( 4 reviews )
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( 1 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: Sep 4 2008
Pro: - Great IQ (contrast, color, detail, border to border at wide open etc). - Put together exceptionally well. The fit and finish (hood fit, focus ring, tripod ring) is better than my Tamron 18-250, or Canon 100/f2. Well made indeed. (Note: heard other complainted about the tripod ring, mines is excellent, perhaps the most solid piece on this lens) - AF/MF is spot on! I only use MF on tripod but did test the AF on tripod just to be sure. MF ring is very well damped and with enough travel to allow fine tune MF. The improved viewfinder on the 40D I use is a big plus for MF - much harder on the dim Rebel XT. - The lens pouch is very well made. But not sure if I ever gonna use it. Neutral: - Material used is not notch. Feels a bit too plasticy, but helps cutting down the weight I suppose. Tripod ring locking screw design is not as smart as my Sigma 170-500, the latter allows one turn and pull to unlock vs Tamron needs to unscrew all the way. But I use this lens with tripod almost exclusively, this isn't a big deal to me anyway. Con: - AF only works during the day with adequate lighting. Indoor my 40D's flash flick won't even get this one to find focus under normal light. The lens just pulsating back and forth. Using this together with the Kenko extension tubes is a lot of fun! You do need a very solid tripod and solid head to make this lens worthwhile IMHO. My Bogen 486RC2 Mini barely works. Under great magnification, any vibration and blur are greatly exaggerated as well. Bottomline: - A great manual macro lens but not much more. Attempt to use it as a indoor tele will disappoint because of the poor AF. Wide open the IQ is not as great as reported on some of the online reviews. But at stop down at macro distance on a steady tripod, it's just fantastic. This is a true macro lens!
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Posted: Jun 11 2007
I bought this lens Last year on the Tamron Student program. Its a nice lens. My first one had a problem that showed up in the first 3 days, it would not go from manual to auto focus. So I had to replace it. A hassle but still worth it. I liked the lens a lot and only sold it off to move up to the much sharper Canon 180mm L 3.5. If you are looking at a 90/100mm Macro or the 180, get the 180, its so much nicer. If you cant afford the Canon L series, get the Tamron! Its tons better than the sigma junk! And the 180 gives you some distance between you and the object, very nice esp if you are shoot an insect!!!! I have some images up at Tamron.com and if you have a tamron lens you can post images there too!
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( 0 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: Mar 26 2007
I am professional photographer specializing in botanical and nature photography. I bought the Tamron 180 lens after many years of using the equally great 90mm macro. I love the 90mm but was looking for a lens with greater working distance and better ability to control backgrounds. The 180mm has proven to be excellent optically as well as ergonomically well designed. The light weight, for its size, coupled with the very intuitive af-mf push-pull design are great in the field. I work at Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden. For images taken with the above lens, please visit [...]. Regards
