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Tag Archives: af

Tamron AF 55-200mm (Nikon fit) review

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Don’t forget, you can also watch the Tamron 55-200mm video review.

Not quite classed as a telephoto lens, but with a greater focal range than most standard lenses, the Tamron 55-200mm is a good all purpose addition to your kit bag. Tamron produce lenses for a number of camera manufacturers, and this lens is available with either a Canon, Nikon or Sony fitting. The Ld abbreviation in the title stands for “low dispersion” and is a reference to the technique that Tamron use to coat the glass inside the lens to reduce chromatic aberration. The DI stands for “digitally integrated” and means that this lens is ideally suited to a digital camera as opposed to a film camera. the II signifies that this lens is designed for use on an APS-C cropped sensor camera, and therefore is not suitable for a camera which has a full frame sensor.

Tamron 55-200mm lens construction

Weighing only 300g this lens is light and easy to carry around. The body of the lens is plastic and it has no external buttons or switches. With a Nikon digital camera, the switch between auto focus and manual focus is often found on the camera body itself rather than the lens. Focusing in on a subject with this lens is typically rather noisy and not especially fast. Even though this lens has the word ‘Macro’ in the title, it’s not really a decent Macro lens. Much better Macro results can be achieved with the Tamron 70-300mm Macro lens for example. The minimum focusing distance of the 55-200mm is 0.95m

Tamron 55-200mm sample photos

Below are a few examples of photos taken with the Tamron 55-200mm. These photos are un-edited and hopefully will provide a good idea of the sort of picture quality that can be expected when using this lens. It is worth comparing and contrasting the images below with sample photos taken with Tamron 70-300mm. The photos below were taken with a Nikon D80 digital camera.

Alternative lenses to the Tamron 55-200mm

Alternative lenses with the same focal range include the Nikon 55-200mm, Canon 55-200m and Sigma 55-200mm. The Nikon 55-200mm is very similar in terms of size and weight to this Tamron, however it has the added benefit of an AF/MF switch on the lens body. It is also possible to get a Nikon 55-200mm with vibration reduction (VR) which is Nikon’s image stabilisation technology, this naturally is more expensive. Canon no longer produce a 55-200mm lens, so they can only now be picked up either second hand or refurbished. Designed with a USM motor, they are typically quicker and quieter to focus in. The Canon 55-200mm has now been superseded by the 55-250mm IS lens.

Overall

Cheap, light and portable with decent image quality makes this lens an attractive option. In terms of capabilities however, the Tamron 70-300mm is preferable due to its greater focal range and superior macro performance. The downside to the 70-300mm would be its increased size and weight however.

 7/10

Current best prices for the Tamron 55-200mm.

Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D AF review

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By Anthony Rampersad

I’m 28 and I live in Trinidad & Tobago. I’ve always been interested in photography but I guess its only recently that I’ve started taking my interest seriously. Somewhere in 2008 I shot my first “serious” picture and fell in love with both the process and results of the capture. I particularly enjoy nature and landscape photography and aspire to one day reach a pro-level skill even if its not accompanied by the pay.

Nikkor 50mm F1.8 overview

Where do I even begin with this lens? I bought it new with my Nikon D90 and have been using it for almost 7 months now. I bought is specifically to help develop my composition skills. Since it’s a fixed focal length (prime lens) you’re more or less forced to walk your way around your subject to get that frame just the way you want it. Of course it’s a 50mm lens but if you’re mounting this on a DX format camera (like the D90 for instance) it becomes a 75mm with the crop factor considered. I bought the 50mm as the first lens on my D90 this also being my first DSLR. At first I regretted my decision for not getting a zoom lens but realized afterwards that the 50mm was an excellent choice and combination with the D90. The lens is reviewed according to the below categories:

Nikkor 50mm F1.8 handling

It’s light, it’s really just light and easy to carry either on the camera body or as part of your gear package. The first time I attached the lens to the body of the camera I had a little difficulty, perhaps best attributed to unfamiliarity. But its a snap to snap on. The lens comes with an aperture ring but I don’t believe its functional or even necessary on DX cameras. In fact if you toggle it out of its widest aperture you can expect to get an error reading on your display. I absolutely love the smooth focusing action of the focus ring. It’s almost mercurial in both manual and auto focus modes. When switched on to AF, focusing is extremely quick. I was nothing short of impressed with the AF speed. My previous compact/bridge camera seemed Jurassic on a speed comparison and even my other lens the 55-200mm AF is a lot slower.

Nikkor 50mm F1.8 build quality

The 50mm certainly feels very compact for its price. For a $125 lens I’d almost expect to see rough flimsy plastic all the way around and the nauseating smell of cheap glue holding everything together. I was glad to see that it came with a metal attachment mount rather than the flimsy feeling plastic mount. It was mentioned in my D90 review that I dropped this camera with this lens attached. I guess I was thankful afterwards that I had the 50mm attached rather than my weightier zoom lens. No one likes to see a grown man cry.

Nikkor 50mm F1.8 image quality

Now it’s crunch time. How does the lens rank in terms of its image quality? At the risk of sounding like a converted Nikonite I cant resist saying that I love the image quality of the 50mm. The max aperture of f/1.8 is an excellent allowance for creatively blurred shots and quicker shutter speeds. At an amateur level I’ve shot my car, family, friends, flowers and everyday still life objects. It produces a crisp, clean super sharp shot with wonderful colour rendition and practically zero noticeable distortion. I’ve even managed to shoot some satisfactory close-ups with the addition of an Opteka closeup filter kit (52mm filter size). My very first shot with this lens was like bokeh love at first sight. I shot a blooming bougainvillea with the sunlight in the background at f/1.8 and the beautiful look of the bokeh produced by the peerings of sunlight through the leaves totally amazed me. It’s great for that and you wont be disappointed. I have to note though that on a few subsequent and similarly framed shots the bokeh appeared hexagonal (7 sides right?) in shape. One of the only shortfalls I guess with this lens is that the 7 diaphragm blades aren’t rounded so in some circumstances, expect the bokeh to look more mechanical than rounded and natural.

Nikkor 50mm F1.8 Pros

  • Superb image quality
  • Reliably built
  • Super-quick Autofocus
  • Fluid-smooth manual focusing
  • Excellent value pricing
  • No noticeable distortion
  • Wide maximum aperture. Allows for:
    • More creative shots from very shallow depth of field
    • Quicker shutter speeds

Nikkor 50mm F1.8 Cons

  • Diaphragm blades not rounded (sometimes jagged hexagonal bokeh)
  • No vibration reduction (although its necessity is debateable)

 

9.5/10

Check out the current Nikkor 50mm F1.8 best price

Tamron 70-300mm F4-5.6 Di LD Macro review

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Don’t forget, you can watch the Tamron 70-300mm video review

Tamron produce lenses compatible with many camera manufacturers and the Tamron 70-300mm telephoto lens is a good example of a multipurpose lens suitable for those on a budget. It weighs 435g, which is lighter than the majority of competing lenses from other manufacturers which have the same focal range. It is important to note that the magnification levels when using this lens will vary depending upon the size of the sensor within your digital camera. When using a cropped sensor digital camera such as the Canon EOS 50D, the image will be cropped, making it look magnified unto 1.6 times the actual focal length you are using. So, for example, taking a photo at 300mm will in effect be 480mm. If, however, a full frame digital camera is used, such as the Canon EOS 5D, the image captured will be the same as the focal length of the lens.

Tamron 70-300mm Lens construction

The lens looks sturdy and feels surprisingly light. The outer casing is plastic, and the zoom and focusing ring has a rubber coating. The zoom feels suitably tight when moving through the focal lengths, however when in manual focus mode, the focus ring feels a bit loose, and it can be a bit tricky keeping the subject in focus once you’ve located the right position. When using the autofocus, the motor is noticeably louder than alternative lenses such as the Canon 70-300mm – which has a quieter and faster USM ring motor. It also takes quite a while to focus in on a subject, and is even more noticeable when in macro mode. The macro mode itself is perfectly ample, however it requires the lens barrel to be extended to a minimum of 180mm before you can switch the macro on. This also means you need to be standing a minimum of 1 metre away from your target to be able to focus adequately.

Tamron 70-300mm image quality

Alternative lenses to the Tamron 70-300mm

There are a number of lens manufacturers who produce lenses at the 70-300mm focal range. Sigma for example produce a 70-300mm APO Macro lens which is of a similar quality and price point to the Tamron 70-300mm. The next level up from the Sigma and Tamron lenses would be the Canon 70-300mm IS USM and Nikon AF-S VR 70-300mm which include image stabilisation technology (VR – Vibration Reduction – with the Nikon lenses). These are typically twice the price but have the advantage of quicker focusing mechanisms and image stabilisation. For those who have a Nikon camera, Nikon also produce a budget 70-300mm lens which, brand new, can be purchased for as little as £100. Finally, for Canon users, there is a Canon 70-300mm DO USM lens. DO stands for diffractive optics, and is noticeably shorter than the standard 70-300mm. This comes at a price however, and the lens also has a wider diameter.

Overall

The Tamron 70-300mm isn’t going to win any awards for it’s image and build quality, however it is very cheap compared to the alternatives out there. The images that can be produced with this lens are perfectly adequate, especially in better lighting conditions, and the macro function adds an extra level of versatility.