Tamron 150-600 G2 Lens - Anyone Use It?

I haven't used it but know two people who do and have seen their results. Seems like a great lens. I'll post a link with a review from a photographer in Jackson. He used the original and then got the G2 and received a bad copy, which I suppose can happen with any lens. After he got a replacement he seemed pleased.

http://www.bestofthetetons.com/2017/02/26/tamron-150-600mm-g2-lens-my-experiences/

I'm interested to hear about this lens too.

I'm a long-time Nikon shooter, and haven't used this lens. However, reviews show it to be a capable performer, if a bit unsharp at full zoom.

It's probably a good buy for a short-term lens. Why? Getting an older third-party lens repaired after a few years is often difficult, since the replacement parts supply can often be dire. Further, this lens won't be incorporated into your camera's firmware. In several years, when you buy a then-current camera, the lens may not operate properly due to firmware incompatibility. All in all, it's probably a good buy for now or if you'll be replacing it in a few years.

It's closest to my Nikon 200-500 f5.6, that has performed surprisingly well, and which costs about the same as the Tamron. It's become my go-to lens when I need reach, especially since it's compatible with Nikon's line of teleconverters, which were designed with long lenses in mind. The downsides are its size and weight; and when using a TC, autofocus won't work when the effective aperture is smaller than f8. The same may be true of Canon and other brands, I don't know. Also, it's not wide enough on the short end to be considered as a walk-around lens. But, who'd want to walk around all day with a five pound lens, anyway? Plus, it takes huge (and costly) 95mm filters.

On balance, the Tamron could be a useful addition if you don't mind slightly soft images at full zoom, and a bit of pincushion distortion throughout the zoom range. On balance, I'd say to go for it, with a return privilege just in case it doesn't live up to your expectations.

I remember there was an interesting discussion about this lens in a Canon users group on LinkedIn quite a while back. General concensus was that it was a pretty good lens for the price but not quite at the same level of the new updated version of Canon's 100-400mm L (I think it was the release of this lens that provoked the thread). Newer versions of Canon's entenders mean you keep the autofocus for a wider range of settings than the old ones. If you do a lot of wildlife photography but aren't sure if you can justify the costs of Canon's newer L series lenses it looks like a good alternative. Murray makes some good points re firmware compatibility

I've used it on my Nikon D600 and am very happy with it. Yes, it's a little cheaper price then you might expect but of course that's something else than drew me to it. I purchased mine from a large camera store (Service Pro). I also use a filter on the lens for protection which really seemed expensive but that is in no way related to the Tamron lens itself.

I've used the Tamron hand-held at full 600 mm zoom with excellent sharpness. It has an VR (Vibration Reduction) button which would not be unusual for most long lenses. I try to use a mono-pod or tripod in most cases but was surprised how well it captured images hand-held. I really like the lens quality.

I think you could logically expect most lenses to fall off a little at the extreme zoom around the outside edge.

I use ACR (Adobe Camera RAW) when processing and of course there's a drop-down menu allowing you to select Tamron for processing. You don't have to use it and it might depend on the image for some photographers but a significant change is noticeable when clicking the option.

A recent hand-held full zoom 600mm capture but after processing. You mush click the image to get around the softness of FAA's discussion page.

I have the Sigma 150-600, I like it a lot, it seams heavy at first but once you get used to it it is not bad, I have several sharp photos of ducks and geese in flight hand held, and you can get the doc for it to update the firmware so you don't run into the problems mentioned by Murray.

TL Mair
http://tlmair.con

I have rented this lens a couple times and really liked it. I may buy it someday as I would love to have it but can't justify the amount of times I would use it. Its pretty heavy and not something I want to carry with me all the time. I have tried using using a 2x extender with one of my current lenses, but have never been satisfied with the results. Here are a couple shots I took with it. They were near the full range of the zoom, but I back it up a bit to try and keep a sharper image. It is a bit tough to handhold as it is so heavy, but these images were handheld without a tripod or monopod. These were both taken at f8. Snow goose was 1/1000 and the duck was 1/640. ISO 200.

I own the Tamron 150-600 G2 for Nikon and couldn't be happier.

Just to illustrate these lenses aren't just for wildlife, I photographed this using the Sigma canon mount with an adapter for my Sony, I would never have gotten this shot without that lens, this is a 4 shot panoramic



TL Mair
http://tlmair.com

It sounds like a very good lens. Right now I use the old Canon 100-400 and it does just fine but when more zoom is needed, shooting with the 2x extender is a challenge.

It comes with a 6 year warranty and it probably wouldn't be used much longer that that. It's tempting to go with a used one on Amazon but it's probably worth the extra cash to go new and have a 6 year warranty since it sounds like some may have issues. The slightly used ones probably come with no warranty although even with Canon they always seem to find that whatever is wrong with something is not covered by the warranty.

I use it. It's too heavy for me to handhold, but I am still glad I got it. I've never used it with an extender - never used any lens with one. Maybe this year :)

Did end up ordering it but Amazon sent the Nikon version with a broken zoom lock instead of the Canon.

Headed up to GTNP this weekend so that's a major fail.