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Tamron SP 150-600MM F/5-6.3 Di VC USD Review (Steve’s Digicams)

Tamron SP 150-600mm

Steve’s Digicams reviewed the Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD lens, Tamron latest image-stabilized ultra-zoom. The Tamron sells for $1069 and offers a lot of bang for the money. Good sharpness, a great telephoto range, and accurate and quick auto-focus are among the highlights of this lens.

They list what they liked about the Tamron 150-600mm:

  • Amazing zoom range, perfect for shooting from a distance
  • Vibration Correction adds up to 4 stops of correction when shooting handheld
  • Although large, it is compact for this class of lens
  • Smooth, easy rotating rings for zoom and focus
  • Weather-sealed for shooting in all conditions
  • Affordable price tag (for a lens in this category)

From the conclusion:

Tamron’s new ultra-zoom lens, the SP 150-600MM F/5-6.3 Di VC USD, is a large and powerful zoom lens for anyone that is looking to get up close and personal with their subjects. This large lens can be used with either Full-Frame or APS-C sized image sensors, although with an APS-C sensor you are looking at 240mm-960mm (with Canon’s 1.6x crop factor). This provides excellent zoom for extreme situations, distant sport photography and it is outstanding for wildlife photography. The ability to get close to your subjects without actually getting close to them allows you to photograph them without disturbing them and their natural habits. Weather-resistant construction allows you to be out in most weather conditions with the confidence that the lens will come through with no trouble, even in high moisture or rain.

The Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD lens can be pre-ordered at Adorama or B&H Photo. Specifications and description after the break.

The Tamron SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD Lens for Canon is an expansive telephoto-zoom lens designed for both full-frame and APS-C-sized image sensors. Its 4x zoom design covers standard telephoto to super telephoto perspectives, making it ideally suited to working with a wide variety of subject matter. Benefitting this range is VC (Vibration Compensation) image stabilization, which helps to minimize the appearance of camera shake to enable the use of longer shutter speeds or smaller apertures when hand-holding in low-light conditions. A USD (Ultrasonic Silent Drive) autofocus motor provides quick and precise focusing performance, with high torque, low response times, and quiet operation to benefit both still and video applications. Additionally, a full-time manual focus mechanism enables manual fine-tuning of focus at any point, even when the AF system is engaged.

The optical design integrates three low dispersion (LD) elements within its construction to minimize optical aberrations throughout the zoom range, particularly at the longer focal length positions. Individual elements also feature an eBAND (Extended Bandwidth & Angular Dependency) coating, as well as a conventional BBAR (Broad-Band Anti-Reflection) coating, in order to reduce lens flare and ghosting to produce more contrast-rich and color-neutral imagery.

Expansive telephoto-zoom lens is well-suited to nature, wildlife, and sports photography and can be used on both full-frame and APS-C DSLR cameras.
Three low dispersion elements are integrated into the front group of the lens construction (two in the first group, one in the third) to effectively compensate for on-axis optical aberrations throughout the zoom range, notably with longer focal length positions.
eBAND and BBAR coatings have been applied to lens elements to minimize lens flare and ghosting in order to maintain high contrast, clarity and color fidelity.
VC image stabilization helps to reduce the appearance of camera shake to enable greater hand-held shooting capabilities in low-light conditions.
A USD autofocus system provides quick, quiet, responsive and accurate focusing performance that is suited to both still image and movie shooting.
A full-time manual focus mechanism allows for manual focusing at any time; even when working in AF shooting modes.
The optimized optical design reduces the movement of lens groups during focusing and zooming in order to maintain a relatively compact and lightweight form-factor.
A redeveloped external finish, with linear patterned zoom and focus rings, enhance the overall handling of the lens as well as its cosmetic appearance.
A nine-blade circular diaphragm produces an aesthetic out-of-focus quality that is especially beneficial when working with selective focus or shallow depth of field techniques.
A removable tripod mount is included for use of the lens when working from a tripod.
SILKYPIX Developer Studio for Tamron software is included with the lens, which, aside from enabling basic RAW processing and image adjustments, works to specifically correct for chromatic aberrations of magnification, distortion, and peripheral light fall-off using dedicated optical data from Tamron’s SP-series of lenses.
Focal Length 150 – 600mm
Comparable APS-C 1.6x Focal Length: 240 – 960 mm
Aperture Maximum: f/5.0 – 6.3
Minimum: f/32.0 – 40.0
Camera Mount Type Canon EF
Format Compatibility 35mm Film / Full-Frame Digital Sensor
Canon (APS-C)
Canon (APS-H)
Angle of View 16° 25′ – 4° 8′
Minimum Focus Distance 8.86′ (2.7 m)
Maximum Reproduction Ratio 1:5
Elements/Groups 20/13
Diaphragm Blades 9
Features
Image Stabilization Yes
Autofocus Yes
Tripod Collar Yes Removable – rotating
Physical
Filter Thread Front:95 mm
Dimensions (DxL) Approx. 4.16 x 10.15″ (105.6 x 257.8 mm)
Weight 4.30 lb (1.95 kg)
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