Photography News Issue 39

Photography News | Issue 39 | absolutephoto.com

61 First tests

Tamron SP150- 600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 £1340

Specs

Price

£1340

Format Full-frame/APS-C Mount Canon, Nikon. Sony to come Construction 21 elements in 13 groups Special lens elements 3 low-dispersion (LD) elements Coatings Tamron’s eBAND and BBAR coatings, protective fluorine coat on front element Filter size 95mm Aperture range f/5-40 Diaphragm 9 blades Internal focus Yes. AF uses Tamron’s Ultrasonic Silent Drive (USD) Manual focus Yes Minimum focus 2.2m Focus limiter Yes Maximummagnification 1:3.9 Distance scale Yes Depth-of-field scale No Image stabiliser Tamron VC, three modes Tripod collar Yes Lens hood Bayonet fit hood supplied Weather sealed Yes, moisture resistant Dimensions (dxl) 108.4x260.2mm Weight 2010g Contact Intro2020.co.uk

If you want to shoot sports or nature pictures a long telephoto is essential for capturing a decent image size of the usually distant subjects. Tamron’s second generation (G2) of its SP150- 600mm f/5-6.3 is certainly a lens that potentially fits the bill as it covers a great range of long focal lengths perfect for distance shooting. That said, it focuses as close as 2.2m so can handle close-up shooting too. Compared with the original lens, the G2 version features an upgraded optical design featuring a 21 element in 13 group construction instead of 20 elements in 13 groups. The revamped optics andsomeminor butworthwhile design modifications means the new lens is slightly heavier too. Looking at its price, the G2 comes in at £1340, which compares with the current £829 shop price for the original lens where stocks are available. The G2 lens has had a facelift so it has the same family appearance of recently launched SP lenses such as the 35mm f/1.8 and 85mm f/1.8 and

that is evidenced by the champagne- coloured ring near the lens mount and the design of the various controls. There’s no denying the lens’s handsome good looks, enhanced even further when you fit the hood to give a lens with some very nice curves. Handling is very good with the manual focus and zoom barrels working smoothly but with enough tautness so that nothing moves of its own accord. Keeping camera shake in check is the job of Tamron’s Vibration Compensation (VC) system. Three settings are available. Mode 1 for general shooting, mode 2 for panning and mode 3 when the lens’s emphasis is on stabilising the image rather than the viewfinder image. There is no real excuse to handhold such a lens at ridiculously slow shutter speeds unless you’re testing it which is why I took the lens out, set 600mm and took five shots at each full shutter speed from 1/60sec down to 1/8sec. I got two out of five sharp at

1/8sec and 1/15sec and three at 1/30sec and 1/60sec. I thought that was very impressive and knowing you can get away with shooting at such slow shutter speeds is reassuring. One nice design touch is a zoom lock that works at other focal lengths not just at the minimum, ie. 150mm. It’s not a strong lock at intermediate settings so easy to move off the locked position when you need to but still usefully firm. Another very nice touch to everyone using Arca-Swiss compatible ball heads or gimbals is that the supplied rotating tripod mount has a compatible foot so no need to fit an additional plate. It would be wonderful if more lens makers would follow Tamron’s lead. The gap between the foot and the lens barrel is also wide enough to let you comfortably carry the lens by its foot. I tried the Tamron 150-600mm mounted on a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. The combination had an excellent balance and AF proved responsive,

swift and accurate – having a camera with a high-spec autofocus system obviously helped. The standard of the lens’s optical performance is high, notably at the wider lens apertures, and that is at the three focal lengths tested, 150mm, 300mm and 600mm. Stopping down to beyond f/11 and diffraction played its part and images from f/16 onwards were less impressive. Of course, long telephoto lenses are more often than not used at the wider apertures to allow the fastest shutter speeds and lowest ISOs for the best possible image quality so this aspect of performance is not an issue in the real world. Flare resistance is excellent. I took a sequence of shots directly into the sun – using live view, not the optical viewfinder – with and without the lens hood to try to induce flare but contrast remained high with no ghosting or veiling and no sign of any flare spots. Every situation is different but in my flare test I couldn’t help but be impressed. WC Left We used the Tamron 150- 600mm lens on a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, often in combination with a Benro Mach3 carbon-fibre tripod. Lens handling is very good and the effective Tamron VC system does make hand-holding at remarkably slower shutter speeds easily possible when a support is not available. Below Tamron’s advanced lens coatings do a great job of combating flare even when

150mm

300mm

600mm

F/5.6

F/6.3

shooting directly into the sun (using live view, of course).

F/8

F/11

F/16

Verdict

Quality telephoto lenses don’t come cheap and while this Tamron costs £1340, it offers a very useful focal length range, great handling and a fine optical showing at the important apertures, the wider settings. If there is any downside it’s its modest performance at the smaller apertures. For what you get, the Tamron SP150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 is very good value.

F/22

Pros Performance at wider apertures, very effective VC system, Arca-Swiss tripod foot, impressive flare resistance Cons Less good sharpness at the small apertures