Has anyone tried the new Tamron 28-300 XR yet?

[sjprg]

Looking for information on this lens. The specs look good for a walking around/hiking lens. Ive never been happy with Tamron's capability to handle flare and Im wondering if this lens is any better.

Paul

[sjprg]

I guess noone has tried this lens yet. Guess I'll have to be the guiene pig and try it. Sure wish someone else had a report though.

Paul

[ron chappel]

Hi paul
I had one in stock several weeks ago and did some quick tests with it (+ some other lenses) before i sold it.Unfortunately i didn't test flare ability at all .
Actually i haven't seriously compared the results yet -just had a quick look because i've been busy :cry:
I'll have a look tonight maybe and see if anything obvious stands out about it :)

Oh,for what it's worth i thought the build qulity surprisingly good! For a plastic lens it feels very 'one peice'-zooming was quite smooth and there was little free play in anything when fully extended.Also the cosmetic style is very like the nikkor 28-105 zoom.Overall i liked the lens very much but as this one was in a minolta mount and my serious camera is a canon digital i didn't even bother thinking about keeping it

[sjprg]

Thanks Ron, I need something for my hikes. Ive been using either my 35-80 or my 75-300 nither of which quite fit the need. Our hiking group usually does 10-12 miles with 2-3 thousand feet elevation gain three times a week. One lense on my 10d is quite enough to carry in additition to 12 pounds of water.
Paul

[ron chappel]

Ok i had a good look at the test pics.They are mostly at 100 & 300mm.

I did do some 28mm shots but had no other lens to compare it with (ie.i totally forgot that i had an 18-55 lens :oops: :oops: ,lol)

FWIW -what i did find out is that at the 100 and 300mm positions it is very similar in resolution and contrast to normal kit zooms such as the 75-300 and 90-300 - maybe just a little bit behind them

...and it was the same in that it was abit softer at 300mm than at 100mm.
I just checked the test pics again to se what it looks like at 28mm but it looks like i've deleted them-sorry

[slejhamer]

FWIW -what i did find out is that at the 100 and 300mm positions it is very similar in resolution and contrast to normal kit zooms such as the 75-300 and 90-300 - maybe just a little bit behind them


That is disappointing, but thank you for the info. :)

[ron chappel]

I feel abit bad giving it a not-quite-proven thumbs down.

I should say that both the EF90-300 and EF75-300 lenses i owned were unbelievably difficult to get sharp handheld pics with :x :x
i never solved the problem but it was far more than just shutter speed related.Just every now and then,you could get a good sharp pic
like this
http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=2314140&size=lg
but most were throwaways

I also owned an EF100-300 and it allmost allways seemed to get good sharp pic-,even at slowish shutter speeds!!!

hey...maybe the 28-300XR just works well like that :?:
please don't put too much faith in my brief test as it only really tested ultimate sharpness on a tripod

[sjprg]

I stopped at one of the local shops today and "borrowed" one of their Tamron 28-300 XR lenses, and Im afaid I must agree with you. The lens seems to be soft at all focal lengths and had trouble with focus at all focal lengths. Comparing with my 75-300 @ 300mm the Tamron dosen't even begin to hold its own. The AF was very slow and wouln't even track a walking person. My Canon 75-300 III non IS does a superb job, but I was hoping to only carry one lens on hikes. Oh well maybe when the Canon 28-300 IS is released. The specs sure sound good, but the price is almost out of reach. I have a sigma 50-500 which is also superb, maybe Sigma will come up with a 24/28-300/350 which would sure fit my needs.

Paul

[mcneguy]

Ron,

What is the maximum apeture of your dog? I suppose you would have the 1.8L-Dog to chase Frisbee's, the 3.5L-Dog to chase cars and the f4-5.6L-Dog to follow you around the yard.

[ron chappel]

Ron,

What is the maximum apeture of your dog? I suppose you would have the 1.8L-Dog to chase Frisbee's, the 3.5L-Dog to chase cars and the f4-5.6L-Dog to follow you around the yard.

LOL :D :D
this little puppy is just a general purpose one