Tamron 200-500

Dear Board,

New guy here, both as a poster and pretty much as a photographer.

I have read few online reviews of this lens but I was wondering if there are any members here who have firsthand experience with the Tamron 200-500?

I will be using the lens on a 20D with a monopod or tripod for nature photography. I am also considering the Sigma 150-500 OS and the Canon 100-400L IS USM. I know that those are not necessarily lenses that can be directly compared since the latter two have image stabilization and the Tamron does not.

Budget is a consideration with a limit of $1000.00 +/- a few $'s. I could get the Sigma in my price range but I know I'd be looking at a used 100-400L. I am attracted to the Tamron primarily because it is lighter in weight and it comes new with a 6 year warranty.

Anyone have any advice to offer?

Thank you,

Tim Murphy

I think the Sigma and Canon are both quite a bit better than the Tamron.

EDIT: Forgot to welcome you to the forum!

I'd rather have the OS, but i use mine handheld all the time, and rarely on a tripod...if you're going to be on a tripod/monopod the whole time, then that's not much of a consideration, but also weight shouldn't be one either...

i'm pretty sure gabebalazs had all three...hopefully he sees this thread to share his thoughts

I owned the Tamron 200-500 for a few months. I picked it up cheap, around $400, but had to send to Tamron 3 times (all warranty) since it was very soft. After the second trip to Tamron it came back sharp but then a day later one of the ribbon cables inside the lens broke and it was unusable. So another trip to Tamron fixed this problem and the lens was pretty good, optically it was at least as good as my Sigma 150-500 OS I also had at that time.
But I ended up upgrading and the Tamron was traded for a 17-40L.

I had some nice images with it after all the repairs were done. Mostly static subjects, the AF was not really suitable for moving fast targets.

So my opinion is that it is worth picking one up if under $500 (rare lens so not very likely), and if you only shoot static targets.
but all in all a used nice 150-500 OS is a better solution for about $700-800.

Thank you all for your answers.

I like the idea of a longer warranty but to have someone report that they used their warranty 3 times in a few months is a bit discouraging.

It definitely sounds like I'd be better served to spend the extra $ 100.00 and get the Sigma 150-500 OS new.

Regards,

Tim Murphy