The NEW Tamron 150-600 F/5-6.3 Di VC

I am hearing this relatively affordable super zoom is a "game-changer". Who here has one and if so, what are your opinions??

Some great reviews and sample images are on the net at http://it.wyswig.com/2014/01/02/review-tamron-sp-150-600mm-f5-6-3-di-vc-usd-english-review/

Hey Angelo,

I have one on order and would love to share some insight after I've had a chance to shoot with it.

I loved their 18-270 that I used to have.

Andre

This post has been edited by Andre Nordheim on 7th February 2014 - 01:54

Lens is looks very nice. I think its better than Sigma 150-500mm.

Looks like Tamron is known for a bad aftermarket support. That is giving me the creeps...

Tamron has great support and one of the industry's best warranty backings. I had their 18-270 and loved it.

Excellent testing and comparisons of the new Tamron with the other competitors.

http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2014/01/tamron-150-600-telezoom-shootout

Ask Yutaka Miyazaki and Yumihiko Ogawa as they are the first adaptor. Lol!0

Pity they didn't compare it against new nikkor 80-400 af-s but it's still looking damn good. Hope to test it once they have one in my local photo shop.

Resolution test that showed Angelo is one thing, but I'm more interested in how it looks autofocus speed on long focal length (500-600mm), does often lose focus ? Is this lens suitable for shooting fast military aircraft ?

Yutaka & Yumihiko tell us what are your experiences:)

The reason I chose TAMRON 150-600 A011.

1.Cost performance.

2.Lightness.

3.It is possible zoom.

Impressions of 2 months from purchase.

1.There is no problem auto focus. Because the focus limiter is attached.No problem speed.

2.I can hand-held shooting because it is light.

3.About image quality.It is a level that can be convinced if I squeeze in F8.

I'm sorry in an unfamiliar English. I also will report.

DXO Labs have tested that lens. You can read the review at the following link

http://www.dxomark.com/Lenses/Tamron/Tamron-SP-150-600mm-F-5-63-Di-VC-USD-Model-A011-Canon

Comparison with other lenses from both canon and nikon are available on the same website.

Enjoy!

Hi folks.

Yes, since I recently changed my camera system to Canon (6D) and needed to have a super-telephoto lens asap, I bought this as a cheap and quickly obtainable 600mm telephoto lens.

Considering a price, this lens well satisfies me. But if I have plenty money, I shall consider image quality, resolution(sharpness) and brightness first and will buy Canon genuine fixed focus distance lens instead of buying this.

I think this lens can be a choice in 2 cases stated below.

1. An ordinary photographers' choice for those who cannot buy (or do not feel value for money on) genuine EF 500mm F4L or 600mm F4L.

2. For those who already have EF600mm F4L and want another zoom lens for situation such as backpacking journey, which needs mobility rather than quality.

The way of VC (Vibration Compensation; IS/VR-like image stabilizing finction) works looks very different and strange in comparison with Canon's IS, but the image stabilizing effect is powerful enough.

USD(Ultrasonic Silent Drive) is quiet but not as fast as Canon's USM, but enough for passenger planes.

I recommend to switch focal point selector to single/center rather than multiple/auto.

And as Yutaka also tells, the focus range limiter is also effective.(I'm sorry Piotr, I haven't taken fast military aircraft yet.)

Sharpness is improved at F8 but in my opinion, F11 is much better.

In order to shoot flying aircraft with good sharpness and exposure, we have to consider this lens's aperture starts with F6.3 and for stable sharpness it needs at least F8.

For better results, I would like to shoot objects at sufficient shutter speed, beyond F8 with low ISO. Also I cannot expect the best AF performance at F6.3 (6D's AF is optimised for F5.6).

Here is the British Air B777 photo which I took with tripod, at 1/750, F8, 600mm.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackqualis/12308310466/meta/in/set-72157638908727705

(This picture was already screened and rejected here, editors evaluated this as "not sharp". This result depends on both lens performance and my shooting/retouching skill, so I do understand and accept this result.)

I also understand that the sharpness not only depends on hardware or skills but also on condition in the air such as haze and distance, but at least for me, It is still difficult to photograph entire distant aircraft from nose to tail in good focus and sharpness .

Some other examples using A011.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackqualis/sets/72157638908727705/

Sorry for the quality, especially jaggies and noises caused during a conversion inside Flickr.

Hope this information helps and my English is okay :p

This post has been edited by Ziddie OGAWA on 20th February 2014 - 17:00

Attached photos:

I hope this A011 would be sold for pentax mount...

A011 much better than KENKO mirror 500mm reflex .

[kenko's lens is no AF,（VR,IS）]

My order finally shipped so I'm excited to test her out next weekend.

This post has been edited by Andre Nordheim on 24th February 2014 - 18:48

Duplicate

This post has been edited by Andre Nordheim on 24th February 2014 - 18:49

Thanks Yumihiko ! :)

I collected my 150-600 yesterday. Unfortunately, I only managed 2 'point and click' shots of a departing DA-42, so all I can say about the lens' performance at the moment is that the vibration correction seems to work well. Shots were handheld at 1/80th on a properly gusty day. If anyone is interested, I've dumped the 2 pictures at www.flickr.com/photos/wallyllama/

The lens certainly feels like a quality item in the hand. Zoom ring feels very nicely weighted requiring a certain amount of effort to zoom so you are unlikely to move it accidentally. Alternatively you can grab the end of the lens barrel and slide it EF 100-400 style. Autofocus is fast and accurate on my 1D Mkiii, but more than that I can't really tell you at the moment......roll on next weekend !

One other thing which may be of interest to some people is that each lens comes bundled with a key code for what appears to be full on RAW editing and conversion software called Silkypix Developer Studio 4.0.

For anyone who is interested, the manual for the software is at http://www.isl.co.jp/SILKYPIX/english/support/manual/ds4/man0001.html

I'm looking forward to testing mine out this coming weekend :)

Had another go with the Tamron, and after making a few adjustments in the camera custom settings I am now getting some quite good results. Focus lock works well using center focus point (expanded in custom settings for surrounding point assist), and AI servo focus seemed to improve by backing off the sensitivity to -2 on my 1D Mkiii body.

This is a crop from a handheld panning shot, 1/250th, f/10 @600mm

Piper PA-28. G-WARY. by Wally Llama, on Flickr

Quite a good effort from a relatively cheap 600mm lens, I think !

Whilst I'm here, could somebody tell me how to deal with the chromatic abberation along the top of the fuselage please ?

Looks great!

Nigel, thanks for your opinion but with your camera everything will work fine ;)

I am not seeing any aberration on the fuselage....the image looks amazingly good for the settings you had. Well done!

Will this lens work on a camera with no built-in focus motor e.g. Nikon D40 or Nikon D3100?

Will this lens work on a camera with no built-in focus motor e.g. Nikon D40 or Nikon D3100?

I've played around with the lens for a few days now, now just hoping for better weather. Results were promising so far.

Angelo look at the upper edge of the fuselage above cockpit, you can see the delicate blue halo. Does not adversely affect quality of the image but it is evident.

thanks everyone for the informative reviews and example photos. I noticed the chroma staring closely, but I would not worry about something that small. This lens is intriguing.

Gave the Tamron another workout today with very mixed results. Went to my usual location, dialled in 1/160th, f/9, vibration control 'ON' and shot 5 frames of each of the first ten aircraft to arrive. This left me with 50 blurred photos, a 100% failure rate :(

Tried adjusting various custom functions without success so went back to the original settings, but with vibration control turned 'OFF'. This left me with 42 out of 50 keepers :)

4 examples.... Cessna G-AYMD VC turned on. Piper G-WARZ VC turned off.

Photos are straight off the card, just converted to jpeg & resized.

Seems to me that the vibration control (on my particular copy of the lens) seems to be quite happy all the time the lens is horizontal (aircraft taxiing / take off roll etc), but as soon as I tip the end of the lens up in the air to shoot aircraft in flight, it all goes horribly wrong.

So far, I've not had any issues with focus lock or tracking, just the stabilisation. Time to email Tamron I suppose !

Edit: Oops ! Thanks Marius, must read through my posts properly before I podge the upload button :)

This post has been edited by Nigel Paine on 10th March 2014 - 08:55

Attached photos:

Hey guys,

I've now had a chance to play with the lens for about a week. The weather up here has been quite bad as of late so I've yet to get good light conditions.

Most all the attached pictures are taken with the zoom reaching a bit and I'm still getting used to the balance in my hands.

So far I'm quite pleased. It looks like weather is improving this week so I'm quite excited to take it out for some real tests.

Attached photos:

Nigel, I take it that calling G-AYMD a Socata is a mistake, you probably meant a Cessna 172?

As you say time to e-mail Tamron, good luck and hope you get the query resolved. I am following opinions on this lens with interest, but cannot say I'm convinced yet. A 150-600 for £900 is tempting, but .... is there a negative somewhere?

This post has been edited by Marius Bekker on 10th March 2014 - 06:22

Don't know what happened with the American I uploaded but hopefully this shows right after upload. This one was shot handheld while taxiing at 600mm.

Attached photos:

Andre, I'am following this item with huge interest. When I read the experiences of Nigel Paine could you try to do the same and also take pictures of planes in the air. I'am very curious if you have the same experience.

Yeah, my plans are to do this when the weather changes this week :)

Gerard, I'm going to compile the testi pictures I took where I tried to replicate Nigel's situation when shooting upwards on a moving object. I took a lot of pictures and I can already tell that I had the same result as he did.

What I do find though is that the VS function seems to work well on distance shots where I operate on higher zoom. Stay tuned.

Hey guys,

I purposely when to a spot north of Seattle-Tacoma International today so I could take shots of planes coming right above my head, panning with the movement while shooting at the nose.

I remained in the exact position for the 45min I was there, using 1/800 f/8.0 at ISO 200 for all but one shot (the 757 nose pictured).

I went back and forth with VC ON/OFF and after looking at the shots, I think I experienced about the same as he did.

Granted, I shot at a much faster shutter speed as I wasn't shooting turbo props....I still think that the shots taken with VC off were sharper than with the lens in the on position.

I did the same thing, trying to shoot planes at distance and this proved the complete opposite. VC on gave me crisp results while off turned out blurry.

The pictures below were taken from the camera, into photoshop, added 10% noise reduction and re-sized to 1200x800. No sharpening has been applied. Camera was set to single spot focus point and spot metering.

I'll let you guys look and judge but I think the "off" look better. However, I've shot so many different subjects and various distances for 2 weeks and I have to say that I'm really liking the lens.

Have a great weekend all!

This post has been edited by Andre Nordheim on 14th March 2014 - 07:24

Attached photos:

I bought this lens and started using with my Canon 5Dmk3.

What I can say so far is that the Auto Focus is EXTREMELY slow, but the optical quality is great. It really takes a while for it to find the object.

When I tried against planes that were sideways or stopped the autofocus worked slow but was able to focus.

When the object was moving towards me (frontal shots kinda like Darryl Morrell stuff) the autofocus managed to properly focus the plane only about 1 or 2 for each 10 clicks and for that some of the planes I aimed for in that angle I simply lost and some were focused fine and no blurriness for multiple shots. All the rest were a bit blurred. I had no such problem with my Canon 100-400. However, when it did get it right, the Tamrom quality is really really good.

If you are thinking about this lens for fast moving jets, forget it. If you are thinking about this lens for "Heathrow 3/4 Frontal Shots" you might as well get it and know you will have awesome quality but also lose some planes. Also, don't use the "One Shot" autofocus mode. Much harder to get it right.

However, I must say that I edit my shots first for 3000px minimum resolution which is basically impossible to mask the blurriness. For 1024px/1200px I can say it focus well enough about 7 in 10.

My first and second times out with the lens, I was losing more shots. On my third time I used a monopod and was able to get many more crisp shots, so I recommend a good monopod. (The lens weights about 2kg)

For Air to Air action, I beleive the lens will work fine, since it is about the same as standing on the ground, getting the plane sideways.

Here is one of the best shots of the day:

I don't quite agree with the forget about Jets coming towards you comment as I've actually used that lens for that purpose several times already.

I did find though that turning the stabilization off when shooting jets coming towards you allows you to take sharp pictures.

I also exclusively use single point focus when shooting aviation.

I used to own the Sigma 120-400 and I'm far more impressed with the quality on this one then I was shooting with the Sigma.

Attached photos:

Here is another one, taken in non ideal light conditions.

Attached photos:

Andre, like I said, for small size it will work much better than for large sizes such as 3000-4000px which I need.

The autofocus speed is much better at 150mm, specially when you follow the target.

Here is one shot, I only leveled, so it was edited from full size. I was a few meters from the plane on final so it was a difficult shot for the autofocus. At full size, the lettles ZA appear to be a "borderline pass" on blurriness, which is hardly seen at 3000px and lower sizes.

Makes absolute sense. I rarely ever keep aviation photos anywhere above 3000 pixels, hence I don't seem to be fighting that issue. What people also need to consider is the price differences between the lenses as it would be very hard to convince me to spend the money to get something comparable in the same zoom range from Canon.

After testing the lens, I bought it and I'm quite happy with it.

It's not the same quality like a Nikkor Pro lens, but for the Price the lens is great.

I used this lens at the rollout ceremony of the Pilatus PC-24 and at the first day of AIR14.

For example, this picture is made with this lens:

http://www.airplane-pictures.net/photo/456091/125-cl-france-air-force-dassault-mirage-2000n/

The best Thing about this lens: it's not so heavy like the big Pro-lenses ;-)

Nice picture. Apparently the lens is best on a Full-frame camera.

BTW Guys,

My lens is a pre-patch version. There is a new firmware update that makes it perfect on the Canon mount. Mine is faulty and I must wait an opportunity to fly to the USA to fix it. It is free and takes about 48hs, but they must change the chip of the lens.

According to the guy I spoke with at Tamrom USA, for NIKON mount, they are all updated with the new chip and no problems focusing.

A-Mount owners may want to look at the Sigma version when it's released for Sony/Minolta A-Mount which has in-lens OS unlike Tamron which doesn't have VC on the A-Mount version (yet we still pay the same price as those which do).

Not one I could imagine hand-holding at full stretch (it'll look like an excited stallion) which is why my preference is for both prime and internal focus (IF) lens types.

The secondary lenses like Tamron, Tokina or Sigma offer excellent values for people who are not in the name brand financial category. I always recommend that you rent before you buy just to make sure you love the lens. Always get a clear or UV filter for the front to prevent scratches.

Here's one of my very first shots with this lens (on Nikon D7000):

http://www.airplane-pictures.net/photo/468793//

Seems like there's a long waiting time for this lens in the San Francisco Bay Area. So I ordered it from Texas and got it within a couple of days. Definitely recommend it to anyone who doesn't want to pay three times as much for Nikor equivalent but is feeling the pain of using a sub-400mm lens for aviation photography.

Shabbir A Basher......Please email me as to where you got your lens in TX.

jaymagnet@comcast.net

Thank you,

Jeff Magnet

Hi Jeff,

Here you go (http://www.competitivecameras.com/):

"On Sep 30, 2014, at 12:10 PM, "Eugene R. Jabbour" wrote:

If we get what we are allocated then you will have one on our next shipment.

I will include free UPS ground shipping so the total will be $1069.95. I

will let you know once one arrives."

@Angelo Bufalino

Elsewhere on here you say:-

"I recently shot the new Tamron 150-600 on my D800 and I found that the sweet spot for that lens is around 350-370mm. Beyond that it is very soft".

My question is, do you think this lens is worth the money, even if affordable, or would you rather stay with the more expensive Nikon / Canon lenses that most of us are familiar with. Is it not better to buy what has a proven and dependable track record?

Buying a mediocre 600mm capable lens is tempting, but are you doing your photographic enjoyment any favours when stuck with possibly numerous bad shots?

Thanks in advance.

Marius,

Trust me, there is nothing 'mediocre' about the Tamron. It will produce consistently good results if you're comfortable shooting in full manual, and also making a few adjustments to your cameras custom functions.

Canon / Nikon glass is always going to be better, but for the money, I don't think there's anything to touch the tamron, and it has a 5 year warranty.

Only real nuisance I've noticed is dust on the front element. People call the Canon 100-400 a dust pump, but trust me, the Tamron is probably more effective than a vacuum cleaner at sucking up dust !

Thanks for your response Nigel.

My take on this is that a Tamron 150-600 can be bought for around £949.00 and a Canon 100-400 for around £1239.00, for a mere £300.00 more you get top quality glass.

If the Tamron 'sweet-spots' at 350-370mm (as Angelo says), is it not better to simply go for top glass and be done with it when knowing the Canon works very good at all focal lengths? Few members here seem to publish good shots with 400+mm focal length anyway.

Hello.....

I have thought about the Tamron 150-600 lens. Unfortunately there has not been a 1/4x

tele converter released for this yet. I have also heard that Sigma will be releasing a

150-600 for around $2,000 USD. It is suppose to have a much faster focusing system. For $800 USD more than the Tamron I would expect it to be updated and refined. I am going to wait for the Sigma. Sorry Tamron :)

Nice to meet you, everyone.

This is the Fuse that use TAMRON SP 150-600mm F / 5-6.3 Di VC USD in Japan.

This lens is beyond the EF100-400 Type1 in cost performance and focal length than anything else. It is not bad enough effectiveness of VC is said.

Take a look at Tara good because I was also put here.

http://www.airplane-pictures.net/photographer.php?p=14636

Attached photos:

That's a really nice shot Yasunobu! That camera and settings did you use if I may ask?

Thanks in advance.

Be careful to VC can be used without any problems, image quality is also better than the 100-400 Type1, light long focal length, it is really good lens. And that no eye full use wide and telephoto side as tips, I think that you maintain a low ISO and squeeze as much as possible the iris, imitate you to leave put EXIF.

SS 1/320 F5.0 -1EV ISO100 165mm

Attached photos:

Yasunobe san, I can't get any EXIF from either of the two images ...

Here's a shot taken with the Tamron 150-600 lens ... https://planeimages.net/i/QqtHMEy981LS

I'm planning to buy the lens, but I read good and bad things about this lens.

Do you guys recommend this for plane spotting?

Mitchell

It's a great lens, but the VC is crap. You only have on and off, not mode 1 or mode 2 for horizontal pans. The manufacturer says that the VC can detect itself if it's a vertical or horizontal pan, but thats not the case (most of the time). The result is a blurred image. My solution for that: VC off. Always.

There is a Firmware update awailable for this lens.

Just send it to Tamron and they will fix it.

I made it here in Switzerland and it's much better now for panning shots with VC on.

Hi Martin,

I've been using this lens for a while now ... but I am also considering upgrading to the new Sigma 150-600mm Sports version (with the higher elements and twice the price!). Now you mentioned something about a Firmware update ... is it absolutely necessary to send to the manufacturer or can it done at home?

(Here's one of my latest shots using the Tamron 150-600, Nikon D750, https://planeimages.net/i/rOG7H7hbZb74 )

Shabbir

Hi Shabbir

There are 2 firmware updates available, the first one for focus hunting issues on early model lenses, and the most recent firmware update supposedly cures the blurred images whilst panning issue with stabilisation turned on.

Both the updates must be carried out at a Tamron service centre and are free of charge if the lens is registered for warranty. In the UK we have to pay for shipping to the service centre, Tamron pay for the return once the work is done.

I'll post on here again when I know if the update is a 100% success or not.

But if I buy one now, I suppose that it will already be updated?

Depends on the serial-number.

@ Nigel Paine: Please do so, I'm really interested! ;-)

So I did auto-focus fine tuning on D750 for the Tamron 150-600mm with aperture set at 6.3; it turned out that default setting produced some back focusing. I had to correct for it by setting that to +4. The image quality was better than before.

Still not 100% happy with the result, I decided to read up and compare the three lenses in this league: (a) Tamron 150-600; (b) Sigma 150-600 Sports and (c) Sigma 150-600 Contemporary. I came across something called MTF charts (Modulation Transfer Function) which I have collated and am sharing as an attachment.

Based on these manufacturer published data charts, it is easy to see why the sharpness (especially the resolution) on my Tamron drops quite noticeably at the edge of the frame at full focal length - 600mm. (And validates what Angelo has been saying for a while). If I'm reading these charts right, then even the 24 Mega Pixels of my D750 would not be able to correct for it - and what's worse, the drop in resolution is accentuated in the full frame (in comparison with my D7000 cropped frame camera).

So how does my Tamron compare with the Sigma? They have two versions with the contemporary being a direct competitor; sports version costs $1K more. Firstly, it seems that rather than looking at the actual numbers on the contrast ratio axis it may be more meaningful to look at the trends instead. (What Tamron may define as 100%, Sigma may define as 95% etc.,). That being said, there's little or no difference in the performance of my Tamron vs Sigma Contemporary at 600mm; it appears be slightly better at lower focal lengths. BUT, the Sigma Sports seems to better than both ... at both the 150mm and 600mm focal lengths. I guess that's why I must pay the extra thousand bucks ...

Attached photos:

I have the Sigma 150-600 Sports since February and must say I am impressed with the quality and build. Great sharpness and quick autofocus. You can finetune some of the parameters, i.e. autofocus speed via the docking station. The lens is fantastic, however, it ways a ton. Got myself a Gitzo tripod with a Wimberley gimbal head to support it.

Uwe: it turns out that I've been shooting most of my SFO photos using the Tamron 150-600 from a distance of 4,600 feet ... which is nearly a mile. So, obviously I've been pushing the lens to its limit with the full frame. Let's see how the Sigma 150-600 Sports does once I get it.

Attached photos:

@ Nigel Paine: Are there some news yet?

Here's a picture of me made with 150-600 tamron on a Nikon D600.

That's a BEAUTIFUL shot Guillaume! Perfect lighting conditions ... BTW, what focus mode did you use? (AF-C 3D; AF-C 9; AF-C 21; AF-S; AF-A etc., ...)

Thank's mister , the photo is made af-c Mode 9 point and the dlighting to low.

The tamron is very good but on the large sensor.

_CHE0120 by guillaume fevrier, sur Flickr

Hi Guillaume,

Thanks for sharing the other shots. I love the AirAsia shot ... 1600 ISO! BTW, the second Corsair shot was taken at 150mm ... not a distance I can get to where I am!

@ Guillaume Février: Do you have the latest firmware?

Hi Oliver.

Yes it's the new firmware on the tamron 150-600 and it's just perfect with a D800 and D600.

_CHE0082 by guillaume fevrier, sur Flickr

On the D800

_DSC0078 by guillaume fevrier, sur Flickr

Great shots!

Was the VC turned on during those shots?

When I turn it on, 2 out of 10 shots are sharp.

Yes all pictures 150-600 are made with VC.

I never use VC unless I'm shooting at speeds below 1/200.