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Tamron SP 150-600mm F5-6.3 DI IF VC USD (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter hoodlum
- Start date
MiguelM
Well-known member
Roy is right (as usual lol). I handheld my lens most of the time, so IS is a plus to me.
About the AF on AI Servo. I can't understand the big deal on this. With my Canon lens I have to keep bumping the AF button because AI servo can't keep up. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but having to bump a button doesn't bother me much
About the AF on AI Servo. I can't understand the big deal on this. With my Canon lens I have to keep bumping the AF button because AI servo can't keep up. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but having to bump a button doesn't bother me much
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Nick Leech
Well-known member
Tammy with the Canon 7D
Hi guys
Been reading this thread with great interest. I have a Canon 7D and a 550D. I mainly use the 7D for bird photography. I have a Canon 100-400 L zoom and also a Canon 400mm f5.6 prime. I mainly use the 400mm prime for birds. I occasionally use a Kenko PRO DGX 1.4 teleconverter with the 400mm lens, but don't often get good results so tend to stick with the 400mm prime on its own and crop.
(I also have a Canon SX50 bridge camera which sometimes gives good results, but has its limitations cf a DSLR setup).
I previously tried the Sigma 150-500 zoom but found it too soft above 400mm and sold it. The new Tamron 150-600 sounds like an improvement over the above Sigma zoom.
I'm thinking of buying the Tamron 150-600 and selling the Canon 100-400 L. Sounds like Tamron performance up to 400mm is as good as with the Canon zoom, with the bonus of good performance up to 500mm and pretty good up to 600mm.
BTW, I can't afford a Canon 500mm f4 or a Canon 600mm f4!
My questions:
1) Do you think I will get more usable reach with the Tamron in the 500-600 range compared to using my Canon 400mm prime and cropping? Is the Tamron performance at 500-600mm good enough to take cropping to give equivalent FLs even higher?
2) Slight concern about my 7D with the Tamron. Notwithstanding the issues about BIF photos using AI Servo which I am aware of, is the consensus that the Tamron will not give as good photos of static birds with a 7D compared to other Canon bodies? Should I consider changing my 7D to something else? If so, what? 70D? 6D or 5D? The 7D used to be considered the best body for bird photos thanks to its fast burst rate and x1.6 crop factor giving "extra reach", but I get the impression this is no longer the case.
Any advice gratefully received!
Nick
Hi guys
Been reading this thread with great interest. I have a Canon 7D and a 550D. I mainly use the 7D for bird photography. I have a Canon 100-400 L zoom and also a Canon 400mm f5.6 prime. I mainly use the 400mm prime for birds. I occasionally use a Kenko PRO DGX 1.4 teleconverter with the 400mm lens, but don't often get good results so tend to stick with the 400mm prime on its own and crop.
(I also have a Canon SX50 bridge camera which sometimes gives good results, but has its limitations cf a DSLR setup).
I previously tried the Sigma 150-500 zoom but found it too soft above 400mm and sold it. The new Tamron 150-600 sounds like an improvement over the above Sigma zoom.
I'm thinking of buying the Tamron 150-600 and selling the Canon 100-400 L. Sounds like Tamron performance up to 400mm is as good as with the Canon zoom, with the bonus of good performance up to 500mm and pretty good up to 600mm.
BTW, I can't afford a Canon 500mm f4 or a Canon 600mm f4!
My questions:
1) Do you think I will get more usable reach with the Tamron in the 500-600 range compared to using my Canon 400mm prime and cropping? Is the Tamron performance at 500-600mm good enough to take cropping to give equivalent FLs even higher?
2) Slight concern about my 7D with the Tamron. Notwithstanding the issues about BIF photos using AI Servo which I am aware of, is the consensus that the Tamron will not give as good photos of static birds with a 7D compared to other Canon bodies? Should I consider changing my 7D to something else? If so, what? 70D? 6D or 5D? The 7D used to be considered the best body for bird photos thanks to its fast burst rate and x1.6 crop factor giving "extra reach", but I get the impression this is no longer the case.
Any advice gratefully received!
Nick
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Hor Kee
Penang birder
To answer 1: I have a 400mm 5.6 and a 650D. I found cropping better with the 400mm wide open when I tested it against the 150-600mm at 600mm f8
2: No experience, sorry!
MiguelM
Well-known member
Evidence everywhere suggest the opposite, at least with a FF body
Nick
I think you should persevere with the 400 + kenko as I use these at the moment and am reasonably happy with the combo. I do use them with a 5d mkiii rather than 7d and I am still thinking about a canon mkii or mkiii extender but otherwise ok .
Here are a couple of examples which aren't too shabby :
I think you should persevere with the 400 + kenko as I use these at the moment and am reasonably happy with the combo. I do use them with a 5d mkiii rather than 7d and I am still thinking about a canon mkii or mkiii extender but otherwise ok .
Here are a couple of examples which aren't too shabby :
Attachments
Nice shots - here are a couple with the 70D+ 400 5.6 + 1.5 kenko non reporting. So its 600 f8.
Attachments
Weekend Birder
Well-known member
Hi Nick
I also have the 400/5.6 and 100-400 and the 7D and 550D and a Kenko 1.4x PRO DGX.
I find the 550D plus either lens with a 1.4x tc autofocuses a lot better than the 7D.
I use this combo a lot and get very sharp results with it. If I know I will be shooting long range I leave my 7D at home.
The other thing you can try is to use one of the outer points of the 7D focusing pattern to focus using back button focus and then simply move the subject back to the centre of frame.
Sorry for hijacking the Tammy thread guys.
Paul - Herts
Paul Herts
Sorry for joining in the hijacking but do you need to tape the pins on the DGX tc?
Weekend Birder
Well-known member
I have them taped but I think I read somewhere you don't have to.
I never got round to taking the tape off.
I never got round to taking the tape off.
Paul - Herts
Paul Herts
If it ain't broke :t:
Roy C
Occasional bird snapper
No, you do not have to tape the DGX 1.4x tc as it fools the Cameras AF system into thinking that it is not there so will Attempt to AF even when the max aperture is outside of the f5.6 limit for crop Camara's (Canons).The problem is that AF is almost non existent on the centre AF point with this combo but it sometimes works reasonable well on outside AF points. Note with earlier Kenko pro models you do need to tape the pins.
P.S. when I had a 7D and 400/5.6 + 1.4x tc (Canon) I found the combo worked very well with live view AF albeit fairly slow. Providing you had reasonable contrast the AF accuracy was superb. With live view AF there is no limitation to the max aperture like there is with normal phase AF
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Roy C
Occasional bird snapper
I used to do a lot of heavy cropping with the 400/5.6 due to the nature of my bird snapping (distant waders on an open estuary...) and there is no doubt that the lens is good enough for biggish crops but at the end of the day you cannot get anymore detail by cropping than was originally recorded on the sensor. I would be very surprised if the Tammy at 600mm did not yield more detail than a cropped 400/5.6 image.
Don't get me wrong as I am a great fan of the 400/5.6 but just saying!
Weekend Birder
Well-known member
Yes the AF is very patchy (almost unusable without live view) with the 7D.
However normal AF on the centre point is very reliable with the humble 550D - live view is not required. It does occasionally hunt a little in extremely poor light or with a low contrast target but this only occurs on say about 1 to 2% or so of my photos, and almost never in reasonable light.
Looking at the crops on thedigitalpicture.com, the Tamron does look a little sharper than the 400/5.6 + 1.4x but I'm still concerned about the negative reports for the Tammy's AF performance for BIF.
Can any early adopters comment on BIF shots with this lens? Even if you had to back off to 400-500mm to get snappy AF for BIF, that would be an acceptable workaround.
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Weekend Birder
Well-known member
Thanks for the feedback Hor Kee. That's what I've read on a few user reviews.
It's the only reason my 400/5.6 isn't on ebay right now. I do like my BIF shots - that's when birds are being birds!
It's the only reason my 400/5.6 isn't on ebay right now. I do like my BIF shots - that's when birds are being birds!
As mentioned in a thread in the taxonomy forum - are birds really different from reptiles? :king:
Niels
Roy C
Occasional bird snapper
For anyone who has BIF as a priority then I would suggest the Tammy is a non starter on a crop Camera although from everything I have read it is reasonably good with a full frame (stands to reason that a f6.3 lens is going to work better on a Camera that supports f8 AF I suppose although the newer Croppers like the 70D also appear the work in AI servo mode).
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Nick Leech
Well-known member
Roy and Others:-
Bearing in mind that I have older model crop cameras (7D and 550D), but tend to mainly shoot static birds and wildlife (BIF only now and then).
Do you think the Tammy will give me better shots in the range 500-600mm than I'd get with my Canon 400mm/f5.6 and cropping and/or using my Kenko PRO DGX 1.4 Teleconverter?
Then I'm thinking perhaps I will sell my Canon 100-400 zoom to finance the new Tammy, but keep my Canon 400/f5.6 prime for BIF shooting on the occasions when I am concentrating on that.
What do you think?
Nick
Bearing in mind that I have older model crop cameras (7D and 550D), but tend to mainly shoot static birds and wildlife (BIF only now and then).
Do you think the Tammy will give me better shots in the range 500-600mm than I'd get with my Canon 400mm/f5.6 and cropping and/or using my Kenko PRO DGX 1.4 Teleconverter?
Then I'm thinking perhaps I will sell my Canon 100-400 zoom to finance the new Tammy, but keep my Canon 400/f5.6 prime for BIF shooting on the occasions when I am concentrating on that.
What do you think?
Nick
Roy C
Occasional bird snapper
Hi Nick, from what I can see on 'the digital picture' lens comparison's and also what I have read from a lot of users the Tammy at 600mm will be better than either the 400/5.6 or 100-400 (both at 560mm f8) but you will have to stop the Tammy down to the same f8 thought.
As far as cropping v the Tammy I have already said that IMHO the Tammy at 600mm should yield more detail than cropping a 400mm image.
Although I have not yet done the comparison on 'the digital picture' it appears that the Tammy at 400mm is every bit as good as the 100-400 but not quite as good as the bare 400/5.6.
I think if I had the two lenses you have I would certainly look to change the 100-400 for the 150-600.
Just my 2p's worth.
P.S. - AF wise on your Cameras the bare Tammy is going to be better than the other two lenses when you have tc's connected I would have thought. For flyers I know the Tammy on AI servo is not good on your Cameras but neither is the othr two lenses with tc's.
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