Tamron 70-300mm - you get more than you pay for...in the beginning

introduction:
I purchased the Tamrom 70-300/4-5.6 lens many months after the initial purchase of my Canon D30 and Canon 28-105/3.5-4.5 USM lens. With the Tamron, I also purchased a film Canon Elan 7E body so that I could shoot some film shots as well as the exclusively digital shots I had been using. Ihe Canon 28-105/3.5-4.5 USM is an excellent lens, but sometimes lacked the depth of zoom I required for some of my photography. So after a little research and a lot of coaxing from the local photography store, I purchased the Tamrom lens.

pros:
You really can't beat the price of this lens for the performance you get. Optically, the lens produces excellent images with great clarity. The lens comes standard with a lens hood so you don't need to purchase one separately. Another welcome surprise is the metal mount on a lens of this price. The lens focus and zoom rings are easy to use and well constructed.

Overall, the lens is great optically and economically. I have no complaints at the images produced from this lens. that being said, I will more critically examine the lens in the cons section.

cons:
The most noticeable con about this lens at first glance is the extremely loud motor used for the auto-focusing. In fact when I used the lens in the store, I thought the lens was defective because of how loud the motor was. In auto-focus mode, the lens seems to like to hunt a little bit more than I like before it achieved a good lock on focus. Both of these observations are probably due to the fact that the main lens I use is equipped with a Canon USM (ultrasonic motor).

After some use the focus ring does feel like it is a little looser than before, but not so loose that it makes much of a difference to the casual user.

The lens mount cap used to protect the lens while not attached to your camera is a little loose and you'll have to make sure that your lens doesn't roll around in your camera bag, otherwise you may find that the lens cap protecting the mount side of the lens has fallen off.

The lens hood that comes equipped with the lens is very handy and essential for any outdoor shooting, however, I was disappointed that I could not use the hood on my other Canon lenses. That seemed to be a gross oversight on Tamron's part.

additional observations:
This is a great lens for a beginner and intermediate photographer, but the beginner will use this lens much differently than the intermediately skilled photographer. When I first picked up this lens at the store and tried it on my Canon D30, which is a very heavy camera body, I was surprised at the lens' fairly light weight. For the size of the lens, I was expecting it to be much heavier. When I put it on the Elan 7E, I was a little disappointed at how it felt. It almost felt cheap.

Without regard to how the lens feels, the lens produces excellent and crisp images and is easy to use. The beginner will most likely use this lens in AF mode and let the camera do its hunting for focus. The lens is well suited for highly zoomed static pictures in AF, however for sports photography, you'll definitely have to switch to manual. The len's AF is simply not fast enough to keep up with fast action shooting. The intermediate photographer will not be able to handle the manual focusing needs of fast action shooting as the focusing ring, though a little loose, is still easy to focus quickly. In my Elan 7E, the lens comfortably focuses with the eye control focusing in AF mode and doesn't seem to hunt nearly as much.

In the case of the Canon D30, which has a 1.6X multiplier of the focal length, the lens effectively becomes 112-480mm. This is a wonderful zoom lens for the camera, especially at the price. Unfortunately, because the zoom is so great, the images are particularly sensitive to any camera shake. It's bad enough when you are shooting at 300mm, but at 480mm? It's very difficult to handhold this lens and get good pictures at the right exposure. Most of the pictures should be stabilized with the use of a tripod or other such device. Using a teleconverter will produce the same effects, the camera needs to be steadied, as with the case for any lens at this high of a zoom level. The lens is not equipped with any stabilizing technology, but then again, you'd have to pay considerably more for such conveniences. These are the tradeoffs one must considering when purchasing a lens in this zoom range. Can you tripod mount your big zoomed pictures? If not, you'll probably want to opt for a faster lens. It'll hurt in the pocketbook, but in the end your pictures will come out clearer.

Many people complain about the difficulty of getting enough light into this lens, however i have not really experienced any such problem. You just have to get a little used to how much light this lens likes to have. Check your exposure, make sure you meter from an appropriate place and your pictures should turn out fine. I tend to spot meter virtually all of my shots when using this lens and I choose a slightly brighter than neutral gray spot for the shots.

conclusions:
This is a great entry to mid-level lens. The optics are excellent and there is no distracting optical elements in day to day shooting, be it landscapes or action with this lens. The motor is definitely a little too loud for my tastes, perhaps I'm spoiled with the Canon ultrasonic motors, but switching to manual will instantly solve my qualms with the motor noise. If you are on a tight budget but want a great zoom lens to supplement your standard lens, this Tamron lens covers a wonderfully useful range.

The more serious photographer or action photographer will want to pass on this lens and save up for a faster lens. You may think that a 70-300/4-5.6 lens is fast enough for your needs, but you may find that you will be kicking yourself later. Definitely take the lens for a whirl at your local camera shop and see how it performs to your liking.

Personally, I love this lens. For the price and after sticking it in manual mode for the high speed shooting, the lens exceeded all of my expectations, and will always have a place in my camera bag. I've used this lens for sports photography as well as landscape shots and it performs very admirably.