Tamron SP AF 180mm F3.5 Di LD IF A-mount lens reviews
 Mickey#3560 date: May-6-2008 | |
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sharpness: 5 color: 5 build: 4 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 4.8 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | missing |
| price paid: | around 600€ new |
| positive: | - Sharp - Beautiful bokeh - Manual focus ring - Tripod collard - Working dictance (macro) - Colours and contrast |
| negative: | - Hunting a lot with AF - No focus limiter - Plactic/metal body |
| comment: | I do not understand why there is no focus limiter, like Tamron 90mm macro have! I like the working dictance at 180mm. I use it mostly it in MF mode, the focus ring is excellent! Image quality is superb like Tamron 90mm, but the built quality feels a bit cheap with some plactic on it's body. But overall the lens can't be just sharper than this!!! |
; 10MP| vsldk#3460 date: Apr-13-2008 | |
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sharpness: 5 color: 5 build: 5 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 5 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | missing |
| price paid: | missing |
| positive: | very sharp good color and contrast build easy manual focusing |
| negative: | nothing |
| comment: | |
| Okapi#2764 date: Sep-22-2007 | |
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sharpness: 5 color: 5 build: 4 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 4.8 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | KM 100macro KM 50macro |
| price paid: | 900$ |
| positive: | Sharp as never Very good focus ring |
| negative: | The weight after a long time |
| comment: | This lens is a must to have for insects, and very usable with the 3600flash and a Lumiquest bounce, it is a good idea to make such a big focusing ring, and so fine for a precise macro with the rubber grip on it. I've just made an adapter for the flash Sony HVL-MT24AM Macro Twin Flash with the 49mm ring and an old filter screw, goes perfect. |
| oBSidian#2749 date: Sep-17-2007 | |
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sharpness: 5 color: 5 build: 5 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 5 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | Big Beercan, Tamron SP 90mm Macro |
| price paid: | 340 GBP (like new) |
| positive: | Fantastically sharp, great bokeh, lovely colour rendition, solid tripod collar, long focal length=great for smooth backgrounds and for working distance, solid build, filter rotater great for using a polariser, nice large grippy MF ring, MF/AF switch on lens. Did I mention sharp? |
| negative: | No focus limiter means a lot of hunting for focus in AF mode. As mentioned by others, once it's close to being in focus, continuous focus mode works well. |
| comment: | I bought this lens 4 months or so ago, and it's rapidly become my favourite lens. The extra focal length over the Tamron 90mm gives enough working distance for the more skittish of insects. Can be used with a good quality teleconverter for even greater working distance (I sometimes use mine with a Kenko PRO 1.4x). Build is solid - although there's a decent amount of plastic, it's definitely well made - so I didn't knock any off the build rating. I just can't impress on you enough how sharp this lens is, and what a joy to use it is - it makes macro work a true pleasure. |
| photas#2635 date: Aug-15-2007 | |
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sharpness: 4.5 color: 4 build: 4 distortion: 4 flare control: 4 overall: 4.1 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | missing |
| price paid: | 699 |
| positive: | Truely sharp. Bright realistic colours. Clever filter rotator. Manual focus usability. Telephoto ablity. |
| negative: | Hunts more than a Beagle. Lack of dedicated flash. There is a a small white hair imbedded in one of the middle elements (on my lens, I kid not) I'm yet to see any ill effects from supersonic hair. Needs more metal less plastic. |
| comment: | I'm in awe of the results every time I mount it on my camera take it out and start turning over rocks to see what creatures I can shoot. Even though this lens hunts for focus lock, its superb in manual mode even without a tripod (Breath out when pressing shutter release). I have also used this lens as a telephoto with the camera set on continuous focus, once focus is obtained it is fast at adjusting and re-adjusting on the target and produces sharp photos under various conditions. |
| Fecuska#2341 date: May-22-2007 | |
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sharpness: 5 color: 5 build: 4 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 4.8 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | - beercan (4/70-210) - minolta 2.8/100 macro D |
| price paid: | missing |
| positive: | - very sharp - good color and contrast - build - easy manual focusing |
| negative: | - autofocus hunting |
| comment: | I like this lens, it beats the beercan in terms of sharpness and contrast at every aperture (f4-11) and distance, its sharpness is as good as that of the 2.8/100 macro. The color reproduction is a very-very little bit on the warm side (compared to the 2 minolta lenses), but this can even improve IQ (this is NOT the annoying Sigma yellowish cast). Very recommended. |
| Phil#2309 date: May-13-2007 | |
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sharpness: 5 color: 5 build: 4 distortion: 4 flare control: 4 overall: 4.4 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | Sigma 180mm macro |
| price paid: | $620.00USD |
| positive: | Very sharp, great colour and contrast. I also like the silky milky smooth background |
| negative: | Af hunts a lot |
| comment: | Took a long time to decide on this one and decided on Tamron only after I had an opportunity to take shots with both Tamron and Sigam 180mm. Both lenses produce sharp pictures but I find the tamron pics had a little extra UMPH in them which gave me that little push I needed. So far, I have taken about 1,000 pics of insects, flowers and birds, most with manual focusing. The pictures were very, very sharp with good contrast. The colours were amazing. And the background coloring were silky, milky smooth. The only annoyance I have found with this lense is with the Af. It hunts a lot unless your subject area is large enough and when it hunts it travels the full length and back before stopping. Limiters would have been a blessing on this lense. The build rating - deducted 1.0 for the AF, I did prefer a more useful AF, had no problems with flare and distortion but based on my limited use so far. |
| Reto#2038 date: Mar-25-2007 | |
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sharpness: 5 color: 5 build: 4 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 4.8 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | Minolta 100/2.8 D Sigma 105/2.8 EX DG |
| price paid: | missing |
| positive: | One fine lens. Excellent manual focus ring. |
| negative: | A bit of a plastic feeling. The focusing ring with the attached gearing brings the AF gearing/motor? in the camera pretty much up to turns when focusing manually. |
| comment: | Used more often then the Minolta 100/2.8. It usually wins when packing the bag. This is due to the its quality being equal to the Minolta while, after you've packed the cam, big tripod, quick release plates, spare batteries, wire release, flash with spare batteries, other lenses and ... the difference in weight/size between the Minolta and the Tammy is not as big anymore as it seemed to be when starting to pack. The tripod collar is a big plus compared to the shorter macros, it balances the camera/lens much better on the tripod. In terms of IQ there's no winner between the two, both are excellent. |
rating summary
- total reviews: 38
- sharpness: 4.78
- color: 4.68
- build: 4.29
- distortion: 4.74
- flare control: 4.42
- overall: 4.58
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