Showing posts with label 70-300mm. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 70-300mm. Show all posts

Tamron 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Di LD in travel

2009-07-05 Posted by Hin Man
I have the Tamron zoom for a long time and I still have it and put it into good use every time that I go for short trip. I normally would not like to bring more than three lens. For serious use on birding, I would use my better prime. For ease of use and lighter weight, I still use my Tamron zoom to a great degree. I use these 3-lens combination for casual traveling
to cover a focal range from 10mm to 300mm. And the Tamron zoom is always dependable in terms of sharpness and good close up for flowers.

travel shot with Tamron 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Di LD Macro

travel shot with Tamron 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Di LD Macro

travel shot with Tamron 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Di LD Macro

travel shot with Tamron 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Di LD Macro

travel shot with Tamron 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Di LD Macro

Impressions & Notes
  • Quite good for traveling due to lighter weight
  • A good range only the Pentax DA 55-300mm will beat.
  • The close up for flowers and squirrel always come as a big plus for me in traveling
  • Speed is a bit limiting
  • What is annoying for me is the occasional fringing, mostly purple and sometime green. I see less fringing in K20D as others have suggested, but I mostly avoid it with f/8.0 and smaller apertures.
  • Another minor annoyance is the awkward switching back from macro back to normal mode. I switch to MF in body and turn focusing ring into normal focusing range and turn macro to normal switch on lens.


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Portraits with Tamron 70-300 Di LD Macro

2008-07-14 Posted by Hin Man
@70mm
Portraits with Pentax K10D & Tamron 70-300 Di LD 1:2 Macro
@120mm
Portraits with Pentax K10D & Tamron 70-300 Di LD 1:2 Macro
@120mm
Portraits with Pentax K10D & Tamron 70-300 Di LD 1:2 Macro
@200mm
Portraits with Pentax K10D & Tamron 70-300 Di LD 1:2 MacroI find it a challenge to take photos of my two boys at all times. They move around quickly and as soon as they notice that I am taking photos on them, they played hike and seek with my camera. When I get their attention, they usually make up the funny faces to deter my photo taking.

I tend to have more pictures of my younger boy as he cooperates a bit better than his brother. I always fall short in skills in taking pictures of my boys -- a bummer for sure but a good challenge to have as a amateur photographer. I find the Tamron 70-300 Di LD Macro quite suitable for outing with kids. It is similar in IQ to Pentax DA 50-200 but with longer range and a great macro 1:2. I like the zoom range from 70mm to 150mm to work with my boys so that I can stay far enough from my boys to avoid their attentions.


Impressions & Notes:
  • Lens really sharp throughout the range of 70 to 200mm
  • Ideal for my need in going to park, hiking, and enjoy outdoor activity with my boys
  • I up ISO to 200 and 400 in K10D for a faster speed to catch up with my boys' movement
  • I have a tendency in forgetting filled flash to avoid shadows
  • I default f/8.0 to avoid PF

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Bee Close Up with Tamron 70-300 Di LD 1:2 Macro

2008-06-17 Posted by Hin Man
Bee close up with Tamron 70-300 Di LD 1:2 Macro

Bee close up with Tamron 70-300 Di LD 1:2 Macro

Bee close up with Tamron 70-300 Di LD 1:2 Macro
Attempts & Approaches:
  • I try to have both eyes open to track the bee movement
  • Whenever I move, I point camera into bee's direction to get AF close in range to the bee
  • When the bee stops, I turn to get an angle to the bee
  • I try to shoot less and practice on accuracy instead of shotgunning the bee
  • Avoid wasted pictures when the bees are erratic in the eating. This may be impossible as the bees are always erratic in the eating
  • Tried both AF.C and manual, it is much harder to do manual on Tamron as it does not have quick-shift feature
  • Try panning upon bee leaving and entering the scene
  • In manual focus, I pre-focus object on same plane as the bee and the flower

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BIF with Tamron 70-300 Di LD Macro

I have tried to shoot birds in flight (BIF) with Tamron 70-300 Di LD. All are cropped to get closer to the birds.

1/800 sec, f/8.0, 300mm, iso 400, 0 Ev
Bird In Flight with Tamron 70-300 Di LD Macro
1/1250 sec, f/8.0, 160mm, iso 400, 0 Ev
Bird In Flight with Tamron 70-300 Di LD Macro
1/1250 sec, f/8.0, 300mm, iso 400, 0 EvBird In Flight with Tamron 70-300 Di LD MacroFlickr Slideshow


Focus & Meter:
  • I use the default multi-segment metering
  • I use AF.C exclusively
  • I normally use the selective AF with focal point in center but for the BIF, I turn to the complete AF with multiple focal points, I let the AF system work while I pan the movement hoping the AF system find the closest focal point to match the bird
  • I use ISO 400 and Av mode on f/8.0 and half press to check the shutter to be at least 1/500 sec
  • I should have tried Tv mode with 1/1000 sec but I don't trust the Tamron on anything lesser than f/8.0 in the longer end
  • I pan all shot in moving along with the bird and let the multiple AF point and AF.C work with the bird in the frame
  • I pan the bird to be in the frame and adjust zoom from 300mm down for better sharpness and hopefully better IQ if bird is not too far
Teleconverters:

And I am gathering inputs for a TC that maintain AF and metering, I am basically looking at two choices


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Purple Fringe with Tamron 70-300 Di LD Macro

2008-05-19 Posted by Hin Man
I try to have a simple write up on how I handle purple fringe (colored fringes along edges on areas of high contrast.) This happens more often on Tamron 70-300 Di LD Macro but it does not stop me from finding the lens dependable as the cost of the lens is so inexpensive and I just learn to work around the problems. In general, I pay more attention to the shots made with this lens
  • Avoid backlit area with high contrast
  • Use smaller aperture. Use f/8.0 instead of f/5.6 for long end in the zoom
  • Use higher iso instead of bigger aperture
And the following picture is sample of purple fringe around the rock area as well as the off focus area with purple color in the bokeh

Purple Fringe sample with Tamron 70-300 Di LD Macro
And without photoshop and other commercial tools, I manage to use the following free software tools:

  • XnView
    • An free utility for viewing and converting graphic files.
    • Accepts Photoshop plugin
  • PFree
    • A free photoshop purple fringe plugin
Once I get PFree plugin to properly install on my XnView, I can call and execute the plugin on the above picture. I used all the default settings from Pfree and the results come out way better than the original picture, I am happy as a clam for the results

Purple Fringe correction with Tamron 70-300 Di LD MacroThe easiest area to spot the difference is on the rock area. I also have another image tool viewer called Irfanview which works more advanced than XnView and it also accepts photoshop plugins and I will report back how PFree works in Irfanview

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Tamron 70-300 Di LD Macro Test Shots

2008-04-24 Posted by Hin Man
Flower Close up with Tamron 70-300 Di LD
Flower Close up with Tamron 70-300 Di LD
Flower Close up with Tamron 70-300 Di LD
Flower Close up with Tamron 70-300 Di LD
Flower Close up with Tamron 70-300 Di LDAll test shots are done hand-held with Pentax K10D in iso 100 with JPG setting on bright image tone with +2 on sharpness and -1 on saturation on some of them. Post processing are done in Picasa

Initial Impressions:
  • Very capable close up work with this zoom with 1:2 magnification in long end of the zoom from 180mm to 300mm
  • Amazingly sharp for its price and that it is a zoom lens, I paid only $90 for a used copy of this zoom. New one only costs $129.00 as of this writing
  • Color are rich and have good contrast and details
  • AF is effective but a bit slow in the macro zoom range.
  • AF.C is working reasonably well with little bug around flowers
  • Though manual focus ring has a large focus throw, it is difficult to use manual focus as the macro only become available in 180mm to 300mm in which the zoom extends to a greater length making it difficult and awkward to focus hand held manually.
  • I used f/8.0 throughout the test and use negative Ev compensation to reduce purple fringing in scenes with high contrast.
  • Unlike my Pentax SMC-A 50mm f/2.8 where I need to stay very close to the subject like 0.5 feet to get to 1:2 magnification, the Tamron zoom keeps a good distance from the subject like 3 feet away making it easier to setup with tripod and picturing bugs around flowers.
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Tamron 70-300 f/4.0-5.6 Di LD Macro Test Shots

2008-03-24 Posted by Hin Man
I had my first chance to test a used copy of Tamron 70-300 Di Macro that I bought it used from Pentaxforums marketplace. The lens that I got is almost like new and I just tested the lens with K10D over a past weekend. It is sad and unsettled that I have returned my K10D for a defect found in the shutter with no spring load. With inputs from others, it may be my inexperience with K10D shutter. 

All test shots are done in bright mode with the wrong adjustment on +2 to contrast and saturation and hence the high contrast and saturation on the test shots. 

Tamron 70-300 Di LD Macro Test shots

Tamron 70-300 Di LD Macro Test shots

Tamron 70-300 Di LD Macro Test shots

Tamron 70-300 Di LD Macro Test shots
Tamron 70-300 Di LD Macro Test shotsI am quite happy with the purchase and the lens perform well for me especially for the longer range that I can use in the zoo. It will compete with my Pentax DA 50-200 for sure. Purple fringing are seen in a couple of shots with high contrast and I am told to use a smaller aperture to minimize purple fringe with this lens.


Impressions & Notes:
  • An absolute bargain to buy this consumer tele zoom lens. I bought mine used for about $90 and I have a great liking for the great value that this lens brings to my amateur photos
  • The best thing about this zoom is Sharp pictures.
  • Color and contrast are reasonable to good in my experience
  • Sharpness, color and contrast can fair well compared to Pentax DA 50-200 in the same range
  • Lens is lightweight and very portable as a walk around zoom. That is right, I can use this long zoom for hiking and walk around, very similar to the style of photos that I do with Pentax DA 50-200 f/4.0-5.6 and don't feel the burden to change lens
  • Besides sharpness, the next best thing about this lens is the 1:2 close focusing capability. Close up on flowers and bugs are well beyond the $90 calls for. Some of my close up with this lens compete well with my prime macro lens with the similar 1:2 magnification
  • Close focus or Macro works in the range of 180mm to 300mm with a switch.
  • Since minimum focusing distance is about three feet, this zoom works well with bugs in giving an ample distance farther away from bug.
  • Portraits with this zoom is surprisingly well
  • The biggest gripe is on more occurrences with PF/CA. My copy is no exception but I used the following to guard against PF/CA
    • PF/CA happens more often in bigger aperture as in f/5.6 in 300mm
    • I use f/8.0 as the guiding aperture to go agains PF/CA
    • I use higher ISO to make up the light for wide open aperture
    • I pay attention to high contrast areas as in backlit branches, I change angles for multiple shots
    • PF/CA happen worse and lot more often with Tamron 1.4x TC unfortunately
  • Overall I am very satisfied with this inexpensive zoom and I push it to its limits with use of TC to reach up to 420mm and 510mm with Tamron 1.4x TC and Promaster 1.7x TC.
  • Sometimes I do struggle in collapsing the lens from Macro. What I do is to switch to manual focus (MF) and turn the focusing ring pass the 'Macro distance' in the long end and retract the zoom to normal zoom position. And then I change from MF back to AF.C for next shooting.
  • A high value lens in my book for recommendation with only caveat on PF/CA

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Welcome to Hin's Photo Corner, this is my learning blog on photography, blogging and advertising. And I hope you enjoy your visit. For contact, please comment in blog post or email me directly hintheman at gmail.com.

 

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