Tamron AF SP 300mm f/2.8 LD (IF)

[Jman13]

I may be the only one who posts in this thread, since this is a relatively rare lens, but I've found it to be darn good.

Here's the lens:
http://www.jordansteele.com/forumlinks/tam300_good.jpg

These are all wide open.

http://www.jordansteele.com/forumlinks/pink_blossoms.jpg

http://www.jordansteele.com/forumlinks/waterfall_reader.jpg

http://www.jordansteele.com/forumlinks/dogwood_blossoms.jpg

http://www.jordansteele.com/forumlinks/girl_waterfall.jpg

[Jman13]

Got a chance to zip up to the zoo with my Tamron AF 300 f/2.8 today. Needless to say, carrying a supertele like that garners a LOT of comments. And people go out of their way to get out of YOUR way, which I found kind of funny.

Anyway, the lens performed extremely well. Very sharp, and I shot at f/2.8 most of the day, for as much subject isolation as I could get. A few times I was shooting through 2" steel fencing, and because of the large aperture, not only did I reduce the impact of the fence, but, except for a few bokeh artifacts, I eliminated the fence, which was fantastic. This was one of the first times I've really gotten to use the lens for the types of things it was made for, and it did quite well. It's a very impressive piece of glass. It's not quite as nice as the Canon 300mm f/2.8, but it's not too far off in most circumstances. I do wish I had IS, though, as my monopod technique needs work. In some cases I handhold better than I do with a monopod in sharpness.

Here are a few of my favorites. These are all at f/2.8 except for the second orangutan shot, which is at f/3.5:

Flamingo
http://www.jordansteele.com/forumlinks/flamingo_portrait2.jpg

Gorilla
http://www.jordansteele.com/forumlinks/gorilla.jpg

Racquet Tailed Roller:
http://www.jordansteele.com/forumlinks/racquet_tailed_roller_1.jpg

http://www.jordansteele.com/forumlinks/racquet_tailed_roller_2.jpg

Orangutan:
http://www.jordansteele.com/forumlinks/orangutan1.jpg

http://www.jordansteele.com/forumlinks/orangutan2.jpg

[phreeky]

Interesting lens, don't hear of them very often at all. The images certainly looks the goods, how do you find it to handle? I'm also curious what the 2nd (top) knob on the tripod collar is for.

[Jman13]

Yeah, I'm not sure how many they sold. From what I can find out, it's a pretty rare lens. Only a few POTN members have owned one, and at least one of those had serious issues, and may have been the earlier version too (If you do a search, you'll find some REALLY bad crops, while mine is VERY sharp straight from f/2.8.) Looking on eBay, I haven't seen it for sale since I got it. The old manual focus adaptall version is on there every once in a while, but the native Canon mount with autofocus has not been, since I've been looking. Tamron sold two versions of the AF 300mm f/2.8 for Canon, one from like 1991 to 1996, and the other from 1997 to 2006. This is the second version. I'm not sure how many they sold. It was $3,700 originally. :) I got mine used a few weeks ago.

It handles very well. AF is OK in the speed department for more distant stuff, but a full rack is not fast. It can handle AI Servo at a distance, but stuff running right at you isn't it's strong suit (so shooting soccer from the sidelines or something like that it would handle fine: sprinters coming at you: not so much). Accuracy is pretty darn good though. The thing is built like a tank, and the collar is well positioned, so the lens balances very well on a monopod or tripod. It's a solid block of metal in the construction, so it feels as solid as the Canon 300mm f/2.8, and the hood is a thick, solid polycarbonate with a rubber lining at the end (and felt inside). The collar rotation is very smooth. The rear filter holder is easy to remove and has a dial for rotating a polarizer. I haven't popped the polarizer in yet (I should have brought it yesterday, but forgot to take it with me).

The knobs on the tripod collar are interesting. There's a third one opposite the bottom one on the right side. Those two bottom knobs actually remove the foot from the collar (the actual circle is not removable, just the foot attachment...you can see the plate where it attaches.) The top left knob is the loosen/tighten knob.

Overall, I've been really surprised at how good this lens is.

[Jman13]

Two more from the zoo...these were shot through steel fencing with the bars only 2 inches apart, and very thick, but the aperture is so large it was able to completely obliterate it, even on the lion shot, which is amazing, as the fence was only about 4 feet from the lion. It did affect the bokeh on the alligator shot, though.

http://www.jordansteele.com/forumlinks/lion_asleep.jpg

http://www.jordansteele.com/forumlinks/alligator.jpg