  A Great Zoom Lens
I find this lens to be very sharp at the wide end and acceptably sharp at the zoom end. This lens is comparable or even a bit better than Nikon 70-200 mm f2.8 at almost 3X the cost!I did not have any focusing problem on my D300 or D700.
Picture Quality is excellent. Autofocus is truly horrible.
I bought the Tamron 70-200 f/2.8 to replace my Nikkor 18-200 VR lens. I figured that at 2.8 flat, I would be able to get better shots. I was correct....when the shots are in focus. When I'm in daylight, the autofocus is not all that terrible, but when I'm indoors and especially when I'm in lower light (where the f/2.8 shines), it takes literally 3-6 times as long for this lens to focus as my others. Sometimes I have to wait upwards of 3-5 full seconds. I thought I might have just gotten a bad lens because the speed was so incredibly slow, but after checking the reviews online it's pretty clear that this is a well known issue with this lens. Obviously I should expect it to perform like the Nikkor lens, which is twice the cost, but this is ridiculous. I really like Tamron lenses and don't understand how they could possibly release a lens with this big of a problem. I should say that, if you're willing to stick to manual focus, the image quality is top notch. I just want to make sure others who are looking at this lens are aware of the problem before they lay down that much cash.
I would rate the lens 4 stars for picture quality and 5 stars for value, but the I would have to find a way to award negative stars for the autofocus. In the end, I'm giving it 2 stars
Great quality, sloppy focusing
Great image quality, but slow and noisy focusing system. Good for music concerts and portraits, bad for sports and bird pictures.
Tamron AF 70-200mm f/2.8 Di LD IF Macros lens for Canon
This is an amazing lens. I have used it for photographing my son's Friday night high school football games and I couldn't be more pleased.
As with any lens you have to follow the game as it moves but it is well worth it. I have taken pictures that look as good as the newspaper pictures of these games. I am not a photographer per say, I am a scrapbooking Mom who has learned to be a better picture taker and my only regret with this lens is that I didn't purchase it sooner.
I am thankful that for what I needed my camera and lens to do I was able to afford this lens, a $10,000.00 lens is out of the question for me.
This lens does have some weight to it but I use a mono pod and that is a lifesaver for me. I have not experienced the noise problem that other people have, the way I see it, if I get the pictures I want a little noise would be worth it--I have 2 boys- noise doesn't bother me.
The camera I use this lens on is Canon Rebel XTi, which I love very much by the way!
An excellent alternative to those "high priced" lenses
After using this lens for a few weeks now, I have to say that I am simply floored by the quality. Using this lens with a Canon 40D, the image quality has been simply superb. Sharpness, color, focus, etc., have all been right on the nose. More over, compared with other "3rd party" lenses, this lens is also quiet and rather fast focusing.
When I first opened the package I will admit that I was rather surprised by the weight of this lens. According to the specs, it's still the lightest lens in it's class, but being a fixed fast, aperture lens (f/2.8), it is still rather heavy...something to be aware of if you have neck problems. That said, the build quality of this lens is top notch. The focus and zoom are both steady and sure, the new auto/manual selector is very nice (once you get used to it) and the fit and finish is very nice indeed. No this lens doesn't have weather sealing o-rings, so I would not recommend it for "extreme" shooting conditions (such as in a desert or the arctic or something) but beyond that this is a serious piece of equipment for your arsenal.
If you are one of those "lens snobs" who will ONLY own L lenses because having that big ol' white chunk of metal on the front of your camera somehow makes you feel special, then this probably isn't the lens for you. However if you are open minded and looking for a great alternative to those high priced lenses, the new Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 is definitely worth a look. For the price this lens just can't be beat!
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