Tamron AF XR Di Aspherical Macro [IF] 28 mm - 200 mm F/3.8-5.6 Lens For Canon

I pruchased this lens to fill the gap between two of my Canon lenses, and it has quickly became my favorite lens. It has consistantly produced very sharp, crisp photos, with great color. It is now the one that stays on my camera all the time now. It is equivalent to a 34.8-121mm in 35mm, so the range of it is pretty decent for most photos. I have used it to shoot my daughter's softball games, portraits (strictly amateur and just take them of my family), historic sites I have visited, and so on. It has done everything I have asked of it without fail in the short time I have owned it.
The focus on it is fast, sharp and quiet (maybe not quiet as the Canon lens, but it definately is not loud in any sense of the word). It has never failed to focus using auto focus. And, if you want to manual focus for something just flip the switch to maual, and away you go. There is a lock to prevent lens creep on it while carrying it, but I have never had to use it, and don't expect to.
It is awesome in low light situations, where a flash is just not feasible. I recently visited a museum with everything under glass, and took all photos with no flash, and they came out awesome, with the majority of them being done using the camera's auto settings. Not once did I have to change lenses, where as before I was back and forth between the others that I have.
I would highly recommen this lens to anyone who is looking for one in this range, or as an upgrade to a kit lens. It has done everything I have asked so far, and well above my expectations. I have no doubt you will be as happy with it as I am.
If I had one complaint about this lens it would be for a little longer zoom. Say, maybe out to 135, or something around there. But then again that may affect the quality of the photos, which right now are perfect, or atleast for what I want.
In my opinion the money spent on this lens was money well spent. If I had to do over again I will purchase this lens again, and not think twice about it.

I have enjoyed using tamaron lenses in the past and this one is no exeption. Just as I have come to expect the optics are wonderful and the motor is very quiet. I picked this one so that I could have a lens for use at local sporting events to avoid lens changes since I have one camera. It allows for a wider angle when I need to shoot close and I can still zoom for longer shots when needed.

The only real cons I have found with this lens is weight and aperture. The weight is beleive is due to the range of the lens focal length. These lenses were made when film was still dominant and are some of the earlier lenses from Tamaron but will work with most of the digital Canon cameras as well. The aperture I have found will work well for general all around shooting.

If you need a good all lens this is it.

This lens is better than you would expect. Decent build quality certainly better than a nikon amateur zoom lens like the 18-70 or 18-55. Sharp in the center even at 2.8. I never used it on full frame. Produces images with excellent dreamy bokeh. I never shot it on full frame. For reasons I don't understand it does occasionally miss focus but good technique reduces this possibility. As far as I am concerned any nikon non AF-S lens has this problem anyway. Perfect focal length for for shooting people. You need this lens if you are shooting a wedding on a budget. There is no substitute for a 2.8 lens. Buy and sell it used it will cost you nothing. Supierior to the 18-200 in brightness and possibly sharpness at these lenghts.
Worst problem is nasty moustache distortion at wide end but this would not be used as a wide lens. Best feature is very decent macro performance and small size. Also I like the zoom lock feature for walking. I rate as excellent taking into account price and size. Nikon prime lenses are brighter and sharper in these focal lenghts but don't have macro or zoom. A nikon 2.8 17-55 or 24-70 are monsters in size and weight in comparison. Perfect walk around lens that does not stick out like pro 2.8 nikon. Oh yes it kind of needs a hood as it does flare quite easily. Don't even think of using stup up rings (67 to 77) as it will flare.
To give you an idea of my taste I think the 18-70 sucks. The 18-200 has unacceptable distortion. The 18-55 is not that sharp as rockwell says. The 17-55 2.8 is Awesome from 24-55. The 105 micro is perfect. The 50 1.8 is super sharp and does not ghost like the 1.4. The 12-24 sucks wider than 18 and the tokina 2.8 11-16 is incredible on a d300. The 70-300VR is the best amateur zoom nikon makes. www.robwouds.com

I found that itis excellent for all purpose carry around lens. Yes its not super wide like 17 or 18mm. But its still very useful. The 28mm wide isnt a problem at all, just step back a few feet. If your used to primes then its no big deal :).

It also is very sharp at any aperture. I mean at 2.8 there is some softness but very useable (like all lenses around that aperture). And if you do portraits, its got good blur around the subject. Set it to F4 or higher it gets sharper and sharper.Razor sharp at the F8-11 range.

Colours and contrast are excellent through out the zoom range. Very little distortion aswell. Has very decent macro capabilities aswell. I was impressed. This lens is comparable to some Canon L lenses in terms of quality of the pictures. But the L lenses may have better or faster AF. I have no complaints in that area, nore is the louder af sound aswell.

If you can find this lens for a good price new or used, GET IT! You'll be very happy with the results. On a side note, I paid $240 for a very good used copy and find it well worth it, regardless. New prices Round out at the $350-$400 range. So i didnt do too bad.

2 thumbs up for this lens...

My opinions are all based on this lens on a Canon XT 8mp Dslr.

This lens has a fast aperture and is light. The focus is great, this lens is sharp. I purchased this because my 35-70mm f2.8 Nikon lens wasn't as sharp as I thought it should be. Running some comparisons photographing bar codes, you can see a definite difference between the two lenses. The Tamron is quite a bit sharper.

On Nikon's side, I think my lens needs some repair. The element group that moves in and out with focus wobbles. I think my Nikon 35-70 needs some repair.

I still like the extra coverage of the Tamron lens (28mm vs 35mm) sometimes that's all the extra you need.