Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 Di LD SP AF (IF) Macro

Photo answers review

Photo answers rating

While the price point of £620 is bound to make the Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 Di LD SP AF (IF) Macro appealing, there are obviously going to be some features missing at that price, with the most obvious being image stabilisation. That’s not a major issue though, and in any case, it certainly helps keep the price down if that’s what’s more important to you.

One of the great things about this lens is that you can buy it to fit a number of different camera mounts, with Canon, Nikon, Sony and Pentax fits on offer. As will be apparent from the word Macro in the lens description, this optic has a close focusing distance of just 0.95m. This is a perfect range for both portrait and wildlife work.

The build quality is nice and solid. The lens has 18 elements in 13 groups and nine aperture blades. The lens is also treated on the internal surfaces to reduce ghosting and flare. The filter size is 77mm and the lens weighs in at 1150g without the included tripod holder attached. You also get a lens hood supplied with the lens along with a soft case. Design-wise, the Tamron has a large focusing ring, which has a very neat push/pull action to switch between auto and manual focus. The zoom ring uses a short yet well tensioned rotating movement to move through the focal length range.

In use, the lens is intuitive but the focusing performance can be rather erratic. The lens hunts quite a lot to achieve focus, which can prove more than a little frustrating. It’s also not the fastest of lenses, so it’s not an action-minded optic.


Sharpness
For the asking price it’s actually not a bad performance. The edge definition on full-frame is notably worse than on an APS-C sensor, and it also varies slightly from one corner to the other. The centre and mid areas are fine, with sharp detail found across the apertures. Overall, a solid sharpness performance for a budget lens.  


Aberration
There is some obvious aberration from this lens, which can be seen as purple and yellow colour bleeding from the edge of the black lines. Across the apertures and focal lengths, some aberration is found, but it’s not a disastrous level. Once again, for the price it’s an acceptable performance and will not be that obvious in your shots.


Distortion
As with any lens that offers this short zoom focal length range, the Tamron is not likely to show up a great deal of distortion. At the 70mm end of the zoom, there is a small amount of barrelling from this lens. It‘s more obvious in the corners, but minimal all the same. There is also some evidence of pincushioning at the 200mm end, but nothing that will sound any major alarm bells.


Design
As mentioned above, the Tamron lens is well made, but a few pounds extra will get you a more solid product in this category. The Tamron does, however, feature a nifty manual-to-autofocus switch with the push/pull focusing ring.


Overall verdict
The handling is let down by slow and erratic AF, but the lens features a great system for switching between manual and autofocus with its push/pull focusing ring. We were quite impressed by the image quality from the Tamron, especially when you consider the relatively low price it sells at. It’s not the sharpest lens you will lay your hands on, but for most users it will provide a positive level of image quality.


Specifications
Filter diameter 77mm
Weight 1150g
Dimensions (HxW) 194.3x89.5mm
Max. aperture f/2.8
Min. aperture f/32
Min. focus distance 95cm
Lens hood Yes
Image stabiliser No
Format & fittings (FF=full-frame) APS-C & FF; Can, Nik D, Son, Pen, Sam