Tamron 150-600mm Reviewed

[tomscott]

I am heading to Africa in January of 2016 for 2 months and was left short with the 70-300mm L on my trip across South America (including the Amazon) and through North America on my 5DMKIII. So decided to buy something a bit bigger to ensure I don't have the same problem again.

I know there are better size comparisons on the web like Brians at the digital picture. But I did a quick one when the lens arrived as I own most of the main tele lenses except the 100-400mm

Just a quick lens size comparison between the Tamron 150-600mm F5-6.3 VC and all the other telephoto lenses I own Canon 70-300mm L F4-5.6 IS vs Canon 70-300mm DO F4.5-5.6 IS vs 70-200mm MKII L F2.8 IS

Tamron 150-600mm by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Tamron 150-600mm by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Tamron 150-600mm by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Tamron 150-600mm by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Tamron 150-600mm by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Tamron 150-600mm size comparison by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Excuse the girlfriends hand the 70-300mm DO struggles from zoom creep.

It is a bit bigger than I thought it was but it has surprised me. Its not any heavier in the hand than the 70-200mm and isn't much bigger either when at 150mm. Its also a much better build quality than I expected and has a gasket on the rear which I also didn't know. It also feels very stable with the 5DMKIII almost perfectly weighted, it doesn't feel cumbersome to me at all. The tripod mount is also very good, its long and easy to use as a handle. I went out and shot a few images with it last night and although its not L quality its very impressive for its size and price. I went and shot some ducks at a pond down the road from me and the lens seems to be back focusing a little so I dialled in -8 and it seemed to sort it at 600mm. At 500mm its really impressive and at 400mm even more so, but if your buying this lens 600 is probably what you bought it for and it is good but I wouldn't call it stellar very very acceptable.

Theres one thing that is a little disappointing, I'm used to the 70-300mm L with its close focus capabilities the 150-600mm you do need to be quite a distance from the subject. On the positive side, unless the wildlife is used to humans the likelihood of getting that close is quite small so it ensures you don't scare it. The backward zoom takes a bit of getting used to also.

I need to run it through Focal to make sure its ok before ensuring its the copy I want to keep. But first impressions are very good! Im very taken with it and I don't usually buy third party lenses. but at nearly 1/3rd the price of the 100-400mm its worth a punt.

I intend on going out and testing it after I have AFMA'd it tonight so I will post some few pics and a few more thoughts once I've done that.

 

[tomscott]

Re: Tamron 150-600mm First Impressions Mini Usage Review

So I did some AFMA on the lens and It was out a touch, -10 on the long end and -5 at the short end. Dialled it in and wow! Really impressed with the sharpness.

So I went to South Lakes Safari Zoo in Cumbria this weekend. Really great zoo they only have the big animals caged and the rest sort of wander around which means no gates to worry about and they are really tame so you can close and get some really nice images and keep backgrounds looking natural.

Little bit on the handling. From everything that I have read and reviews I've watched on Youtube, all I've heard is how heavy it is, cumbersome, not that sharp at 600mm, not that well built etc. Well I disagree with most points.

If you have any experience with a 70-200mm F2.8 MKII IS then you will be right at home with this lens. Its about the same weight and the same size except when zoomed. The lens was a joy to use, I don't use straps so had it in my hands all day its very very well balanced with my 5DMKIII and the tripod mount makes a great carrying handle. Im used to using my 70-200mm from shooting weddings etc and it felt very similar. Its not front heavy or back heavy feels very at home with the 5DMKIII. It is big no doubt but if your used to bigger lenses then this will feel surprisingly versatile.

In terms of sharpness I found similar to the reviews at 400mm very sharp even wide open at 500 a little less and at 600 a little less again but it didint stop me from shooting there at all, in fact I was at 600mm most of the day (check the images below). If you are used to 400mm then 600mm does take a little bit of getting used to… framing and speed of changing direction you can get lost in the viewfinder but its all practise not a lens problem.

In terms of build I was happy to see it has a rear gasket and although it isn't L series build it feels very durable nice plastic not cheap at all. If you are worried about that I wouldn't be. Feels substantial and very nice to use, the manual focus ring is very smooth and a joy to use. I have to say I'm not keen on the reverse zoom and I tended to zoom in instead of out as I'm used to the Canon lenses. In terms of weather sealing I don't think I would be as happy being out in the rain with it like I am with the L lenses but I will no doubt test it when it arrises.

The image stabiliser especially at 600mm doesn't seem as good as the Canons the viewfinder does float around with it on at 600mm, you can't help it with the lens size its hard to keep it still (I haven't got any experience with the canon 600mm just a 70-200mm with a 2x on a crop body roughly 640mm equivalent) I found it maybe gave me 2 stops 3 at a push but more like 2, I didn't get any blurry images but I was ensuring I was shooting at over 1/1000th of a second so the IS was more to keep the viewfinder still and didn't really aid in image taking. Its also, for me, a little disappointing that the IS doesn't have a panning mode although its supposed to auto change it would be nice to have the ability to change it yourself. I find Auto to be exactly that, when you want it it doesn't necessarily change when you need it to. I haven't done any panning yet tho, but as I shoot motorsport I will test that out but I think 600mm will be a bit overkill.

In terms of aperture, theres no doubt its slow F6.3 to F8 is where your at most the time but because of the field of view it still renders background nice and out of focus, if your shooting wildlife you want to be in that sort of F stop anyway on FF because of the small DOF. It does mean your shooting in the higher ISO range. I was shooting from 200-2500 which is no problem on the 5DMKIII so I'm not too worried about that although it was a very bright day so we will see.

The AF was very good, not quite L series but it locked on and stayed on subject, all my images were sharp I only had a couple of OOF frames which is amazing first time out with the lens and over 1250 images. I only had two times where the lens hunted but a quick move of the MF ring solved that and was a really joy to use. It seems to track well I was testing the baboons running around, both toward and away.

Anyway enough talk here are some images and also some 100% crops for you to look at. Im very impressed anyway but your comments are very welcome.

here is the full album
https://www.flickr.com/gp/tomscottphotography/1gxs3w

Emu, South Lakes Safari Zoo, Tamron 150-600mm by Tom Scott, on Flickr
600mm F8 1/1250th 1250 iso

Rhea, 100% Crop, South Lakes Safari Zoo, Tamron 150-600mm by Tom Scott, on Flickr
600mm F8 1/1250th 1250 iso

Ring Tailed Lemur, South Lakes Safari Zoo, Tamron 150-600mm by Tom Scott, on Flickr
600mm F8 1/1000th 800 iso

Capybara, South Lakes Safari Zoo, Tamron 150-600mm by Tom Scott, on Flickr
600mm F8 1/1000th 640 iso

Cabybara 100% Crop, South Lakes Safari Zoo, Tamron 150-600mm by Tom Scott, on Flickr
600mm F8 1/1000th 640 iso

Inca Tern, South Lakes Safari Zoo, Tamron 150-600mm by Tom Scott, on Flickr
600mm F8 1/800th 640 iso

Parrots, South Lakes Safari Zoo, Tamron 150-600mm by Tom Scott, on Flickr
500mm F8 1/800th 640 iso

Jaguar, South Lakes Safari Zoo, Tamron 150-600mm by Tom Scott, on Flickr
500mm F8 1/800th 640 iso

Lion, South Lakes Safari Zoo, Tamron 150-600mm by Tom Scott, on Flickr
200mm F7.1 1/800th 800 iso

Black Vulture, South Lakes Safari Zoo, Tamron 150-600mm by Tom Scott, on Flickr
600mm F6.3 1/1000th 1000 iso

Black Vulture, South Lakes Safari Zoo, Tamron 150-600mm by Tom Scott, on Flickr
600mm F8 1/1000th 640 iso

Pigmy Hippo, South Lakes Safari Zoo, Tamron 150-600mm by Tom Scott, on Flickr
600mm F8 1/640th 640 iso

Sumatran Tiger, South Lakes Safari Zoo, Tamron 150-600mm by Tom Scott, on Flickr
500mm F7.1 1/800th 1000 iso

Sumatran Tiger 100% Crop, South Lakes Safari Zoo, Tamron 150-600mm by Tom Scott, on Flickr
500mm F7.1 1/800th 1000 iso

Hamadryad Baboon, South Lakes Safari Zoo, Tamron 150-600mm by Tom Scott, on Flickr
600mm F6.3 1/1250th 800 iso

Hamadryad Baboon, South Lakes Safari Zoo, Tamron 150-600mm by Tom Scott, on Flickr
600mm F8 1/1250th 800 iso

Hamadryad Baboon, South Lakes Safari Zoo, Tamron 150-600mm by Tom Scott, on Flickr
329mm F8 1/800th 800 iso

Giraffe, South Lakes Safari Zoo, Tamron 150-600mm by Tom Scott, on Flickr
450mm F8 1/640th 800 iso

Giraffe 100% crop, South Lakes Safari Zoo, Tamron 150-600mm by Tom Scott, on Flickr
450mm F8 1/640th 800 iso

Arctic Wolf, South Lakes Safari Zoo, Tamron 150-600mm by Tom Scott, on Flickr
600mm F8 1/1000th 200 iso

Arctic Wolf, South Lakes Safari Zoo, Tamron 150-600mm by Tom Scott, on Flickr
600mm F8 1/1000th 640 iso

Rhino, South Lakes Safari Zoo, Tamron 150-600mm by Tom Scott, on Flickr
600mm F8 1/1000th 2500 iso

Hamadryad Baboon, South Lakes Safari Zoo, Tamron 150-600mm by Tom Scott, on Flickr
350mm F8 1/1000th 2000 iso

Black and White Ruffed Lemur, South Lakes Safari Zoo, Tamron 150-600mm by Tom Scott, on Flickr
552mm F8 1/1000th 1600 iso

Black and White Ruffed Lemur 100% Crop, South Lakes Safari Zoo, Tamron 150-600mm by Tom Scott, on Flickr
552mm F8 1/1000th 1600 iso

To summarise.

Im very happy with my purchase, cost wasn't really an issue in this case more focal length and I'm very happy I got this over the 100-400mm. I paid UK £750 new from Park Cameras in a bank holiday sale. The lens isn't L series quality but as you can see from the above its damn close. Very very impressed its only my second third party lens tending to stray away as my first was awful.

The 3rd parties have certainly stepped up the game making much better products these days. Its a very interesting concept, huge range - small cost (relatively compared to other native lenses) to get 600mm on a full frame camera the cheapest way of doing it and keeping AF is to buy a 300mm with a 2x converter, buy a 600mm or use a crop camera with a 70-200mm F2.8 and 2x converter. I love my 5DMKIII and don't really want to take two cameras with me so I ruled that out. The primes are both better options but cost is stratospheric, much heavier and difficult to use and less useful, 150-600 is a great range. Were talking between £6-8000 if you go the above route so its coming in at nearly a 10th the price but your getting a couple of stops less light. Everything a trade off but a £7250 trade off is worth it in my mind.

The weight was a non issue for me and I like handling larger lenses feels right. Im a pretty average built bloke and had no issue carrying it around without a strap all day. doesn't feel that heavy tbh but if your not used to FF cameras with heavy lenses like the 70-200mm then you might think its like a tank and unusable milage will vary depending on how you shoot and what gear your used to.

600mm is the softest part of the lens but at F8 it seems to be a good improvement at 6.3 its still really impressive. As the images above show I wouldn't have any problem sending any of those for publication. You have to see it as new territory on full frame thats not been available to us normal photographers as a definite option without renting, having it is better than not. A little sharpening works wonders in post, all the images above were sharpened in lightroom by 60 points with a radius of 1.5 detail at 10 and masking at 30. Its the difference between filling the frame and not with larger animals in a safari situation.

One thing I did find weird was the lens tended to throw the exposure a touch with a tad of overexposure never experienced that with my Canon lenses. It was easy to sort and when I got home it was nothing to worry about just a note.

With that in mind its a steal, its worth buying one to fill the range imo. The IQ is great, more than acceptable, its a little slow but unless you buy primes they all other zooms will be F8s with tele converters. Im also not worried about it, at the cost if something happens to it buying another isn't an issue because its much cheaper than the competition.

So ye… its a great compromise! Really enjoyed using it and can't wait to get on the Savannah with it.

 

[beforeEos Camaras]

Re: Tamron 150-600mm First Impressions Mini Usage Review

nice photos and it really looks like you gave it a good work out I can live with that iq . well done as you get to know the lens better give us a update

 

[tomscott]

Re: Tamron 150-600mm First Impressions Mini Usage Review

Thanks, I certainly will I prefer more real world than charts and the above shows its definitely worth considering.

 

[tomscott]

Re: Tamron 150-600mm First Impressions Mini Usage Review

I spent a few minutes cleaning the lens today.

The only lens I have had problems with with dust is the 17-55mm which is full!!

Ive only really been out once with the tammy (above) but its already accumulated a few specs of dust. Not that its a problem but with one outing and I didn't even remove it from the camera…

I was going to buy a UV filter for it because I'm going into some pretty hostile wet, sandy, dry environments. I only use UV filters in these sorts of situations and as said not really had problems with my other canon glass.

Does anyone have any advice when it comes to the UV filters? They are expensive around 10% the price of the lens which makes me wonder if its worth it really.

So far I've seen the B+W which I usually buy but they are over £100, Hoya etc etc the one that caught my eye was the Marumi 95mm DHG.

Anyone got any advice/experience with this lens and any UV combos? I have found that the B+W filters tend to accentuate CA in backlit situations which is really hard to get rid of in post especially with my 24-70mm F2.8 MKI L.

Any advice welcome

 

[JPAZ]

Re: Tamron 150-600mm First Impressions Mini Usage Review

I have tried and have been impressed with the Breakthrough Photography line of filters but don't know if they have one for that size opening. Seems at least of the B+W quality

 

[tomscott]

Re: Tamron 150-600mm First Impressions Mini Usage Review

Thanks JPAZ will bear that in mind.

I have been shooting with the 150-600mm for a few weeks now and really liking it. It is quite hard to get used to, I have found one shot gives me much better keepers than AI Servo, also I find it fools the camera to over expose by about a stop so I usually dial it back a bit more.

Anyway here are a few I shot yesterday with it.

Lunar Eclipse coinciding with Super Moon 28-9-15 by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Goldfinch picking Milkseeds, Thacka Beck by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Rabbit backlit lurking in Dock leaves (Rumex crispus) Thacka Beck, Penrith Cumbria by Tom Scott, on Flickr

 

[verysimplejason]

Re: Tamron 150-600mm First Impressions Mini Usage Review

Thanks JPAZ will bear that in mind.

I have been shooting with the 150-600mm for a few weeks now and really liking it. It is quite hard to get used to, I have found one shot gives me much better keepers than AI Servo, also I find it fools the camera to over expose by about a stop so I usually dial it back a bit more.

Anyway here are a few I shot yesterday with it.

Lunar Eclipse coinciding with Super Moon 28-9-15 by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Wow! That moon was outstanding. I'm thinking now of owning this lens. I'm not an actual fan of "long" lenses but just recently I began to be interested with wildlife and occasional sports. Here's mine using my "crappy" 70-300 F4-5.6 IS USM lens.

 

[tomscott]

Re: Tamron 150-600mm First Impressions Mini Usage Review

Thanks, I think yours came out really well!

Well if you are looking for more range the Tammy has it in spades, its also not such a huge investment for the focal length infact its cheaper than any of the L series lenses. IMO its worth a punt really and fills a huge range.

 

[knkedlaya]

Re: Tamron 150-600mm First Impressions Mini Usage Review

Really big review I must say, images have comeout really well. are they 100% crop from OOC files? Have you done any sort of sharpening either in PP or in-camera settings? What was the saturation settings if any?

Naveena

 

[tomscott]

Re: Tamron 150-600mm First Impressions Mini Usage Review

The 100% crops are from the Images I've edited but made from virtual copies in Lightroom so to answer your question they are from the raw files.

My style is to add a bit of vibrancy but non go past 25 on the Lightroom scale was a really nice vibrant, bright summers day which also helps with lens tests because if it's bright you get sharp images in soft light you get softer images.

For sharpening I don't really add more than 60 with 30 on the mask, but at 600mm the images can be sharpened up really nicely.

I think it's often overlooked because it's a tamron and it's cheap. But it performs really well. I own the 70-300mm L 70-200mm F2.8 MKII L and a 2 x converter. It's noticeably sharper than the MKII with a 2x at 400 the 70-300mm is a tad sharper, but not a night and day but the zoom range is vastly superior.

The canon 100-400mm MKI is also not as sharp and it also gives the 400mm prime a run for its money.

The AF isn't as good as the L zooms and the IS maybe gives 2-3 stops. But it's no slouch either as I'm used to canon L and this is my second off brand lens I'm very impressed. It basically matches all lenses in the canon line up to 400mm or is only slightly softer and it's the cheapest out of all of them sometimes half the cost. So you can see it as the best to 400mm and you get the extra 200mm for free. Can tell you how nice it is to have 600mm native on full frame. I generally shoot at F8 with wildlife anyway so the F6.3 doesn't bother me really.

One thing people have been concerned about is the weight and size. It's about the same weight as the 70-200mm F2.8 and is about the same size. Another concern is the minimum focal distance which sounds massive. I did a quick test with the 70-300mm and yes you can get much closer to the subject with the 70-300 but when compared with the tammy the tammy frames closer at 600, which means you can be further away from the subject which for wildlife is a huge benefit for others maybe not.

 

[AlanF]

Re: Tamron 150-600mm First Impressions Mini Usage Review

Tom
I used the Marumi 95mm protection filter with mine. It was excellent. Unfortunately, I sold it after I sold the Tammy.

 

[Luds34]

Re: Tamron 150-600mm First Impressions Mini Usage Review

Tom
I used the Marumi 95mm protection filter with mine. It was excellent. Unfortunately, I sold it after I sold the Tammy.

+1, I use the exact same filter on my Tamron 150-600. I've played around with Hoyo, B&W and I find the Marumi to be as good as any. Very happy with the one I got for the Tamron.

 

[tomscott]

Re: Tamron 150-600mm First Impressions Mini Usage Review

Fantastic thanks for the suggestions.

What did you replace the Tammy with if you don't mind me asking?

 

[AlanF]

Re: Tamron 150-600mm First Impressions Mini Usage Review

Fantastic thanks for the suggestions.

What did you replace the Tammy with if you don't mind me asking?

100-400 II

 

[tomscott]

Re: Tamron 150-600mm First Impressions Mini Usage Review

How are your finding it? Do you use it more with the 5 or the 7?

 

[AlanF]

Re: Tamron 150-600mm First Impressions Mini Usage Review

How are your finding it? Do you use it more with the 5 or the 7?

Use it with both, with the 5DIII for general photography but mainly with the 7DII for birds. On the 7DII, I use it "native" for birds in flight or plus the 1.4xTC for more static birds at long distance. The Tammy is a very good lens indeed and I really liked the Tammy on the 5DIII at all focal lengths but not as much on the 7DII where it loses sharpness. When you can fill the frame on the 7DII, the Tammy is good but small crops aren't so hot. On the 7DII, the 100-400 II is sharp to the very edges and focusses really fast. The 100-400 II is very convenient for travel as it is smaller.

 

[tomscott]

Re: Tamron 150-600mm First Impressions Mini Usage Review

Last night I had a friend who came to visit he's a biologist and heading to antarctica for a year for bird counting etc.

He wanted to get a new lens and was looking at the 150-600mm, 70-300mm L, 70-200mm L and 100-400mm L

I have 3 of the 4 so we went out to test them, his major concern was BIF. So I was like well give it a go he uses a 7D, to my shock the tammy was getting 1 out of 10 at best using AI servo on 5DMKIII with all the af settings set to what I would have for BIF. The 70-300mm got nearly 90% and the 70-200mm with a 2x was getting nearly 80%. The Tammy was a huge high disappointment at around 10%.

It basally put him off completely and me also.

So I decided to do some research and they have released numerous updates and although my lens was bought brand new from a UK distributer on the 2nd September 2015 so I assumed it would have had the latest firmware. The last firmware was delivered in May 2015.

Stumbled upon this
https://www.tamron.co.jp/en/news/release_2015/0508.html

The first serial number with the update is 055889 and mine is 050688 so it must be one of the first lenses released? Im pretty disappointed tbh and I'm assuming it needs sending in to have the update which is also annoying without a definite solution.

Im going to take it out tonight and turn off the AF and see if that makes any difference because it should stop confusing the AF system. But if the AF is no better with the IS off then I think I may have to send it back for a refund as even with the AF switching from standard to panning if it can't keep up at 1/2000 and get a better hit rate I don't know how much an IS update will improve things.

 

[AlanF]

Re: Tamron 150-600mm First Impressions Mini Usage Review

Tom, if the price is not an obstacle, you will not regret buying the 100-400mm II. Its all round performance from IQ to AF is just so good and, as Lensrentals have shown, the copy variation is minimal so there aren't any lemons out there. Either of mine with the 1.4xTC on the 5DIII at f/8 is better than the Tammy at f/8 although you will be restricted to centre point focussing only.

 

[tomscott]

Re: Tamron 150-600mm First Impressions Mini Usage Review

Hi Alan, thanks for the advice.

I completely agree with you and price isn't an obstacle it was more a question of whether the range would be more useful to me and getting away with paying significantly less but there are always trade offs but this is a huge one. Being used to the way the Canons focus it no doubt will be a better lens albeit 3 x the cost here in the UK. I will get in touch with Park Cameras and see what they say then make a decision. I do like having the 600mm…

Ive had it a month tomorrow so not sure whether they will take it back.