New Tamron 150-600 G2

Again Poor shooting conditions but not too bad IMHO. Again @600m. Pretty significant crop as these birds are tiny.

Dark eyed Junco

"Snowy Egret"

Just planted a small pumpkin patch with the kids. I'm afraid he needed to get shot twice.

I have to say.... the photographs on this thread are way better than I had expected. I sort of keep an eye out here and in the Sigma 150-600 contemporary thread.

I haven't been overly impressed with the Sigma thread, but for those of you who have tweaked this lens or had Tamron do it... very impressive stuff.

The colors seem right too. I really like my Canon 100-400L ii... but it would be nice to have 600mm available. I have the 1.4X teleconverter... but haven't been real happy with the results.

Anyway, thank you all for your very nice photographs.

Interestingly enough I am surprised to see there are not more people trying out the Tamron. I originally bought the Sigma Contemporary, but the seller failed to deliver. The lens was on backorder for a while, so I decided to cancel my order. Meanwhile I did some research and found that many of the reviews favored the Tamron over the Sigma. In addition the Tamron G2 offered weather seal over the Sigma Contemporary model. This made it more appealing since I like to shoot shore birds on the beach side. Most of the reviews were giving the edge to the Tamron when shooting @ 600mm. That's when I decided to try it out and see if it was worth the time and trouble. I almost strictly always shot with the Canon ef 400mm f5.6 prime with no IS and still use it, but have always wanted a little more reach. However, the lens almost went back when I tested it straight out of the box. It was so far off I thought it was damaged or broken. It would not focus at any of the focal distances. Two weeks later and some serious microadjustments/calib​ration and I am glad I kept the lens. Let's face it..... that much reach and quality at a fraction of the price you would pay for a 600mm prime.....is a no brainer.

I have been working with the dock a bit. I think it is coming around nicely. Clear night, handheld shot.

Shaun Liddy wrote in post #18592759
I have been working with the dock a bit. I think it is coming around nicely. Clear night, handheld shot.

Looks pretty sharp to me...!

A couple from this past week.

Is the dock necessary or would a good mfa do the trick?

astronotus_2000 wrote in post #18592868
Looks pretty sharp to me...!

The thing about these lenses is that if 600mm lets you fill the frame with your final composition (little cropping), unless you make a huge display, you will not see that they are less sharp than some other (much more expensive) lenses. It is only when heavily cropping or when using a TC that my G1 Tamron really showed that it was softer than my 400/4 DO II with TCs. I often miss the ability to zoom out at a moment's notice with the DO, even though it works very well when it gives the right AOV. I've missed a lot of shots because of that.

Cormac wrote in post #18592915
Is the dock necessary or would a good mfa do the trick?

It might be possible to get it done in camera. However, that didn't work for me. In my case, I had to do quite a bit of adjustment. I would say, get the Tap-in Console. It is extremely powerful....otherwise, you can send it in to Tamron and get the lens calibration done by them.

John Sheehy wrote in post #18592937
The thing about these lenses is that if 600mm lets you fill the frame with your final composition (little cropping), unless you make a huge display, you will not see that they are less sharp than some other (much more expensive) lenses. It is only when heavily cropping or when using a TC that my G1 Tamron really showed that it was softer than my 400/4 DO II with TCs. I often miss the ability to zoom out at a moment's notice with the DO, even though it works very well when it gives the right AOV. I've missed a lot of shots because of that.

John, I do find that getting good results at 600mm does require some technique. It will take time to perfection. Also, keeping in mind that at 6.3, it will need to be a good bright day for best results. This lens is light hungry. I like to shoot at faster shutter speeds, even for stills. That said, when shooting birds in flight, I don't like going any slower than 1/2000. It has made a difference for me so far.

Hi John,

I understand what you are saying.

Photography is simply a very expensive hobby for me, I have not made $0.01 with it even though I have had some offer to pay me for my pictures/services. I simply don't want the headaches and or have to do marketing etc. for it. Just like building my hot rods, I do it for me not others. If either were a job, I think I would loose interest.


That being said, I have come to live with certain sacrifices with my gear. I do try to invest in the best bang for the buck. Trust me, I would love some of the really big $ lenses


But for now, things like this Tamron 150-600 G2 will do well for me. This file is a portion of the above but at 100% and I can live with that. I think there is more to be had in post processing as well.

Shaun Liddy wrote in post #18593079
Photography is simply a very expensive hobby for me, I have not made $0.01 with it even though I have had some offer to pay me for my pictures/services. I simply don't want the headaches and or have to do marketing etc. for it. Just like building my hot rods, I do it for me not others. If either were a job, I think I would lose interest.

That has become my point of view also. I've made some money in past years doing photography at certain events but eventually it started to feel like a grind. Some people continue on happily but I started feeling it just wasn't for me. And I started to dislike the schedule commitments. I only shoot for myself now and just for fun, making a few prints of my favorite shots along the way. Nice moon shot by the way!