( 9 reviews )
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Posted: May 5 2008
I have these lens for over a year now and I am really impressed by the quality of the pictures I get with it. The lens are sharp, and have great bokeh for out of focus subjects. The AF speed is a bit slow when you are shooting Macro - but the same goes for the Nikkor 105 VR micro. For portrait shoots the AF speed is quite good, especially when you limit the AF switch to focus on subjects not in Macro mode. I see no reason to buy the Nikkor/Canon lens unless you have to due to camera constrains (like if you have the D40/60). These are great lens and you won't be sorry for getting them. I cannot say anything bad about them.
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Posted: Mar 26 2008
Right out of the box I was impressed. Many reviews I had read said it felt lightweight or had a plastic feel compared to the Nikkor 105mm. I don't know about that but it feels great to me. While this may not be as heavy as the Nikkor it felt right and looked good straight away. I have always used Nikon lenses (other than a Sigma 10-20mm I have, another great lens) so I do think twice about anything other than Nikkors. I am not disappointed with this Tamron. It is pin sharp, feels nice in the hand on the camera (D300) and the manual focus slide control works smoothly. For macro you do need manual focus. A review I read somewhere said it was slow to focus and sounded noisy. Can't agree. Maybe it is not as fast as the Nikkor (I have not tested the Nikkor) but this lens focuses fast enough at longer ranges. No different to other lenses I use in term of speed in focusing, that I can notice. And I don't find it noisy. And what a deal with $90 off thru April. I am critical about my lenses and would not have a poor quality lens in my bag. Makes a nice portrait lens. Don't hesitate - get it now.
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Posted: Oct 3 2007
All the above reviews are useful - it also took me a minute to realise the switch from AF to manual focus was a simple, manual push-pull; but I quite like that feature now. It's lightweight, you can get some excellent, really sharp detail, and the bokeh is very smooth. For the price, it's a great lens. I would also note that there is a considerable amount of softness around the edges, so that may or may not be something you like (the cat close-up I put in the sample images above illustrate this).
