Tamron SP 150-600mm F5-6.3 DI IF VC USD (4 Viewers)

micloi · Mar 26, 2015

mike_gss said:
http://www.simplyelectronics.net/mainproduct.php?pid=24945&sd=cont

Too good to be true (the price)? Most other sites are around the £800 mark. Anybody ever ordered from this company before?

It is in HK so you do not get the 5 year UK warranty.
Better get it from Amazon for £899 IMHO

Or buy mine if you have a Nikon camera

Musoman · Mar 26, 2015

There's a thread on SI over on the Money Expert forum and Trust Pilot

Mixed reviews it seems

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=3771291

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.simplyelectronics.net

I bought mine from a Hong Kong based Ebay seller who had lenses already in the UK, so mine came real quick

I paid £800 but that was back when they were around the £1000 mark in the UK.

Time has passed and now they're a bit cheaper

mike_gss · Mar 26, 2015

Cheers for the input guys. I'm still very much finding my feet with bird watching and bird photography in general, and what I probably need to do is master the gear I've already got (pretty much entry-level body and zoom) before jumping in to the bigger lenses. But this would certainly be within my budget as the manufacturer's prime lenses are well out of my reach.

(I guess when the time comes I'll need to look at the Sigma 150-600 equivalent as well!)

Musoman · Mar 26, 2015

I meant to say a thread on SE Mike, not SI. Irrelevant I suppose since the thread was linked.

None the less, you will be very happy with the lens. There's folk who prefer the Sigma, but i cant say anything about that, not having owned one.

There's plenty of shots here from both lenses and some brilliant one's too. I guess either lens would be right up your street

I have a lovely sharp example of the tamron for my D610, so i have no complaints

DFBHeron · Mar 27, 2015

I can't believe how well this lens performs on my D7100 and D300s. I've been lugging big prime lenses with tripods, but old arm injuries make this more and more painful. Nor can I afford the 8K image stabilized 500 and 600mm primes. But, I sold my 300mm 2.8 VR and the AFS non-VR sits unused. I'm curious to see how IQ compares to the 80-400VR-G (AFS), but I just don't feel the need to right now, and don't feel like spending 2,400 or so on another lens, when this one works perfectly well. I will eventually, but as a "I only use primes" kinda guy, I can't believe this Tamron, made in China, is as good as it is. I have not yet tried the VR version of the 300mm f4, but for many years used the 300mm f4 non-vr (always with TC 1.4x IIe) and loved that setup. But the 600mm reach of the Tamron is legit sharp on my copy, and the VC really works well. This is not a low light lens, but does surprisingly well in low light, considering app is 6.3. Maybe not quite as contrasty in color as Nikon glass, but that is more likely a factor of my poor shot selection vs lens quality.
Anyway, I highly recommend this lens for birding Nikon users. Its going to give Nikon

hosesbroadbill · Mar 30, 2015

wardy11 · Mar 30, 2015

Some really nice shots you have taken - proving once again that the Tammy is up to the job!
Glad you feel able to contribute again, you give a lot to this forum imho!

Len Poxon · Mar 30, 2015

Another batch of fantastic shots Issac, keep them coming.

hosesbroadbill · Mar 31, 2015

Len Poxon said:
Another batch of fantastic shots Issac, keep them coming.

Thanks both of you. It certainly takes work to get nice shots of whatever you are shooting. For most instances the Tamron just seems like it is up to the task. It is not too heavy, fast focusing, pretty damn sharp, especially when stopped down and long enough that you have a decent chance at most subjects. Also have access to all focus points as well as opposed to day the 100-400ii and a 1.4x.

I am quite pleased and it will take quite a bit to get me to go to something else. I guess that either of the new Sigmas have potential but I doubt either are a major step up. Same with the 100-400ii plus an extender.

Seems like whichever of these options you get you can do very well. To step up from there and go for a 500 or 600 prime is not only a major monetary investment, but also a change in philosophy. I can easily walk around all day with my binoculars, my Tamron and 7d2 and my scope and tripod. So how would I also have a 600f4? I would have to ditch the scope I guess, but then I am doing a very different kind of birding. These lenses allow me to be a birder that takes pics along the way. The big primes seem more like you are going out to take pics and not doing the same kind of birding.

HokkaidoStu · Mar 31, 2015

Some of those Oystercatcher BIFs are quite outstanding. I have a 500 f4L MK2 and would love to get even half as good a result as what you're getting..................

hosesbroadbill · Mar 31, 2015

HokkaidoStu said:
Some of those Oystercatcher BIFs are quite outstanding. I have a 500 f4L MK2 and would love to get even half as good a result as what you're getting..................

Thanks for the kind words. I would say 4 things are to blame for the filght shots. :eat:

1- The lens is not so heavy so it can be hand held and moved quite quickly. I do not own (but am deeply considering) buying a 500 or 600 prime, nor have I ever shot off of a tripod, but I would imagine that it is much easier to track flying birds hand holding a camera. The other thing that helps is the zoom as well. I will often zoom out a bit and get on the birds, keep my back button focus pressed to track them and then zoom in and wait until they are close enough and then depress the shutter.

2- These shots were taken on 2 separate days in very good light. I intentionally went to the beach trying to get shots of the Oystercatchers as they are setting up their territories now and are active most of the day with each other. This also means that they are largely unbothered by people and just go about their fighting and squabbling. Which brings me to my 3rd point

3- I was pretty close to the birds on most of these shots. Helps with maintaining details (harder to track and keep shots sharp on close fast moving subjects) but more pixels on the birds always keeps better details.

4- The Canon 7D mark ii plays a big role. Image quality is quite good, it is very fast at 10 frames per second and having so many and such precise autofocus points to use makes tracking fast flying birds much easier.

Here are a few more from those days. Not all were taken at the best sun angle as they were sometimes flying between me and the sun. For the first shot focus was on the front right bird. They were moving really fast and it is not tack sharp, but the action is very cool...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/120553232@N02/16693972597/in/photostream/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/120553232@N02/16281302243/in/photostream/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/120553232@N02/16281302773/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/120553232@N02/16278929634/in/photostream/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/120553232@N02/16715143099/in/photostream/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/120553232@N02/16875410966/in/photostream/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/120553232@N02/16713655538/in/photostream/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/120553232@N02/16703930917/in/photostream/

wardy11 · Mar 31, 2015

Awesome!!! No other way to describe these shots. Love the first 2 in particular.

stoneman · Apr 5, 2015

Impressed by posts on this thread I picked up this lens yesterday for use with 70d. First attempts in back garden today with gloomy uk weather very encouraging. Goldcrest are very skittish and the autofocus appears a bit quicker than with my 400 f5.6.

Paul - Herts · Apr 5, 2015

stoneman said:
Impressed by posts on this thread I picked up this lens yesterday for use with 70d. First attempts in back garden today with gloomy uk weather very encouraging. Goldcrest are very skittish and the autofocus appears a bit quicker than with my 400 f5.6.

That's interesting. Keep us posted as to how you get on with it - I am interested in how you get on with it in the UK. Light levels seem to be constantly truly dismal recently but I was talking to a friend with the Nikon version and his only criticism is that it seems to struggle with birds in the sky, flyovers I guess they would be called. He said he feels like it always tried to zoom in.

Good luck with it

stoneman · Apr 6, 2015

Paul, will try a few birds in flight over next few days. Attached is a heavy cropped uk sparrow, i have edited in light room but not done a lot of sharpening

hosesbroadbill · Apr 8, 2015

todders · Apr 8, 2015

First time outing for the Tamron 150-600 today at Watlington Hill. Iam very pleased with this shot of a Red Kite today.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jones_adrian/16891198009/

hosesbroadbill · Apr 8, 2015

todders said:
First time outing for the Tamron 150-600 today at Watlington Hill. Iam very pleased with this shot of a Red Kite today.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jones_adrian/16891198009/

Looks like you had a nice first day. Congrats.

Tarsiger · Apr 8, 2015

todders said:
First time outing for the Tamron 150-600 today at Watlington Hill. Iam very pleased with this shot of a Red Kite today.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jones_adrian/16891198009/

On which body?
Russ

Len Poxon · Apr 8, 2015

Great shots, both Issac and Todders. I am particularly impressed with the depth of field you are getting at F8, it's showing good detail all over the birds plumage.

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