Photo Plus - UK (2020-04)

112 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com

SUPERTEST

FEATURES

VERDICT

01

Supplied with a

high-quality petal

shaped hood.

02

The large zoom ring

is positioned at the

front of the lens.

03

Switches enable

selection of AF/M

focusing and the VC

system to be turned

on and off.

04

The focus ring at the

rear is mechanically

coupled, enabling

full-time manual

override.

05

Unlike most recent

Tamrons, this one

lacks weather-seals.

FEATURES

BUILD & HANDLING

PERFORMANCE

VALUE

OVERALL

TAMRON SP 70-300mm

f/4-5.6 DI VC USD £329/$449

The latest and greatest of Tamron’s line of

70-300mm telephoto zooms

nlike Sigma, Tamron still

markets its superlatively

inexpensive non-stabilized

70-300mm zoom, but the Di

VC USD edition is better in every

way. For starters, it has a more

exotic optical path that features LD

(Low Dispersion) and XLD (eXtra

Low Dispersion) elements, and a

much better AF system that’s based

on a ring-type ultrasonic actuator,

rather than a basic electric motor.

Unlike in the earlier lens,

focusing is internal, so the front

element doesn’t rotate. Build

quality is superior, but lacks the

weather-seals built into most of

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it boasts the addition of image

stabilization, or VC (Vibration

Compensation) as Tamron calls it.

Launched at the beginning of

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Tamron lens to feature ring-type

ultrasonic AF, or USD (Ultrasonic

Silent Drive). It comes with the

usual full-time manual override,

via a mechanically coupled focus

ring, and a focus distance scale

beneath a viewing panel. The

stabilization is also proprietary,

based on a system in which driving

coils electromagnetically control

the stabilizing lens group via three

steel balls. It gives roughly a

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but, in our tests, proved less

effective when panning. Unlike

competing ‘budget’ class Canon

lenses, the Tamron is supplied

with a petal shaped hood.

Performance

Overall performance and image

quality are respectable for such a

budget-friendly telephoto zoom. It’s

certainly not as sharp as Canon’s

latest 70-300mm, throughout the

zoom range, but the Tamron is

capable of exceptional results.

U

2500

2500

2000

2000

1500

1500

1000

1000

500

500

C

e

n

tr

e

E

d

g

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f/4

f/4

f/2.8

f/2.8

f/5.6

f/5.6

f/8

f/8

f/11

f/11

f/32

f/32

f/22

f/22

f/16

f/16

Short Mid Long

SHARPNESS

STEADY AS YOU GO

Stabilization is worth its weight in gold for handheld telephoto shooting

specially on APS-C cameras, where the tele

power of these lenses is effectively boosted

by more than 50 per cent, it can be hard to

avoid camera-shake with handheld shooting. The

rule of thumb is that you’ll need a shutter speed of

at least the reciprocal of the ‘effective’ focal length,

for sharp shots. Shooting with a 300mm lens on

an APS-C body (480mm effective), you’d need a

minimum shutter speeds of about 1/500th of a

second. Image stabilization typically enables you

to shoot at shutter speeds of 3.5 to 4-stops slower.

E

Stabilization^ off^ Stabilization on

All of the Canon lenses on test that feature image

stabilization have auto panning detection, whereas it’s a

switchable option in the Sigma and Tamron 100-400mm