70-300 mm, Nikon or Tamron

Macnite

Hi, I'm new to this forum and this is my first post. I just bought a new Nikon D90 and considering buying a 70-300 mm lens. I'm contemplating the recently introduced Tamron or the Nikon 70-300 VR. Does anyone has a personal experience with these lenses, or, do you have other suggestions?
Thanks

ziggy53

I have an older Tamron 70-300mm and it is an OK consumer zoom, especially if you think of it as a 70-200mm, f5.6-f8. (In other words it works best from 70-200mm and if you stop it down a bit through the range.) By the long end it is pretty soft no matter what.

The Nikkor 70-300mm, f4.5-5.6G ED IF AF-S VR costs quite a bit more but it has substantially better optics and design. 2 - ED elements are part of both the extra cost and the extra quality. The VR stabilization helps quite a bit too.

Overall the Nikkor is just a much better lens and it will reward you with better images. It's not perfect, but it's definitely the better of the 2 you mention. Note that at 300mm the borders are getting a little soft and the corners are definitely soft. Stopping down helps quite a bit.

Best review:

http://www.photozone.de/nikon--nikkor-aps-c-lens-tests/250-nikkor-af-s-70-300mm-f45-56-g-if-ed-vr-review--test-report

angevin1

Macnite wrote: »

Hi, I'm new to this forum and this is my first post. I just bought a new Nikon D90 and considering buying a 70-300 mm lens. I'm contemplating the recently introduced Tamron or the Nikon 70-300 VR. Does anyone has a personal experience with these lenses, or, do you have other suggestions?
Thanks

Hi Macnite,

I have experience with two different 70-300mm lenses. One, the First Vr edition Nikkor and the Other a $150 Quantaray. Personally, I find the quantaray able to produce very similar results to the nikkor, albeit without VR. VR is nice, but I never found it resolving well for wildlife at a distance in the D90/D700.

Of the two, of course I'd say the Nikkor, but really depends what you are wanting to shoot predominately??

For instance I got rid of the 70-300 nikkor and picked up a used 300 f/4 nikkor and the difference is huge. No VR in that prime lens, but stellar performance!

dangin

Nikkor. Don't get me wrong, I'm a Tamron fan and own a bunch of Tamron lenses. Generally speaking though, if you can afford it or if it's going to make you money, go with the best you can get.

Macnite

ziggy53, angevin1, dangin, Thanks for your info and suggestions, I still have couple weeks before I make my selection, thanks again.

jziegler

I've been wondering the same thing myself, and am still waiting for some reliable reviews on the new Tamron. Postings on dpreview have been pretty favorable to the new Tamron, some saying that the sharpness might be a bit better than the Nikon, but I have not seen any professional reviews so far. The price difference is not all that large (and the Nikon is available for around $400 refurbished from the Nikon store and possibly other places, which makes it equal, but with a shorter warranty), which makes me lean towards the Nikon. If you can, wait a few more weeks to see if professional reviews for the Tamron come out soon.

AfterImage

I just picked up the new Tammy 70-300 with my Nikon D7000 ... it's a fantastic lens. Quick, quiet, sharp. For $399 you just can't beat it.

Macnite

jziegler
From another forum someone has posted some sites for me to check info concerning the Tamron lens, it looks very impressive, the lens is sharp and according to these tests, at 300mm it beats the Nikon hands down! Check it your self.


http://www.durys.com/blog/?p=83
http://photo.net/equipment/tamron/70-300di-vc/
http://www.photoreview.com.au/reviews/cameraaccessories/tamron-sp-70300mm-f456-di-vc-usd-lens.aspx
http://www.eisa.eu/award/41/european-zoom-lens-2010-2011.html


AfterImage
I hope you're happy, it looks like a very sharp lens. Have you had the time to take any pictures?