Tamron Zoom Telephoto SP AF 200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di LD IF Autofocus Lens for Sony Alpha & Minolta Maxxum Series

Comments about Tamron 200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di LD IF Autofocus Lens:

this lens is sharp with good color,bokeh,and good control of ca and purple fringing. it is best for perched,or slow moving small birds/wildlife within 20ft. in those cases it will render very sharp detail from f8-f11. however, for birds-in-flight it often is frustrating to use. it focuses slow and zooms all the way out first when trying to obtain focus. it really could use a focus limiter to help find focus on moving subjects. of course then it would be more expensive. so there is a trade-off here. i wouldn't consider it overly heavy compared to other 500mm lenses. it is heavier than a 300mm lens. a nice padded case and 5yr warranty is included.

Comments about Tamron 200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di LD IF Autofocus Lens:

I use this lens for wildlife and some landscape. I find the wieght of this lens well balanced on the tripod making tripod adjustments easier. Pictures are sharp at all focal lengths. The lens is long and occupies a lot of space in the camera backpack.

Comments about Tamron 200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di LD IF Autofocus Lens:

I knew as soon as I took it out of the box that this was a top quality lens. Pictures are sharp and the auto-focus better than I expected even with a 1.5x teleconverter attached. I was pleased with the price from B&H and and it arrived in Australia in just 5 days. I took to a local wetlands and it performed even better than I dared to dream. I can see I am going to get many years of enjoyment and quality images from this lens.

Comments about Tamron 200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di LD IF Autofocus Lens:

Just got this lens a week ago and am trying it out on my Alpha 300 and 580. Intending to shoot birds, wildlife and distant subjects outdoors.

So far - excellent optical performance. I am seeing excellent sharpness at close focus and distant. I get branches on trees and windows on houses 4 miles distant. A 500 mm shot of a flower across the backyard at 75 ft looks like a macro close-up. Used the a580's mirror lock-up for this. At 400-500mm a solid tripod helps greatly. Centers are generally excellent, corners a bit softer. For handheld, the a580's high ISO performance and Steady Shot helps.

Autofocus - on the a300, Ok but not always great. On the a580, very accurate. If you don't trust AF on the 580 (which so far is always right on) use the focus check Live View zoom and Manual focus, this is good for stationary subjects.

Will focus suprisingly well even in twilight (not night-time) outdoors or in decent artificial light indoors.

Mechanical quality is excellent, it is very solidly built, satisfying to use. Weight about 3 lb - less than the Sony 70-400. You can carry this around for a while and take sharp photos in good light handheld.

My cheap and light Sony 75-300 is actually quite good out to 200mm and OK to 300mm, the Tamron gives me great shots out to 500mm.

Comments about Tamron 200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di LD IF Autofocus Lens:

We've been using this lens now for 2 years, and have mixed results. Sometimes, we get fantastic pics. Other times, like this past weekend, 50% of the shots were blurry, or the auto focus picked something in the foreground. Granted, we are doing hand-held or bracing on stationary object. Seems like the further out we try to go, the harder it is to get clear shots. Great for wildlife that is closer than the 500 limit. Makes me nervous because we want to take these to Africa and I'm worried I'll get back and find 50% of my shots out of focus.
For the money, and depending on what you plan to do with this lens, I would recommend it.
I agree with other posts that the auto-focus does leave something to be desired. Birds in flight do not wait for the lens to decide to focus on them. Have missed many shots when in auto-focus because of the lens slowness.

Comments about Tamron 200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di LD IF Autofocus Lens:

Have only used this lens for a few weeks and so far just love it. I've taken some great close ups of flowers, etc. and baseball games. Can't wait to take it to Alaska on a cruise/tour!

Comments about Tamron 200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di LD IF Autofocus Lens:

I am an avid amateur wildlife and bird photographer and I bought the lens because I just can't afford to buy a high priced prime lens. I have been very happy with the image quality that I have gotten with this lens. I does get a little soft over 400mm but still very good quality. It also works with auto focus with my 1.4 Tamron teleconverter. With a 2X TC I have to manually focus and the lens is fairly easy to manually focus.
This is my fifth Tamron lens and I have been very happy with all of them. Up until now my favorite lens was my 70-200 f2.8 Tamron but now I think my 200-500 is my new favorite.

Comments about Tamron 200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di LD IF Autofocus Lens:

Pound for pound, this is the best lens I have added to my kit. I have been able to expand my pleasure by adding a new dimension to my passion for nature photography.

The ability to get close and personal to shy animals and birds is the most treasured feature of the the lens.

The penalty; it weighs a ton, but I gladly put up with the inconvenience to get shots that were almost impossible without it.

Comments about Tamron 200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di LD IF Autofocus Lens:

Mounted on A700 in an air show. Got some nice pilot portraits in cockpit. Weight is not a big problem. Sharp at F8. Focusing is fast and right on with A700's motor.
Now what is not so fast: once it is out of focus, it takes forever to travel all the way back and forth. The narrow angel is to blame for losing focus in the first place, but lack of range limiter is a major shortcoming.

Comments about Tamron 200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di LD IF Autofocus Lens:

This is a big lens! It's a bit on the heavy side so a monopod would be a good idea. I use the Sony Alpha 700 with built in stabilizer and it works pretty well without the monopod. The carrying case is definitely a plus over the shoulder or around your waste. The auto-focus is a bit of a creeper but bearable. Sports/action shots could be a problem...not tried it yet.

Comments about Tamron 200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di LD IF Autofocus Lens:

The first pics I took with it was Butterflies. I got Pics that I've been unable to get. To fill a frame with a butterfly serveral times a minute, with other lens I was too close for more than one shot. I've taken several bird photos also. All images are clear and sharp.

Comments about Tamron 200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di LD IF Autofocus Lens:

I use the lens for sports, easy to use. Excellent results every time,another excellent product at the best price,thanks.

Comments about Tamron 200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di LD IF Autofocus Lens:

Great lens for the $. Seems to have a great sweet spot stopped down to around f8-f11. I have also had some sucess with a 2x teleconverter when shooting in good light. The only thing I would change is the focus ring position as it is something to get use to. All in all SUPER lens for the price. If you are on the fence don't be it worth you dollar. You will have a new look on shooting, but good light is very necessary.

Comments about Tamron 200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di LD IF Autofocus Lens:

Seems to be well built. For an amaatuer very good results. Easy to use on my Minolta d7!

Comments about Tamron 200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di LD IF Autofocus Lens:

I use this lens with a Sony Alpha 350 DSLR. A number of the reviews complained about slow A/F function and they nearly scuttled purchase of this fine lens. However, I found the lens to be fast enough for an amatuer. For example, the lens quickly focused and locked on a pelican in flight at 200 yards - fast enough for me to click off pictures as fast as the camera could cycle - 2.5 fps. The pictures I've taken have not had any optical artifacts I can discern. All TTL features operate seamlessly with my A350. I hope to use the lens for all sorts of shots - political rallies, wildlife and long range landscapes and people pics.

Comments about Tamron 200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di LD IF Autofocus Lens:

This lense offers great reach and a sharp image across the entire span. Color is good with little CA. When images are compared to much more expensive prime lenses, very little difference can be noticed. The manual focus ring is placed a little too close to the camera body for my taste, but that is a personal matter. Priced at under $800, this is a great addition to anyone's line-up.

Comments about Tamron 200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di LD IF Autofocus Lens:

This is a big lense with lots of reach. I've had it for only a few shoots but have been impressed with the sharpness. However, this lense is not a walk-around or hand-held lense. Although the autofocus is a bit slow, it is accurate. The lock is a nice feature to avoid creep. I considered other similar lenses, but it is hard to beat the quality you get for the price.

Comments about Tamron 200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di LD IF Autofocus Lens:

So far, it seems like a solid lens. Upgrading from a cheap lens, it seems pretty good. The colour, sharpness and clarity (purchased with a UV filter) are far superior to what I have used in the past. It is quite sizable and heavy, which can make it a little annoying. I don't use the auto focus - so I can't tell you much about that - although it was a breeze fitting it to my camera.
Going from 200-500 is a pain to do in a hurry - as is perfecting the focus in a hurry - but neither of these have really caused angst as yet - although the positioning of those compared to the zoom area of the lens does make it easy to dust proof the lens, should you be going into such an environment.

Comments about Tamron 200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di LD IF Autofocus Lens:

I use the 200-500mm Tamron on my Sony DSLR-A350 and it is my long reach lens for wildlife. The lens is sharp thoughout the zoom range with the sweet spot around f8. Autofocus is accurate in good light, but it hunts a little in low light. Good build quality and good CA control and less than 3 lbs make it relatively light in weight.

Comments about Tamron 200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di LD IF Autofocus Lens:

Great focussing range took picture's of the moon the other night and you can actually see the dimple's, sharp images without distortion.
Very fast focus on cat size and bigger.
It can get difficult too focus on small subject like bird's and whatnots.If you can you get it focus just right you can potentiality get very sharp photo's.