Tamron A17NII AF 70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di LD Macro 1:2 Nikon+Motor

This lens was bought to upgrade my old AF lenses which are not autofocus compatible with my new camera, a Nikon D3400. It was an opportunity to try out a 300mm focal length lens to see if its worth upgrading to a Nikon one in due course. This is a pleasantly well made lens which can be switched over from auto to manual FOCUS. The zoom ring is by necessity and design manually operated. Movement is smooth and the focus motor is relatively quiet. There is a "Macro" switch but in reality it is a lock button for the zoom ring between 180-300mm. Focus is an art form with this selected but will deliver good results if the camera is around 5' away from the subject. Any closer and focus is difficult in manual and almost impossible in auto. The result a good "Super Close Up" but certainly not macro. That said, from a personal perspective I only want crisp sharp close up pictures not macro. The casing is mostly plastic but aesthetically pleasing. I dont think the extra 100mm is worth the money as thus far I have noticed little difference between this and the 55-200mm from Nikon in terms of performance. Zooming is smooth and quiet. Imaging is crisp and clear A good budget lens, which matches the Nikon one in most aspects. I asm vrry pleased with the performance of this lens. Only build quality might tempt me to spend the extra £s to upgrade to Nikon branded. **Update** 12/8/09 this lens is still in the case, still in use and still going strong.

I am absolutely delighted with the build, picture quality and price of this lens. I bought it as a complete beginner, wanting to use it for insect photography. It is well built and easily attaches to my Nikon D3300 - in fact, it stays on it all of the time now. The auto focus works as if the lens were made for the camera and I don't notice the noise ..... I don't have a problem changing from macro to normal focus ....... I prefer manual focusing, to be honest, but it depends upon the subject and context. I think this is a seriously good piece of kit - excellent value for money - I just wish I'd bought it sooner. Update 19/8/16 ..... I'd had the lens for 10 days yesterday and the motor is no longer working. I am therefore returning it. What a shame. I had originally given it 5 stars ..... but have had to change that score to one. Update 12/11/16 ..... I just couldn't do without this lens so had to purchase another...... It's outstanding ..... so back to 5 stars ...... except that the system will not allow me to change and save!

I have only been into DSLR photography for around a year but have already made some expensive mistakes. My first error was buying my Nikon with the kit lenses, an 18-55 and 55-200, both VR. They had their good points I grant you but the 18-55 was too little range ( I was used to a bigger zoom range compact) and the 55-200 was frankly disappointing beyond about 140mm (soft, even stopped down). I knew someone with an 18-105 VR who rated it highly and as they can be picked up for around £170 second hand, I bought one. This is a good lens and obviously made the 18-55 redundant - so it went, and the useable range of the 55-200 not worth the trouble of putting it on - so it went too. I felt the loss in my camera bag though. I needed a telephoto capability. Having spent far too much of the family budget on camera equipment already (I also bought various filters, a tripod and a 40mm f/2.8 micro (superb lens), I was on a tight budget. I bought a Tamron adaptall 70-210 lens for £10 (& £15 for an adapter). This has many things going for it including forcing me to learn how to use my camera manually, but sharpness does not quite stand scrutiny in the digital age and it's sometimes a pain to have to set up manually when you want results quickly. I have some nice photos from it, but it doesn't answer all my needs. Ideally I would have bought the Nikon 70-300 VR but at over £350 it wouldn't happen any time soon. The more I read about this Tamron AF 70-300 Di LD Macro though, the more I thought it would suit for now. It gets criticised for not having VC, going soft beyond 200mm and having a noisy and slow autofocus. I am now more aware of what I need from a lens and I often use a tripod for static scenes so I reckoned I could live without the VC (Tamron speak for VR). It may indeed go soft beyond 200mm, but up to that focal range it is comparable to the 18-105. It also seems to be better than the 55-200 at the extreme tele in their ranges. I must add that according to lab tests the Nikon at 200mm should be sharper than the Tamron at 300mm which is not how it seems to me, so I have to wonder if I had a 'duff' 55-200. The final point was the autofocus. If I was photographing sports or action regularly then it would not suit (and I would want VC/VR too!). but landscapes don't move while the AF hunts a little so it is fine for me, and it is not objectionably noisy, though not as quiet as the Nikon lenses I have owned. I did a little experiment looking over to the Ironbridge from the top of the Rotunda (1/4 mile or so for those not familiar). I had a photo of the bridge with the 18-105 at 105mm, one with the 70-300 at 170mm and one at 280mm. I cropped each to show a similar section of the bridge. The portion from the photo taken with the 18-105 was a very small part of the total photo and so, although you could read the words on the bridge structure, you would not have found it acceptably sharp. The two from the 70-300 were both much better. The 170mm one was about 1/16th of the full photo and was very sharp, the other was around 1/8th (very rough figure, both) and was slightly more blurry. I deduced from this that a/ it was good to have the lens as it could beat the 18-105 when you needed more focal length, and b/ it would be better to take a shot at 170ish mm and crop than extend it to nearer its maximum. This is real world testing, hope it helps. Tim Additions: I have found it to be sharp even at 300mm when stopped down to f/16 or f/22 but you will have to manually focus and have reasonable light to do this. To answer another persons review question. Lenses of a certain age sometimes don't have focus motors built in but will autofocus on a body with a motor - generally a higher spec body. A Tamron like this may have two versions, one with and one without a motor, the part number will be followed by 'N II' if it has a motor. Be careful on ebay tho, I have been caught out as some info is auto filled in and gives the 'N II' part number sometimes when it isn't.

Great value for money. I bought this for my Nikon D3100 and it integrates flawlessly. No VR facility, which means you need to take a little extra care when zoomed-in; but when used correctly it yields great results. Auto focus works smoothly, but can be a little fussy at times. If you're using it for landscape shots, it's probably easier just to set the focus manually to infinity and leave it there.Having the macro facility is an extra bonus. For those unfamiliar with a 300mm lens, on maximum standard zoom it will take in an effective angle of view approximately equivalent in height to an inch, or the end joint of your thumb held at arms length. This can may it fairly wobbly at full zoom, unless it's braced or on a tripod. For times when you can't be bothered hauling a tripod around, I've noticed that quite a few people also bought a monopod and a separate ball joint with quick-release plate, which can be left screwed to the camera base. I did the same. They're not expensive....and very light when considering airline weight restrictions.

This lens is now my primary lens when I do drifting/sports events for a number of reasons, I'll list these reasons towards the end of this review. The lens for the price is outstanding (£89), the build on it is superb, the lens hood is sturdy enough to take a good few knocks when out on trails or at events. It will work in the rain, I've had it out in numerous weather conditions and it still works. When it has been swapped for another lens, it really doesn't take that much room in the bag (I use the Lowepro Vertex 300 AW Photo/ 17" Notebook Backpack for Digital SLR & 6-8 lenses - Black for hiking/sports and the AmazonBasics Backpack for SLR Cameras and Accessories Black backpack for biking) and I can fit it in the 18-55mm space no bother (I reverse the lens hood on it so it takes up less space and to give it some protection from bumps) The lens hood clips in to place very securely so you know that it won't slide off unlike my Nikon 55-200MM F4 - 5.6G AF-S DX Lens - Black which falls off from time to time. The macro mode is activated when the lens is in the range of 180mm and 300mm, there is a slider on the lens itself for this, this too is very snug and won't go on by accident. Macro mode as a distance of 3.1ft for its closest focusing, but I reckon a few extension tubes would increase that. The grips feel really well made and are easy to use while wearing gloves. Let me know if this review was useful in your decision or if you have any questions about it.

Really pleased with this lens great picture quality .wasn’t sure if it would be ok at first as I have a Nikon D5600 and mixed reviews some saying it would not be compatible without a tamron mount but it fits and works straight on . The auto focus can be a bit slow at times as it locates the shot but overall a great piece of kit the settings to be able to switch to manual or auto is great and the setting to adjust from normal to micro + to move focal range is only a half turn from 70 to 300 .all these pics I posted were taken on auto focus so judge for yourself .I did get a tripod but did not use it on the moon shot which is cropped a bit .overall I would give this lens 4 out of 5 and especially as it is at such a low price compared to its rivals and with myself being a novice it’s ideal to learn with

Amazing lens with really good focus length , perfect for most photos that an amateur photographer could want , highly recommend this lens

good for the price, shame it was not the new version. the zoom could be a little smother, and a little faster AF, ive only had one outing with this lens so far and have managed to get a few good images, no good for indoor pictures, my house is to small at 70mm i would have to stand in the road to get my 240l in a full frame, good for macro but will need extension tubes and maybe a zoom filter attachment to get even closer. the item seems to be well built. im using a Nikon d5300 and it fits well. shooting indoors u will need extra light, but outdoors the light is not an issue. will need to be looking for a 400-500mm lens hopefully by next year, great for the birds of pray in flight, the 300mm is just not close enough the other day, but i have had them closer in the past so will keep trying might buy a stuffed rabbit and tie it down, my get them in closer. over all a great buy, would recommend the lens, but if im right the new version has quieter af, a little better images, and built in stabilisation vr, well that's what i seen on a 40min review of it online. a great buy, a lens i be keeping :) check out some my images taken with the lens if u like :) [...]