Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Di LD Lens Review
The Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di LD Macro is a lens with a very interesting background. In the middle of the 90 Tamron and Nikon the same optical formula used in earlier (4 to 5.6 Tamron AF 70-300mm LD AF Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6 ED). In contrast to Nikon Tamron chose to continue to improve on the original design and the current lens is the third generation, the one Macro mode functions and a new, improved (Digitally Integrated) lens coating. The Tamron is still a full format lens and when used on an APS-C DSLR the field-of-view is about 105-450mm in classic terms.
The Tamron is obviously a low budget lens – it is sold locally for only ~ 130 – it makes little cheaper than this. However, it is surprising that Tamron does not really build to sacrifice much quality. The quality of the plastic is quite decent, there is a metal mount and build tolerances are tight. The tested sample had no wobbly parts. The rubberized zoom and focus control rings have a higher than normal friction.
BUY TAMRON AF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Di LD NOW WITH A SPECIAL DISCOUNT!
The low price tag shows a little in the zoom and focus mechanism. The lens is clear when zooming towards the long end of the zoom range and the front lens rotates when focusing – using a polarizer is no fun, but this is probably not a priority in the target market anyway. If you want to take advantage of the “macro” mode, you meet with us set the lens with a focal length of more than 180mm. By using the macro button you can focus range to 0.95 mm, which will extend a max. Object magnification of 1:2 @ 300mm. If you need shorter focal re-use, in order to concentrate over 1.5 m and will switch back to the default mode – otherwise the zoom mechanism in the 180mm setting is not available. Do not expect that this “macro” mode is really comparable in quality to true macro lenses (with a narrow focus optimizations).
BUY TAMRON AF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Di LD NOW WITH A SPECIAL DISCOUNT!
Typical for most Pentax K-mount lenses, Tamron has no internal AF motor and relies is operated by the camera on the conventional slotted drive screw. The lens uses a system focus, so that the extension is AF-motor of the camera quite busy during the operations. The AF is quite fast and quite loud.
With regard to its extremely low price tag you can not really expect a stellar performance from the Tamron AF 70-300mm Di LD Macro 4 to 5.6, but from a value perspective it’s pretty amazing what it can give you. The resolution is very good to 200mm. At 300mm there is a decline in the quality especially f/5.6. Typical of such lenses, the contrast deteriorates with wide-open aperture stopping down from Sun advisable of about 200mm. Distortion and vignetting are not relevant field whereas lateral CAs (color shadows at the edges) can be pretty obvious at longer focal lengths. Apart from the build-rotating front lens, the quality of the lens is actually pretty good for a lens in this class (better than, say, the Canon EF 90-300mm f 4.5-5.6 Nikkor AF 70-300mm or f/4-5.6D ED) .
BUY TAMRON AF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Di LD NOW WITH A SPECIAL DISCOUNT!
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