Tamron SP A08 - Zoom lens - 200 mm - 500 mm - f/5.6-6.3 Di LD [IF] - Canon EF

This new lens, part of the Di (designed for digital) initiative from Tamron is very well built - light and balances well in hand.

It compares nicely with much more costlier Canon 100-400 L IS and compliments perfectly 70-200 type of lenses to extend telephoto reach to incredible 800mm on 1.6x crop camera.

Very sharp even wide-open from 200mm to 400mm it starts to slightly lose its edge at 500mm but still is very respectable. AF is quick and not very noisy. The lens can be hand-hold in broad daylight but is best used either with monopod or a good tripod (especially if you shoot in dusk conditions). Attaching optional 1.4x extender would allow to bring subjects up to 24 times closer compared to bare eyesight and still get a very high quality shot.

From the drawbacks there is slight lack of contrast comparing to 'L' (professional) lenses from Canon and slow F/6.3 apperture at the tele-end, making AF sometimes difficult with cameras that are not designed for AF after F/5.6 (such as 20D or Digital Rebel). Putting extender or/and Polarizer filter on lens would cut light that reaches the camera another 2-3 times, making this lens very slow and forcing Manual Focusing. So if you need the speed at such extreme reach, better consider prime (non-zoom) lenses.

The filter size is 86mm making finding an affordable quality filter for this lens a practical impossibility. But if you do manage to get a decent polarizer filter, using it would be much simplier then with any other large lenses due to included filter attachment ring. With any other lens the hood would be blocking access to the filter but thanks to this simple gadget, Tamron 200-500 can be used successfully with both filter and hood on.

I could give it a 4 stars, but I decide to add one more to offset another reviewer's 1 star, which I think is not fair. I've used this lens for several months and very happy about its performance -- Well-taken bird pictures are good enough for at least 11X14 prints.

I'm providing some technical tips here for long end (500mm) use --

* Use a (light) monopod, which could save some treasure at 1/100 sec. On the other hand, even at 1/1000 sec, monopod still could help sharpness sometimes;

* If light is ok, use f8, which is significantly better than wide open at 500mm and may reach the top of this lens;

* Make good use of the light weight and 2.5m focus distance, approach the objects -- it's the key to get great bird pictures, although 500mm is also important;

* Don't use teleconvert -- I found even 1.4X Kenko Pro 300 makes the image soft. Croping is better for this lens.

You pay $800 for this 500mm. If you use it correctly, you will get more than what you pay for.

See Nov 2008 Updates below for comparison between this lens and my new Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 L IS

Pros:

Relatively light
Great bang for the buck
Pretty sharp at F/7.1 @ 500mm
Small size when zoomed to 200mm
Nice tripod mount that allows you to rotate the camera and lens

Cons:

Slow autofocus
No Image Stabilization
Cheap plastic build and feel
Slow max aperture especially at 500mm
Works best at long zoom settings on a tripod
Not as sharp as my Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 L IS Zoom lens

I wanted more reach to photograph birds and the moon using my Canon 40D so I borrowed this lens for a few weeks from a friend while he borrows my Canon 70-200 F/2.8 L.

The first things you notice are it's pretty light and long especially when extended to 500mm with an even longer hood attached out past that. The hood seemed a little flimsy but attached firmly and stayed in place throughout shooting so I have no complaints about it.

My first shots were of the moon at 500mm hand held on manual mode at ISO 400 1/800th second at F/7.1. I was very pleased with how sharp and what great contrast this lens produced when I got back inside and downloaded to my Mac.

When attached to my monopod or tripod I liked the built in lens tripod mount as it easily allows you to rotate the camera and lens together easily without having to change settings on your tripod. I used this lens mainly on a monopod while shooting birds and this worked really well. I mainly used the lens at 500mm where it seemed really sharp at F/7.1 but pretty sharp wide open as well. Will try some more shots at shorter ranges and post later.

Conclusion:

If you are in the market for a 500mm lens especially one that's a zoom and in this price range and you don't need the speed of a faster lens then this may be the lens for you. I recently purchased a new Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 L IS Zoom lens and find it much more useful especially since I am not tied to a tripod because of the freedom of the Image Stablizier. If you can afford it get the Canon 100-400 if you are on a budget and you don't mind using a tripod and having images that are softer then get the Tamron.

6-29-2008 Update

Despite being a really sharp lens, and a versatile one, there area several other things that make a lens a pleasure to use.

1. Fast auto-focus, this lens doesn't have it. After awhile of trading my Canon L lens back and forth with this one there's just too much I miss especially birds in flight. With a Canon L it's a snap.

2. Fast aperture, F/4 maybe I could put up with but when you get above F/5.6 you are getting into really slow territory.

I thought about getting a Canon 400mm F/5.6 L but this may be just a little too slow. I think I will continue to save up for the Canon 300 F/2.8 L. I know it's in another league from this lens, but I just can't give up the even better quality, fast aperture and lightening fast auto-focus. I'll buy a 2x multiplier to get out there further.

11-5-2008 Update:

I just bought a new Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 L IS Zoom lens and there is just no comparison, The Canon 100-400 just blows away the Tamron lens in all areas except for reach which is another 100mm on the Tamron. I compared my old tripod mounted test photos with the Canon 100-400 test photos using the same settings and the 100-400 is shaper has better contrast and most importantly has image stabilization which allows me to use a much slower shutter speed and still get great sharp photos. The auto focus on the Canon is also faster.

11-14-2008 Update:

It was a full moon the last two nights perfect for taking my best shot of the moon with my new Canon 100-400 F/4.5 - F/5.6 IS L lens. I wanted to compare the best moon shot I got with the Tamron 200-500mm with my new Canon lens. The moon was full and night clear and I took a hand held shot at 1/400s F/7.1 ISO 100 with the Canon 40D same camera I used with the Tamron test. I then downloaded and processed the Raw photo using the same settings I used for the best moon shot I ever got with the Tamron.

Results: The Canon 100-400 had enough resolving power and was sharp enough where I could actually zoom in enough on the moon shot taken with the Tamron 200-500mm at 500mm and it was slightly better. The shots at 400mm with the Tamron were a step down from the 400mm shot with the Canon 100-400.

The other thing I noticed after looking through the directory with all the daytime Tamron 200-500mm vs the Canon 100-400 was how many shots I got with the Canon 100-400 lens that would not be possible with the Tamron because the Tamron has no Image Stabilizer and the Tamron focused much more slowly. The Tamron is more of a tripod bird perched on a branch lens the Canon 100-400 I can actually do bird in flight photos!

Verdict:

If you are on a budget and don't mind shooting from a tripod at motionless or near motionless subjects the Tarmon 200-500 can do, but... if you have the money at all you need to get the Canon 100-400 you will be getting more shots and with more resolving power even though the Canon is 100mm shorter.

Lenses I currently own:

Canon EF-S 17-55 F/2.8 IS Ultra sharp, great colors, great low light, poor zoom action
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Rebel XTi Kit lens Muddy, slow, pile of junk
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L Fantastic colors, sharp zoomed 17 to 24mm, ultra smooth zoom action, light weight
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L Fantastic colors and contrast, sharp zoomed 40 to 70mm, zoom a little stiff at first, heavy, repair prone!
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Good budget portrait lens, light weight, disposable, sharp from F/2.5
Canon EF 85mm F/1.2 L II The best portrait lens for female and children clients, buttery smooth Bokeh, heavy and expensive it shares sharpness with 135mm
Canon EF 135mm F/2.0 L The best portrait lens for males and tied with Canon 85mm F 1/.2 for sharpest lens I own, buttery smooth Bokeh
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L fantastic colors, sharp for a zoom, very versatile ego boosting and attention getting and heavy! My favorite zoom lens!!!
Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L great IS, super colors, sharp for a zoom, extremely versatile, variable Bokeh, even more ego boosting and attention getting when extended and 400mm reach!!
My next lens purchase I'm saving for right now: _Canon EF 300mm F/2.8 IS L the finest lens ever