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      Would you find this a useful lens?     

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bapabear
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04/02/2016 10:15PM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
I just don't know enough about this but there are some excellent photographers here and I always appreciate opinions on this site. I have a modest Canon camera digital SLR set up with 18-55mm and 55-250mm lenses. I use them often for family, grandkid's sports, and wildlife/outdoors shots. Recently I was at a camera store that was offering a used Tamron 150-600mm lens at what I thought was a good price for a rough quote. It still has time remaining to clear the background check before a final price is set and I'm debating on its purchase. They will contact me when it has cleared. Not so much whether I would use it but how much? Would it be worth it in a wide $600-800 price range? I feel it would with sports and outdoors shots but I wonder if any of you use one in this focal length range and how useful you find it.
 
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04/02/2016 11:35PM  
The 600mm equivalent I use (4/3rds sensor 2x crop), is half the weight. Even that will get tiring, and you will need a tripod/monopod to get good results. Looks to be a nice lens in the price range expected. I do 3 times more race track photography than wildlife outdoors and spend 3/4ths the time with short/medium zooms. But when you need the reach, nothing else will do.
1979 Tyrrell 009 #009/1 shot from about 100 yards, 600mm (300mm x2 crop factor), 1/2000th sec. f5.6 ISO100.

butthead
 
04/03/2016 08:04AM  
The price seems right. KEH has 3 of those in a Nikon mount for $850-880. I couldn't find a review of the lens, but I didn't do a thorough search. The Tamron zoom would serve you well for outdoor sports, birding, etc.

I use a 400 mm lens and a 1.4x teleconverter for a 560 mm combination when I need it. I use the lens mostly for wildlife photography with my Pentax DSLR (and previously with my film SLR). These focal lengths are very useful for bird photography, especially with APSC-size camera sensors.
 
KerryG
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04/03/2016 10:48AM  
Everything I've read about this lens (and there are quite a few detailed reviews) indicate that it is what it is - good quality for the money. It isn't the same quality glass as the Canon and Nikon counterparts (both of which are 150 - 400 mm) but then it's two-thirds the price. Also keep in mind that it is a zoom not a prime so if what you you're looking for is absolute top professional quality - well it is what it is. The aperture is a bit limiting f5 - 6.5 but with the kind of high ISOs that cameras can deliver these days maybe that isn't such a big deal as it once was. Keep in mind that since your camera is APS-C sensor the 150 - 600 is actually 225 - 900. That is a monster zoom! With a tripod that would be tremendous if birding or sports is your thing.
I should add that when zooming long with this lens you'll likely want/need to use the burst mode on your camera. That will mean using faster and more expensive SD cards to keep pace (e.g., Sandisk Extreme Pro.)
 
bapabear
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04/03/2016 02:23PM  
Thanks for the advice given. Some things here I had not thought about and need to consider. The 400mm with teleconverter sounds like an idea I might look into also.
 
NotLight
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04/05/2016 07:00AM  
I also just upgraded my camera. I have been looking at longer lenses for birding for a while. A couple times a year Tamron will have a rebate on longer lenses, and that drops the prices to maybe $100 more than a used lens. Tamron also has a 5 year warrantee. I have seen the used Tamron lenses, but the prices have never been low enough for me to buy and not get the warrantee that I could get with a new lens + rebate. Plus sometimes the used ones are an older model that might be missing one or two bells/whistles.

Long lenes are expensive. Fleet Farm has a doghouse blind on sale right now for $59. For now, I am trying using a blind to get closer to birds (I actually bought some camo silnylon and I'm hoping to make my own blind).

The other problem is that those longer lenses get heavy. Your 250mm is probably very light, so you may be tempted to bring it with you more often. Also, you might want a heavy tripod to use with a big long lens, so you don't tip the tripod over and break the lens - tripods can get spendy too.

Someday, if my ship comes in, I will buy the new canon 100-400mm lens. I think it's like $2000.
 
04/05/2016 09:01PM  
Good digital lenses are expensive as you know. I can't afford new so shop used and ebay almost entirely. E1, E3, OMD EM5, 14x54mm F2.8 lens, 70x300mm F4-5.6, 12x50 Micro4/3, all approx. $1300 total over the last few years. I may be centered on Oly 4/3rds, but deals on other makes are to be had. Maybe I have just had great luck, no problems at all. Shop around!

butthead
 
KerryG
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04/05/2016 10:15PM  
I agree, buying used is the way to go. I just bought a Fujifilm Xt-1 with an 18 - 135 f/3.5 - 5.6 and a 14mm f/2.8 and saved a thousand dollars (about a third off) and the camera and lenses still had 10 months left on the warranty. This was through Kijiji. There are deals to be had.
 
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