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Comment on Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED AF-S DX Nikkor Zoom Lens by Paulo Goulart

Paulo Goulart — Fri, 11 May 2012 23:04:32 +0000

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

I'm quite happy with this lens, April 22, 2006

Paulo Goulart (Lisbon, Portugal) -

This review is from: Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED AF-S DX Nikkor Zoom Lens (Electronics)

I'm quite happy with this lens, included in the D50 kit. It seems much better than my old Canon and Sigma zooms (which I've sold some years ago, after change from a EOS650 to digital), although it presents some barrel distortion at wide-angle (18mm). To be honest, I only noticed it recently (only after taking a few hundred shots), when I had the chance to get some pictures with the ocean at the horizon. I will try to remember not to use this lens at 18mm with perfectly "horizontal horizons"...

Anyhow, one can solve it in Photoshop, quite easily.

Overall, I'm content with the building quality and sharpness of this lens and, probably, I'll spend much more time with it (getting used again with a SLR).

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Comment on Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED AF-S DX Nikkor Zoom Lens by RonAnnArbor

RonAnnArbor — Fri, 11 May 2012 22:49:08 +0000

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful

A great lens at an amazingly cheap price, July 29, 2006

RonAnnArbor (Ann Arbor, MI United States) -

This review is from: Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED AF-S DX Nikkor Zoom Lens (Electronics)

The Nikon 18-55 is one of those rare pieces of glass that surprises across the board -- I find that it is far superior to the more expensive Nikon 18-70 kit lens now packaged with most new Nikon dSLR's. The 18-55 is not only a third of the price, but it is crisper and clearer at 18, and super sharp from 35 - 55. There is next to no barrel distortion at 18, certainly far less that the 18-70. And there is nothing better than a 6 ounce lens for carrying to parties, events, and dinners, rather than those pound+ lenses. I highly recommend this lens.

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Comment on Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED AF-S DX Nikkor Zoom Lens by John Kwok

John Kwok — Fri, 11 May 2012 22:07:12 +0000

75 of 80 people found the following review helpful

Inexpensive Moderate Wide Angle Zoom for Nikon DX Digital SLR Cameras, August 21, 2005

John Kwok (New York, NY USA) -

This review is from: Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED AF-S DX Nikkor Zoom Lens (Electronics)

The current issue of Popular Photography has a glowing review of this lens and its sibling, the 55mm-200mm zoom lens, for Nikon DX Digital SLR cameras. I'm amazed that Nikon has opted to produced a high quality moderate wide angle zoom lens for digital SLRs at a relatively low price. But don't be fooled that this relatively inexpensive lens isn't capable of producing excellent results, which the fine Popular Photography review certainly attests (At nearly every focal length there is excellent contrast and resolution, with minimal barrel distortion, except at 18mm, since there the barrel distortion is a bit noticeable: this would only have an adverse impact in photographing buildings, but again, the impact is just hardly noticeable.). Nikon has opted to use most of its optical innovations, including the new improved Super Nikon Intergrated Coating (Nikon's latest multicoating) to help greatly minimize flare and thus produce images which have excellent contrast and resolution. For many owners of Nikon's inexpensive line of DX Digital SLRs, such as the new Nikon D70s, this lens and its 55mm-200mm zoom sibling, may be all the optical firepower they'll need for photography, with the chance of expanding sometime later into Nikon's impressive line of superb optics for 35mm film and digital photography.

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Comment on Opteka 650-2600mm High Definition Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon EOS 1D, 5D, 7D, 10D, 20D, 30D, 40D, 50D, 60D, Rebel XT, XTi, XS, XSi, T1i, T2i, T3 and T3i Digital SLR Cameras by Brian J. Jolley

Brian J. Jolley — Fri, 11 May 2012 00:29:03 +0000

37 of 47 people found the following review helpful

Understand Aperture First, December 18, 2008

Brian J. Jolley (Salt Lake City, Utah) -

This review is from: Opteka 650-2600mm High Definition Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon EOS 1D, 5D, 7D, 10D, 20D, 30D, 40D, 50D, 60D, Rebel XT, XTi, XS, XSi, T1i, T2i, T3 and T3i Digital SLR Cameras (Electronics)

The most significant information about this telephoto lens is this: f/8-32

Yes, 650-2600mm is high magnification, but make sure you understand clearly what f/8-32 means before you make this purchase. This lens is meant for very specific applications and would not be a good 'all purpose' telephoto lens.

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Comment on Opteka 650-2600mm High Definition Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon EOS 1D, 5D, 7D, 10D, 20D, 30D, 40D, 50D, 60D, Rebel XT, XTi, XS, XSi, T1i, T2i, T3 and T3i Digital SLR Cameras by Bottomline Man

Bottomline Man — Thu, 10 May 2012 23:53:38 +0000

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful

no equivalent for this price, June 14, 2011

Bottomline Man -

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

Totally manual lens that can be disassembled into several parts which I had to do to clean all the internal lenses. The build quality is acceptable, made mostly of metal. I used it on my Canon EOS 60D and it works fine as long as you have a tripod. It takes several seconds to adjust the focus manually but few minutes to adjust the zoom and you have to be careful not to extend it beyond 1300mm or else it will separate into 2 pieces and you will have to spend more time to assemble them and re-adjust the focus and zoom. You need light so don't expect to take pictures indoors or even from outdoors to indoors. The quality of the pictures is pretty good as long as you remain under the 1150mm. I couldn't get a clear focus over 1150mm. I think the doubler is a joke. I couldn't get any focus with it. The lens is still worth the price if you want to take closeups even if the doubler doesn't work. A note to Canadians, be prepared to pay a hefty price for s&h, customs, taxes etc. I paid 130$ on top of the price of the lens => Not cool :(

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Comment on Opteka 650-2600mm High Definition Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon EOS 1D, 5D, 7D, 10D, 20D, 30D, 40D, 50D, 60D, Rebel XT, XTi, XS, XSi, T1i, T2i, T3 and T3i Digital SLR Cameras by T. Kovalevskis

T. Kovalevskis — Thu, 10 May 2012 22:55:21 +0000

56 of 59 people found the following review helpful

great tele lens for such money, March 17, 2009

T. Kovalevskis (denver, co) -

i just purchased this lens from 47th avenue seller. they shipped it fast and today i tried it. i have canon 300D. obviously you will need a tripod. there is no way you can shoot a still picture holding 5 pounds in your hands and w/manual focus. it works pretty well at 650mm. to reduce shakeness you might want to use a shutter remote(6$ on ebay). at 1300mm it is hard to focus because having 23" lens and camera weight on the other end makes it hard. 2x converter makes it even harder b/c of shakement. you really need perfect conditions to use 2x with the lens. i use some manual parameters as exposure or shutter speed. i was shooting towards the evening and got pretty decent shots. i mean you need to understand that even 650mm is a huge zoom. 1300mm is insane and it makes it hard. this lens is made for a very specific purpose. you will not be able to shoot sports or fast animals b/c it is to heavy and too slow. but it is great for the lanscapes. i did some great pics using 200 ISO. a lot of people write bad reviews before they even try this lens. all we knoe that canon or sigma lens 700mm would run around 7000$ or more and obviously you cannot compare opteka with those 30 times more expensive lenses. but some people do and come up with the most rediculous conclusions. this lens needs time to get good pics. at 650-800mm it is perfect. you might even do some animal shots. at 1300 forget about it. as i mentioned earlier it is big. focusing is easy, if you ever used a telescope it is the same idea. it is hard to focus at 1300mm or more. it might look ok but when you zoom in to the pic it looks a little blury. for 250$ it is a great toy. anyone who wants to buy it needs to understand that this lens for a very specific pics. the object needs to be at least 30 yards away. in conclusion, i guess it is worth the money. i cannot talk much about the quality b/c i just had it for a very little time. it look alright. and please ignore those stupid reviews on different web sites of people who comment about this lens without trying it!

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Comment on Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 SP Di VC USD XLD for Canon Digital SLR Cameras by S Capo

S Capo — Wed, 09 May 2012 23:46:28 +0000

63 of 65 people found the following review helpful

Get this over the Nikon 70-300mm, October 23, 2010

S Capo (Timonium, MD USA) -

This review is from: Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 SP Di VC USD XLD for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras (Electronics)

I use this product as an addition to my Nikon 18-105mm lens. Some people may consider the 18-200mm a better option because you don't need to carry around two lenses. The optical quality of the Tamron is better from 200-300mm (I don't own the 18-200mm, but have seen samples and MTF charts).

Compared to the Nikon 70-300mm, the Tamron starts at f/4 vs f/4.5. Images are sharp and full of contrast using the Standard picture control on my Nikon D90 (and even more so with the Vivid PC). Backgrounds are nicely defocused at longer focal lengths providing pleasant bokeh. The VC mechanism makes some noise when starting up but is very effective in reducing shake in lower light or max telephoto pictures. Tamron is building up a reputation of quality with their Super Performance (SP) series lenses. The lens has full time manual focus override (just grab the focus ring) and NO zoom creep when holding the lens downward.

Fully extended with the hood, this lens is large. I don't mind. It looks similar to a 70-200 but lighter in weight. The build quality is excellent, this feels like a "pro" grade lens.

I would highly recommend this lens for DX (105-450mm equivalent) or FX users. The front element is flat (not recessed) so either use the hood or a filter.

EDIT 11/13/10 - QUALITY CONTROL PROBLEMS
I have emailed Tamron customer support with the following message about autofocus issues:
"The lens and the camera (Nikon D90) are both set for AF yet the motor does not start to autofocus. When switching the lens to manual focus it will work fine. The AF was working one moment and then suddenly stopped and will no longer focus. I have checked the contacts on the lens and inspected the lens mount."

I am awaiting response and will keep you updated on the progress.

I have only deducted one star from this review because when AF is working properly, the lens is great. Just purchase it keeping in mind this issue.

EDIT 12/4/10 - LENS RECEIVED FROM TAMRON
I received the lens on November 30 in brand new condition. The autofocus was fixed and the lens was cleaned and calibrated. I'm really impressed with Tamron's customer support.

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Comment on Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 SP Di VC USD XLD for Canon Digital SLR Cameras by GloryGuide

GloryGuide — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:58:21 +0000

57 of 58 people found the following review helpful

Tamron's AF 70-300mm Di VC USD XLD beats Nikon, finally!, October 18, 2010

GloryGuide (San Antonio, TX USA) -

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 SP Di VC USD XLD for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras (Electronics)

I've been considering the Nikon 70-300mm VR Lens Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED IF AF-S VR Zoom Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras for quite a while, but glad that Amazon had an issue recently and stopped selling it directly (not sure why).

I noticed that this Tamron lens goes to f4 instead of f4.5 and has an Ultrasonic Drive (USD) for autofocus (AF) which is on par with Nikon and Canon technologies. I've also been watching eBay to see what kind of price I could pickup the Nikon for used or refurbished and found I could buy the Tamron for about the same price new(after $50 rebate) with a 6 year warranty. I'm not sure why, but there are a ton of the Nikon lenses being sold refurbished, which only have a one year warranty. There are several comments here on Amazon about reviewers getting a bad copy of the lens. So I figured I would take a chance on the Tamron lens, glad I did!

I started taking sports pictures at my son's football games and have been blown away by the speed of the USD. My camera is a Nikon D90 and taking photos at 4.5fps was easy with continuous AF.
I took some shots all the way out at 300mm and this lens produced very sharp results with great depth-of-field and Bokeh. This lens works with full frame FX and cropped frame DX cameras, so the zoom on my D90 is fantastic. Rarely did I have any results that weren't excellent.

The Tamron lens also has their XLD (extra low dispersion glass) that seems pretty evident in the sharpness and lack of chromatic aberration. This is Tamron's first lens to incorporate all of these high end technologies and I think they got it right.

Several of the shots I took were of kids running at high speed and I purposely slowed the shutter down to capture some of the motion in the images. Tamron's VC (vibration correction) performed stellar with my erratic panning and hand holding. I did a test with it off and the difference is dramatic. My other Nikon lenses with VR perform well, but the Tamron VC has got them beat for sure.

I love competion, because it makes everyone better. I'd say in this case, Tamron has finally put out a product that beats Nikon.

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Comment on Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 SP Di VC USD XLD for Canon Digital SLR Cameras by lost-a-toe

lost-a-toe — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:52:38 +0000

124 of 131 people found the following review helpful

Stunning! Image Quality on par with Canon 70-200mm F4 IS, November 21, 2010

lost-a-toe -

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 SP Di VC USD XLD for Canon Digital SLR Cameras (Camera)

Pros:

* Great Price for all the professional features
* Image Quality on par with Canon L series

Cons:

* Location of zoom and focus ring
Overview

I was lucky to get myself a copy of this one-shot wonder on Amazon. After I received it, I did some quick test. Since we are still under house arrest because of taking care of our newborn, I have yet to test this lens in the field to the fullest extent. The Tamron is a full frame lens and on a 1.6 cropped sensor, the focal length is converted 112-480mm. This lens is my second Tamron in my bag. My first Tamron lens was the SP 17-50mm F2.8. The 17-50mm lands a special spot in my heart not only because its stunning image quality along with a great pricing, but it's also my first professional lens and I have done tons of portfolio work with it. As of today, this lens is still my main workhorse and all the images you see here were taken with it.

What's in the box? It comes with the usual stuff that one would expect, front, rear cap, user's manual, etc. FYI, just like many third party brand, all Tamron lenses come with a lens hood. This one is no exception, it comes with large flower petal lens hood. No lens pouch included and no warranty card either. Tamron has moved from traditional mail-in warranty registration to online registration.

My initial response when I took it out of box - this is a sturdy, solid, well constructed lens inside a plastic barrel. Some may be disappointed because its plastic look and feel. But for me, I find this lens is made with quality material and the plastic finish does not bother me at all. No weather seal protection which I don't expect to see one at this price range. If you expected this lens to be light because of the plastic finish. Wrong! This lens weights 765g. How heavy is 765g? It is equivalent to 2 cans of 12oz soda. It is about the same as the Canon 70-200mm f4L IS and 130g more than its main competitor, the Canon 70-300mm IS. It is a great balance with my Canon 40D but a bit front heavy on my Rebel XT. Based on the weight, I believe Tamron's target audience for this lens is for photographers using professional or semi-professional bodies.

The barrel of the lens protruding out when changing the focal length. The front element does not rotate so this is a plus for the polarizer filter users. The rubber zoom ring is wide and handling is great. There is no zoom creep - the lens barrel does not sliding back and forth when the camera is tilted. The focusing ring is smaller than that of the zoom ring and it is less dampened than the zoom ring. A distance scale window is located near the lens mount. There are two switches on the lens, AF/MF and VC (vibration compensation). The location of the switch is on the left side near the lens mount and they can be easily accessed with your fingers without moving your hand away from the camera. Ergonomically, it meets my expectation except for the location of the zoom and focusing ring which will be discussed later.

USD and HD Video shooting

This lens is the first lens featuring Tamron's version of ultra sonic motor, USD (ultrasonic silent drive). Something worth mentioning is that Sony owns 11% of Tamron. Because of this, I was suspecting the USD is based on the same platform as Sony's SSM (Super Sonic Motor) technology. Per Tamron EU, they claimed the USD is "Tamron's very own ultrasonic auto-focus drive mechanism." Regardless who owns the technology, the focusing speed is amazing - silent and quick just like Canon's USM. How does it compare to Canon's USM? Honestly, I can't tell the differences after I did some side by side comparison.

If you are familiar with Tamron's past lens design pattern, you will notice that the focus path is reduced on the lenses with conventional focusing motor. The purpose is to increasing the focusing speed where the focusing ring only rotates 30 - 50 degrees. The increase of speed does come with a disadvantage which is that manual focusing becomes more difficult. On my Tamron 17-50mm, I don't even bother with using the manual focusing. When the focusing speed is increased by the implementation of the new USD, Tamron increases the focus path and now you can turn the focusing ring ~ 180 degree. This allows photographers to fine tune the focusing. I believe this is also a plus for shooting HD video with DSLR where photographer can smoothly switching the focus from one point of interest to another.

Image quality

Now the image quality from this lens. The main competitor here is the Canon 70-300mm IS. However, by the time writing his review, I no longer have the Canon with me. So I will compare it against one of sharpest consumer zoom lenses ever made, the Canon 70-200mm F4 IS. Both images were obtained with the same setting - 70mm, F4, 0.8 sec and ISO100 on tripod with IS off. Both images were taken with a Canon 40D... Read more

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Comment on Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR AF-S Nikkor Zoom Lens for Nikon Digital SLR by Mark Makowski "MarkMako"

Mark Makowski "MarkMako" — Tue, 08 May 2012 22:43:00 +0000

128 of 135 people found the following review helpful

Nikon excels again, September 5, 2010

Mark Makowski "MarkMako" (VA) -

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR AF-S Nikkor Zoom Lens for Nikon Digital SLR (Camera)

I'm an advanced amateur photographer shooting landscapes, nature, animals, fast cars and faster jets. I've owned Nikon DSLR's and lenses for the past five years, always upgrading as I make new purchases. I use a Nikon D300 camera body. I bought this lens to replace the Nikon 18-200mm, even though I gave up some range on the low end. As soon as I opened the box I could tell by the weight and feel of it that it is a high quality lens. I started taking a variety of shots of my dogs, inside, outside, and in a park. I was very happy with the results - even my wife complimented me on the pictures which is hard to come by. I used it last night, in the dark, zoomed all the way out to take a few shots at an outdoor symphony concert, with the ISO set at 3200. I didn't use a tripod since there wasn't room; I handheld it so I didn't expect good results. I'm amazed at the sharpness of the images. The VR II works as advertised too. Today I took it out to run it through a few comparison shots to see how well it works under nature/landscape settings on a tripod and handheld. I also took some images to merge into HDR images. The results were crystal clear and exceptionally fast set at ISO 200, even zoomed out to the max. Although it weights more than the Nikon 18-200mm lens, it's a fair exchange for the speed, reach, and clarity that result. I'm planning out my weekends around using this lens at a NASCAR race, air show, and fall foliage in the Shenandoah Valley. This lens is well worth the price; I highly recommend it.

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