When we began the review of the Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 SP Di VC USD, we pondered which type of photographer would purchase a lens like this. It is a clear competitor to the equivalent offerings from Canon, Nikon and Sony but isn’t as expensive. Most professionals tend to go for a a primary brand vs a third party (as per recommendation of the retailers)–although some third party lenses have made excellent tools and third party manufacturers in general are fighting back very hard in their recent revamps. I asked this question of myself as every day I packed my camera bag to go out and shoot.
But is this really a lens that you’d buy?
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Tamron recently refreshed their 90mm Macro lens to include VC–the company’s vibration compensation/image stabilization. We saw it perform very admirably in their new 24-70mm f2.8 lens and so naturally we went into the 90mm f/2.8 SP Di MACRO 1:1 VC USD review with high expectations. Prime lenses like this are known for their high image quality, but macro lenses are designed to be even sharper for the simple reason that many may stop down quite a bit in order to get subjects in focus.
Editor’s Note: in a previous version of this article, we stated that there is no weather sealing. After talking to Tamron, we learned that there is. We apologize for the confusion.
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Often when I shoot products for the website, I try to think of different and creative ways to light the scenes but also have a natural and lifestyle like appeal to them. Due to a busy shooting schedule, legitimate window light isn’t always available–so it needs to be faked. Firstly, we should keep in mind that the larger and closer a light source is to a subject, the softer the light is. And in general, the light coming in from a window is usually quite soft. Soft light refers to the quality of the shadows.
So when I shoot some images, I often simply take a speedlite, place it right up against a white wall, and shoot with an according shutter speed, aperture and ISO. Once again, shutter speeds control the amount of ambient light leaking into the photo white the aperture controls flash exposure but not flash output. Additionally, ISO controls overall light sensitivity in the scene. Often when I’m doing this, I use TTL. For this particular set of images above, I used a Phottix Mitros flash with their Odin triggers in conjunction with Tamron’s 90mm f2.8 Marco VC mounted to my Canon 5D Mk II. And if you didn’t know beforehand, you might just think that this was all shot with natural light.
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Whether photography is your hobby or you’re looking to make it into a profession, portraits are one of the best ways to flex your creative skills. There are some lenses that are very good and that may even stay in your camera bag for a long time. These lenses are indeed so extraordinary that you’ll eventually find yourself trying to justify an upgrade after you’ve grown with it so much.
And most of these lenses are well under $1,000. After our years of reviewing and testing optics, we’ve compiled some of the best just for you–and these ones won’t make your wallet bleed.
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Choice is always good, so we’re very pleased to note that Tamron has announced another lens for the Micro Four Thirds system. And of course, being the company that has become famous for its superzoom lenses, Tamron’s new MFT lens features a whopping 10.7x zoom factor, ranging from 14 to 150mm (or 28 to 300mm equivalent to 35mm full-frame). This is now the third superzoom lens in the Micro Four Thirds lineup, after Panasonic’s original 14-140mm HD lens that was introduced with the legendary GH1, and Olympus’ 14-150mm lens. From the looks of it, the ’14-150mm F/3.5-5.8 Di III VC’ is quite a bit smaller than the two aforementioned lenses. So let’s hope it will also be a great performer optically. For the full tech specs, head past the break. [click to continue…]
I don’t normally buy Tamron gear but when they offered for me to test a 90mm f/2.8 Macro I was intrigued mainly because it’s been a while since I used a macro or a f/2.8 fixed focal length lens. With a certain amount of skepticism, but also a mark of curiosity, I accepted and took delivery just a day ago.
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