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Tamron SP 150-600mm F5-6.3 DI IF VC USD (1 Viewer)

Roy C said:
In photographic terms an f2.8 lens is considered 'fast' and a f4 lens 'medium' whereas an f5.6 lens is considered 'slow' (this is of course to do with the amount of light it gathers). So if f5.6 is considered slow than f6.3 must be mega slow as it were. This is not always an indication of the focusing speed of a lens as the 400/5.6 proves but it certainly givers an indication where teles are concerned.
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I assumed you were referring to the AF speed.
F6.3 is indeed slower than the very expensive primes or the 200-400 but Sigma has been releasing 6.3 telephotos for ages and they seem to AF just fine on Canon crop bodies (for the price, not comparing to the 600mm f4). Do not see why the Tamron could not.
 
ramfan said:
Obviously, the Nikon D7100 (crop body) will AF at f8.
.
Click to expand...
Sorry I was just thinking about Canon - no nothing whatsoever about Nikon I am afraid. Besides I did say 1.6 croppers and as far as I know Nikon do not have a 1.6 cropper.
 
micloi said:
Sigma has been releasing 6.3 telephotos for ages and they seem to AF just fine on Canon crop bodies . Do not see why the Tamron could not.
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I know a lot of the Sigmas are f6.3 but I was just trying to explain why several folk have reported AF problems with this lens - I am sure the f6.3 must have a baring on it as it lets in less light than most lenses.
 
Roy C said:
I know a lot of the Sigmas are f6.3 but I was just trying to explain why several folk have reported AF problems with this lens - I am sure the f6.3 must have a baring on it as it lets in less light than most lenses.
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You are very welcome to come and try it if I still have it next week.
 
Roy C said:
Sorry I was just thinking about Canon - no nothing whatsoever about Nikon I am afraid. Besides I did say 1.6 croppers and as far as I know Nikon do not have a 1.6 cropper.
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The D7100 is a x1.5 crop. I think we can regard these as being quite similar in performance to the x1.6 crop bodies in many respects; the differences between the N&C systems not withstanding.
 
micloi said:
You are very welcome to come and try it if I still have it next week.
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No personal interest in the lens myself but thank you. If I do ever take up bird photography again then it will not be with this lens that's for sure (I prefer primes).
 
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Roy C said:
No personal interest in the lens myself but thank you. If I do ever take up bird photography again then it will not be with this lens that's for sure (I prefer primes).
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You are very welcome. I just assumed you were interested from reading your posts. My mistake.
 
Roy C said:
Where does this leave the 5D3 Rob as I believe it has the same battery as the 7D.
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Hi Roy

It does but the 5dmkIII may focus faster than the 7d owing to it being so much newer, the cpu would at a guess process all the infomation just a tad quicker .

Rob.
 
GYRob said:
This lens should focus faster on 1d Series because of the higher voltage battery.

Rob.
Click to expand...

Rob, in my head I am translating this statement to mean that "therefore, the motor driving focusing should be more powerful and focusing as a result should be faster". However, I think that line of reasoning would be false, it should be possible to make a motor that is stronger by giving it same voltage but allowing it to consume more amperes, for example.

So why would the voltage have any influence?

Niels
 
Roy C said:
I would have thought that goes without saying - for any bird photographer that is currently shooting with a FF (or even say a 1D4) then the chances are that they already have a big white supertele (500/4. 600/4 or maybe just a 300/2.8) so they are much less likely to be interested in a lens like this Tammy as that would certainly be a backward step for them!
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I was responding to the post saying that the lens performed better on a FF than a crop camera. Even if I had a 5D3 and 500 or 600 F4 prime I would still be looking at this lens because of weight and being able to carry it around without a tri or monopod.
 
chris129 said:
I was responding to the post saying that the lens performed better on a FF than a crop camera. Even if I had a 5D3 and 500 or 600 F4 prime I would still be looking at this lens because of weight and being able to carry it around without a tri or monopod.
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You may well do Chris but I suspect the vast number of folk who have a 500/4 or 600/4 will not be rushing out to buy this lens. IMHO most people who will be getting the lens are those that are unable or unwilling to spend the big bucks for a fast Prime but want more reach - not that I blame them but just saying.
With regards to performing better on a FF I am only going by the numerous reviews I have seen thus far many of whom report sluggish AF (at the long end) on a crop Camera - there are several reports of the AF suddenly refusing the lock on for no apparent reason. That may be acceptable for a lot of folk but I am sure anyone who is used to one of the big Canon superteles (or even the 400/5.6) would find that very frustrating to say the least.
This lens looks very good value for money but at the end of the day you get what you pay for. I would have much sooner have been interested if Tamron had developed a really nice 500 or 600mm prime at around,say, 2£k-3£k even if it was f5.6.
 
I guess you're right Roy. If you have a 5 or 6 hundred F4 prime and a FF camera you probably wouldn't want to mess around with a $1000 lens. As to not locking on with crop cameras, I've seen some good bird photographers get some very good results with the cheap Tamron non-reporting TC + 400 5.6L on old 20D Canon cameras and believe me this set up hunts all over the place on my 70D. So I'm used to a little hunting. By next week there should be enough data on how the lens works with crop cameras to know if I should cancel my order.
 
njlarsen said:
Rob, in my head I am translating this statement to mean that "therefore, the motor driving focusing should be more powerful and focusing as a result should be faster". However, I think that line of reasoning would be false, it should be possible to make a motor that is stronger by giving it same voltage but allowing it to consume more amperes, for example.

So why would the voltage have any influence?

Niels
Click to expand...

I belive it is the higher voltage in the 1D series that alows higher amp's and it is this that drives the motor faster and still gives a decent count before recharging is needed .

Rob.
eddit this is from Chuck Westfall.
A higher lens motor drive speed with select L-series USM telephoto lenses than the 5D Mark III because of the 1D X’s more powerful battery pack.
 
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Roy C said:
You may well do Chris but I suspect the vast number of folk who have a 500/4 or 600/4 will not be rushing out to buy this lens. IMHO most people who will be getting the lens are those that are unable or unwilling to spend the big bucks for a fast Prime but want more reach - not that I blame them but just saying.
Click to expand...

Well I've got a 500mm f4L and I've ordered the tamron to replace my Sigma 150-500mm zoom. The big prime is great, but if i'm going out all day and walking around, I prefer the lighter zoom. The Sigma was my first long lens and I've been waiting for an update of the 100-400mm to replace it but Canon just waited too long.
 
the black fox said:
already reports (genuine u.k user) on TP of a two day old lens having a/f at 600mm problems and also DUST between the two front elements .hopefully its just one faulty lens and not a general issue

here
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/tamron-sp-150-600mm-f5-6-3-di-if-vc-usd.521510/
Click to expand...

I wonder if the dust problems are reduced or overcome by using a front filter. Although this solution introduces a new set of problems (slight loss of IQ and costs of the filter), is the trade-off worth it?
 
chris129 said:
I've seen some good bird photographers get some very good results with the cheap Tamron non-reporting TC + 400 5.6L on old 20D Canon cameras and believe me this set up hunts all over the place on my 70D. So I'm used to a little hunting.
Click to expand...
Yep, I know all about the 400/5.6 and hunting with a tc Chris. Although I do not have one at the moment I have used a 400/5.6 on and off for over 8 years, must have taken well over 100,000 shots with the lens. Over the years I have used non reporting tc, taped tc (worked good up to the 30D) and live view AF. The best success I have had is with Live View AF on the 7D where it is not restricted to the f5.6 limit but of course contrast based AF (as opposed to the normal phase AF) can be very slow although it does not hunt as such. I always found with live view AF that if you got rough focus manually then let the Live view AF finish the job it could be fairly snappy.
BTW I guess you have already figured it out on the 70D but if you use one of the outer focus points AF with a non reporter tc it is a lot faster than trying to use the centre point (same applies to the 7D).
 
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