REVIEW: Tamron AF 70-300mm lens.

Just few days back I bought the Tamron AF 70-300 (F/4-5.6 Di LD Macro) lens and I must say I have mix feelings about the lens. I bought it with a soul purpose of wildlife photography as it is a telephoto lens at a very affordable price tag.

I bought the lens for my Nikon D3100. The lens comes with:

1. Lens Hood.
2. Lens Cap Front.
3. Lens Itself.
4. Lens Cap Rare.

I had a very nice trip to Kanha National Park and had a blast with friends over there. We were traveling on a 4 wheel jeep and it was an open jeep with rough terrain. We were not allowed to step out of the jeep hence we had to capture the shots while we were moving.

Below are some of the images captured by this lens.
I have done some digital modifications in below images.

Here comes the first drawback of the lens it has no IS (Image Stabilization). While we were on the go we saw many beautiful animals but the were some what far so I had to zoom full 300 mm to get the shots. Since there is no IS, the photos came out really blurry (So having a tripod is a must).

Some Images with bad need of IS (Image Stabilization).

There is also one more feature of the lens and that is it has macro mode at 180 - 300 mm. I am not impressed with it either. It works okay only when the camera is absolutely still and under ideal conditions.

I tried to capture some bird shots also and found that the lens is not suitable for it at all. Ideally for bird shots you need lens upto 400mm to 500mm.

Some of the bird shots which I am not very proud of.

Also about the battery consumption of the lens. Nikon D3100 is not best known for battery life it sucks to say the least. If you want to save your battery with the lens always use view finder, disable preview, avoid flash and use high ISO and low shutter speeds.

I know using the lens and camera are exclusive skills and its not always good to blame your hardware but after a while you can judge if your hardware is really satisfying you or not.

Summary:
Over all I will give the lens a 3 out of 5.

Pros:

1. Very affordable and cheap.
2. Value for Money
3. Great clarity up to 180 mm.

Cons:

1. Slightly noisy at times.
2. After 180 - 300 clarity deteriorates.
3. Battery consumption is high.
4. No IS (Image Stabilization)

Who should buy this lens?

1. This is really a very good lens for beginners photographers and is really very cheap.
2. People who do not want to spend lot on lens yet get more out of your DSLR.
3. Good for family functions.

Who should not buy this lens?

1. Not at all for professionals.
2. Not suitable for important events like weddings etc.