent lens?
And all this from people who have not tried the lens.... WOW!!!!!
Nice shop to avoid!

+1

+2, and I'm sure they weren't exactly being selfless by trying to steer you to more expensive, higher margin products.

 

[weixing]

I had the pleasure of trying one out and using it this afternoon, - it's in the UK shops folks! LCE pricing it at £1170. It was about the same size roughly as my old Canon 100-400 L lens, the weight was much as I expected it to be, - considerable heavier than my current 400 f5.6L, but not a problem, I hand-held it on a 7D to take a number of shots, it felt nicely balanced and the IS worked well. It focused very swiftly without hunting despite fading light. In short, I want one! But here's the dilemma. I've been told that if I use it on a F/F body the images might be soft at the edges. Someone else said there could be distortion at the edges of the images used on a F/F. Both advised that being an independent brand it might be better to use it on a crop body, despite perhaps, a lower IQ and/or more noise from a cropped sensor. Even more disappointing was the advice to go for the proprietary brand equivalent-range lens on a crop body rather than risk the Tamron, - and this from a sales rep. who was going to be selling it! Whilst I could happily accept the advice to go for the crop body, (if I was really to gain from that, - greater reach but more noise or lower ISO ceiling as against possible soft edges or distortion using a F/F body), being advised that the manufacturers' own lens would be a better bet in respect of IQ (at double the cost) deflated me somewhat, given the hype been given to this lens, and the affordable price. And the sales reps. advising me hadn't tried it for themselves of course. Indeed they might not have personally tried similar long lenses on both crop and F/F bodies to be able to justify their contention. Would be interested in other's ideas on this, before I commit!

Nice shop to avoid....
The lens could be soft at the edges.... unlike the 100-400 which is renowned for a razor-sharp image across the entire view.... NOT!
They say the lens works better on a crop body?!?!?!?!? That would definitely be a first for Tamron if it were true...
Use an equivalent range zoom lens????? Did they say who makes one? How come nobody else knows of an equivalent lens?
And all this from people who have not tried the lens.... WOW!!!!!
Nice shop to avoid!

Hi,
Of course this lens work better on a crop body... eqv. 240-960mm with AF...

Anyway, base on the limited online review, I expected this lens will have vignetting at 600mm wide open on FF (I suspect this is the case when they announce that the lens include an image processing software) and I also don't expect it to be sharp at the corner at 600mm on FF also... at this price, I can live with that as long as image quality and AF is good at 600mm...

Probably will get this lens to replace my 400mm F5.6L + 1.4x TC for birding.

Have a nice day.

 

[Drizzt321]

I had the pleasure of trying one out and using it this afternoon, - it's in the UK shops folks! LCE pricing it at £1170. It was about the same size roughly as my old Canon 100-400 L lens, the weight was much as I expected it to be, - considerable heavier than my current 400 f5.6L, but not a problem, I hand-held it on a 7D to take a number of shots, it felt nicely balanced and the IS worked well. It focused very swiftly without hunting despite fading light. In short, I want one! But here's the dilemma. I've been told that if I use it on a F/F body the images might be soft at the edges. Someone else said there could be distortion at the edges of the images used on a F/F. Both advised that being an independent brand it might be better to use it on a crop body, despite perhaps, a lower IQ and/or more noise from a cropped sensor. Even more disappointing was the advice to go for the proprietary brand equivalent-range lens on a crop body rather than risk the Tamron, - and this from a sales rep. who was going to be selling it! Whilst I could happily accept the advice to go for the crop body, (if I was really to gain from that, - greater reach but more noise or lower ISO ceiling as against possible soft edges or distortion using a F/F body), being advised that the manufacturers' own lens would be a better bet in respect of IQ (at double the cost) deflated me somewhat, given the hype been given to this lens, and the affordable price. And the sales reps. advising me hadn't tried it for themselves of course. Indeed they might not have personally tried similar long lenses on both crop and F/F bodies to be able to justify their contention. Would be interested in other's ideas on this, before I commit!

Nice shop to avoid....
The lens could be soft at the edges.... unlike the 100-400 which is renowned for a razor-sharp image across the entire view.... NOT!
They say the lens works better on a crop body?!?!?!?!? That would definitely be a first for Tamron if it were true...
Use an equivalent range zoom lens????? Did they say who makes one? How come nobody else knows of an equivalent lens?
And all this from people who have not tried the lens.... WOW!!!!!
Nice shop to avoid!

Hi,
Of course this lens work better on a crop body... eqv. 240-960mm with AF...

Anyway, base on the limited online review, I expected this lens will have vignetting at 600mm wide open on FF (I suspect this is the case when they announce that the lens include an image processing software) and I also don't expect it to be sharp at the corner at 600mm on FF also... at this price, I can live with that as long as image quality and AF is good at 600mm...

Probably will get this lens to replace my 400mm F5.6L + 1.4x TC for birding.

Have a nice day.

I can certainly live with it, especially since I don't _have_ anything longer than the 135L right now, although I do plan on getting a 70-200. Other than that, this is a lens for me to have that's decent and will give me a nice long reach when I choose to go down to the beach and try and get some good surf photos, or try my hand a bit at birding now and then.