Tamron 70-300 VC or 70-200 F4 (AF Speed)??

Hi, does anyone have been able to handle the 70-200 F4 L (non IS) and the tamron 70-300 VC.. What are your impressions regarding AF speed ??

the L Is really that much faster to give up the VC ??

Please keep the thread on topic.. I'm looking for real user experience not those technical guys that only read things. Sorry if this sound to harsh..

Also if someone has some ai servo shots with the 70-300 VC and mind to share those pics are welcome..

Thanks.

I found it noticably (1/3 second?) slower going from MFD to infinity, but for tracking it was fine.

Thanks.. So you think the "speed" of the L is not worth, to give up the VC ??

Any more opinions??

I don't know if this will be of much help but here goes.

I've never owned the Canon 70-200 f4 but did rent one last year for a big four day tennis tournament which I shoot a lot of. It was quite impressive of course.

I just purchased the Tamron 70-300 vc and am really enjoying it. It's a well balanced and performing lens. I'd personally choose it over the Canon for the extra reach and Image Stabilization, which is excellent. Not to mention the 6 year warranty. The picture quality has been really good and for me phenomenal background blur. I have had a few instances where the lens apparently wouldn't lock on, as the camera wouldn't take the shot? This has only been a few occassions and I'm still trying to narrow it down. It's no worry for me though because of the long warranty.

I shot these pics just yesterday in TV mode 1/320(Al Servo) ISO 320, F16-20. The first four were rapid shots with the last one a few seconds later. I was hand holding and rushed to get the shot as the boat was moving at quite a pace.

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CyberManiaK wrote in post #12466812
Thanks.. So you think the "speed" of the L is not worth, to give up the VC ??

Any more opinions??

kinda depends on your shooting style / environment. There's also 100mm difference on the long end. Not sure on the sharpness in the 70-200mm range, but guessing L should have a slight edge there.

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Ralph III wrote in post #12466905
I don't know if this will be of much help but here goes.

I've never owned the Canon 70-200 f4 but did rent one last year for a big four day tennis tournament which I shoot a lot of. It was quite impressive of course.

I just purchased the Tamron 70-300 vc and am really enjoying it. It's a well balanced and performing lens. I'd personally choose it over the Canon for the extra reach and Image Stabilization, which is excellent. Not to mention the 6 year warranty. The picture quality has been really good and for me phenomenal background blur. I have had a few instances where the lens apparently wouldn't lock on, as the camera wouldn't take the shot? This has only been a few occassions and I'm still trying to narrow it down. It's no worry for me though because of the long warranty.

I shot these pics just yesterday in TV mode 1/320(Al Servo) ISO 320, F16-20. The first four were rapid shots with the last one a few seconds later. I was hand holding and rushed to get the shot as the boat was moving at quite a pace.

Thanks a lot for your input, yeah the VC + price are very tempting,

DiMAn0684 wrote in post #12466929
kinda depends on your shooting style / environment. There's also 100mm difference on the long end. Not sure on the sharpness in the 70-200mm range, but guessing L should have a slight edge there.

Well regarding this comparison tool http://www.the-digital-picture.com …omp=0&FLIComp=0​&APIComp=0

It seems that the 70-300 is a bit sharper on the corners, comparing of course 70-200.. in the 300mm is very soft.. but ofcourse that kind of test are the worst case scenarios.

I will use this lens outdoors (offroad racing) and a bit of landscape without tripod..

I had the f4L nonIS and have the VC. Taking everything into consideration, the Tamron is the better choice. Why?
Tamron advantages: longer range, costs MUCH less, VC
Canon advantages: L build quality (metal vs plastic/poly), slightly better IQ than Tamron

Canon is not worlds better in the IQ department and certainly NOT $700 vs $400 better. The Tamron can be soft wide open at the long end (some people are reporting their copies are sharp now thou) but thats at 300mm and wide open; the Canon doesn't go to 300.
Even if you set the Tamron to 5.6 for the whole range, the VC makes up the one stop loss with 2-3 stops of VC.
I haven't used the Tam in AI servo mode yet, but the USD was just as fast as the USM on my Canon. You would have to really nitpick to say the USM was faster. My USD focused indoors, on the black fur of a black/white cat, in ambient window light very quickly and without problem. If I HAD to say which was faster, the Canon is, but I would have to be either an L-coholic or really anal to care enough about the fractions of a second difference I found in my Tamron.
The Tamron is not built like an L, and that's how they save cost, but it is a very substantial lens. Any reviews you read will tell you the same. Its got weight to it and feels very sturdy. The Canon feels solid and extremely well finished, but it better because its an L.
Bottom line, IMO: any outdoor situation you would use the Canon in, the Tamron will not only do the job just as well but give you 100mm more reach. Any indoor situation you would use the Canon in (and you probably shouldn't be shooting f4 nonIS indoors anyway!) the Tamron will do better because of the VC advantage.
All this for $400 (rebate still going) vs $700 for the L. Better choice: Tamron. The L is a great lens NO question and the least expensive choice for those that want to try the L line out, but if you're heart is set on a 70-200 f4, get the IS version! The nonIS version just doesn't outperform the Tamron in real world use enough to justify the $300 difference. Heck, for $800 you could have the Tam 70-300vc AND the 17-50 nonVC LOL! Just my humble opinion

Purely in terms of focusing, the Canon feels a little quicker going from min-max focus distance but, for everything else, they're much the same. The Tamron is very capable of grabbing focus quickly and accurately - you're not making any significant sacrifice in AF by picking the Tamron.

Thanks everybody... The Tammy is going to the bag soon

I have never tried the Tammy but my first day out with the 70-200L non is i was very pleased with the fast af iq and sharpness of this lens.Here is a shot i took of an FA-18 Hornet traveling at speed with after burners on.https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1015753

CyberManiaK wrote in post #12474876
Thanks everybody... The Tammy is going to the bag soon

I think that you will be happy with the Tammi. Love mine