Review Tamron LD DI AF 70-300mm 1: 4-5.6 Tele-Macro (1: 2) A17

According provided by lens Tamron LD DI AF 70-300mm 1: 4-5.6 Tele-Macro (1: 2) A17 for Nikon many thanks to Kostenko Ilya.

Review Tamron LD DI AF 70-300mm 1: 4-5.6 Tele-Macro (1: 2) A17

Review Tamron LD DI AF 70-300mm 1: 4-5.6 Tele-Macro (1: 2) A17

Tamron has been releasing autofocus telephoto lenses for a long time, the following is the most complete list of 70 (75) -300 / 4-5.6 models:

Some older Minolta / Sony camera lenses might have the prefix 'M' next to the model name, for example '672DM'. For Nikon / Canon / Pentax cameras, models have always been labeled with the single letter 'D', for example, '472D'.

Note that there are copies of Tamron lenses called 'Promaster', for example, Promaster EDO AF LD 70-300 EDO 1: 4-5.6 Tele-Macro (1: 2)which is a copy Tamron LD DI AF 70-300mm 1: 4-5.6 Tele-Macro (1: 2) Model A17.

Tamron LD DI AF 70-300mm 1: 4-5.6 Tele-Macro (1: 2) lens A17 from this review has a Nikon F mount and is suitable for all Nikon digital SLR cameras, including full-format cameras and cameras without a focus motor. Please note that there is earlier lens model - Tamron AF 70-300mm 1: 4-5.6 LD Macro model 572D and model 772D. Versions 572D and 772D differ only in body color, the first is black, the second is silver. There is also a later model that has an image stabilizer and an ultrasonic motor - Tamron SP AF 70-300mm 1: 4-5.6 Di VC USD Model A005.

Review Tamron LD DI AF 70-300mm 1: 4-5.6 Tele-Macro (1: 2) A17

View of the Tamron LD DI AF 70-300mm 1: 4-5.6 Tele-Macro (1: 2) A17 lens focused on MDF at 300mm focal length.

Tamron LD DI AF 70-300mm 1: 4-5.6 Tele-Macro (1: 2) A17 is available for Nikon, Canon, Pentax, Sony cameras, when buying, be careful to take a model with the same mount as your camera .

Examples of photos on the option of the lens for Pentax mount can be found in the camera review Pentax K-S2.

Tamron 70-300 / 4-5.6, as for telephoto, is a very light lens, its weight is a little more than 400 grams. The lens was made in China, the assembly is not bad, but still in the hands of Tamron 70-300 / 4-5.6 it feels like a cheap toy. But the lens has a metal bayonet mount and a plastic hood, which comes in a box with the lens. The hood can be worn backwards and always carried, though in this position it blocks access to the focus ring, but access to the zoom ring remains open.

Tamron 70-300 / 4-5.6

Tamron 70-300 / 4-5.6 with a hood clad back to front.

Sorry, but Tamron 70-300 / 4-5.6 has very slow focus. To achieve fast focus does not even help focus stop 'Normal / Marco 180-300'. You can turn on the 'Macro' mode only when the zoom position is between 180 and 300mm, and turn it off only when the lens is focused more than 1.5 meters. This use of the switch is not very convenient, especially when you need to quickly exit the macro mode.

At 'Macro 180-300' the focusing becomes monstrously slow. When the limiter is set to 'Normal', the lens will focus from infinity to 1.5 meters. In the 'Macro' position, the minimum focusing distance expands to only 0.95 meters, while you can shoot macro at 2: 1 magnification, which is a really good indicator for a budget 'dark' lens.

The lens has an aperture with 9 petals, which can close to F / 32 at 70mm and up to F / 45 at 300mm. When zooming, the rear lens of the lens moves and creates the effect of a vacuum cleaner, which does not affect the cleanliness of the mirror and matrix compartment): Also, the zoom ring goes very tight in extreme positions, I could not rotate the zoom ring smoothly, without jerking.

Photo on the lens

Photo on the lens

The focus ring is rubberized as well as the zoom ring and rotates 90 degrees in the 'Normal' position and 180 degrees in the 'Macro' position. Manual focusing in the 'Normal' position is not very convenient due to the small travel of the focusing ring. The lens makes a lot of noise during autofocus. It is also a pity that when focusing, the front lens rotates and goes forwarduse Tamron 70-300 / 4-5.6 s polarizing filter it will be difficult. The diameter of the front filter is small - only 62mm, I advise you to immediately put on the lens any inexpensive protective filter.

Sample photo on the lens

Sample photo on the lens

Attention: the lens has an MF / AF focusing mode switch, for manual focusing, be sure to set this switch to MF (Manual Focusing) position, otherwise the built-in motor may be damaged.

This is how the lens looks on my film camera

This is how the lens looks on my film camera

The most interesting thing is that, despite a number of its shortcomings, Tamron 70-300 / 4-5.6 optically turned out to be a pretty nice lens. It more or less normally copes with backlight and has not the worst sharpness and weak distortion. On closed apertures on my full-size camera Nikon D700 the lens produces quite normal image quality. Of the shortcomings - noticeable chromatic aberration and sharpening at extreme aperture and focal lengths. In general, the image quality is quite suitable for simple photo tasks.

The parameters shown in the photo gallery:
Everything is filmed on Nikon D700 using a hood. On-camera JPEG L ('optimal quality' compression), no processing. Functions: vignetting control, ADL, noise reduction at long exposures, noise reduction at high ISOs were turned off. All shot in Picture Control mode SD (standard mode): contrast correction - 0, brightness - 0, saturation - 0, hue - 0, sharpness - from 5 to 9. Used white balance: 'Shadow', 'Sunny', 'Overcast', 'Auto'. The photo size has been reduced to 3 MP. On Nikon DX cropped cameras EGF lens will match the range 105-450mm.

All Original Similar Nikon FX Telephoto Lenses

Below is a list of all Nikon Nikkor telephoto lenses without high aperture and with auto focus support:

  1. Nikon AF Nikkor 70-210mm 1: 4, 1986-1987
  2. Nikon AF Nikkor 70-210mm 1:4-5.6, 1987-1993
  3. Nikon AF Nikkor 75-300mm 1:4.5-5.6, 1989-1998
  4. Nikon AF Nikkor 80-200mm 1:4.5-5.6D, 1991-1999
  5. Nikon AF Nikkor 70-210mm 1:4-5.6D, 1993-2000
  6. Nikon AF Micro Nikkor 70-180mm 1: 4.5-5.6D ED, 1997-2005
  7. Nikon AF Nikkor 75-240mm 1:4.5-5.6D, 1999-2000
  8. Nikon AF Nikkor 70-300mm 1:4-5.6D ED, 1998-2006
  9. Nikon AF Nikkor 70-300mm 1:4-5.6D, 1998-2006 (?)
  10. Nikon AF Nikkor 70-300mm 1:4-5.6G, from 2000 to 2014, black or silver
  11. Nikon AF S Nikkor 70-300mm 1:4.5-5.6G ED VR IF SWM, from 2006 to 2017
  12. Nikon AF S Nikkor 70-200mm 1: 4G ED SWM VR IF N Nano Crystal Coat, from 2012 to the present day
  13. Nikon AF-P Nikkor 70-300mm 1:4.5-5.6E VR ED, 2017 to present

The names of the lenses are indicated according to their spelling on the case.

Prices for the Tamron LD DI AF 70-300mm 1: 4-5.6 Tele-Macro (1: 2) A17 lens in popular online stores can look at this link.

Comments on this post do not require registration. Anyone can leave a comment. Many different photographic equipment can be found on AliExpress.


Conclusions:

The Tamron LD DI AF 70-300mm 1: 4-5.6 Tele-Macro (1: 2) A17 is a very cheap zoom lens. Slow focusing is a serious drawback. I think the lens has a good price / quality ratio. With such a lens on a sunny day, you can take pictures of birds and animals, and just shoot for your own pleasure - the main thing is to get used take off.

UPDATE: Also read the overview of the new version - Tamron DI SP 70-300mm F / 4-5.6 VC USD A005NII.

Material prepared Arkady Shapoval. Training/Consultations | Youtube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Telegram

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Comments: 199, on the topic: Review of Tamron LD DI AF 70-300mm 1: 4-5.6 Tele-Macro (1: 2) A17

  • Wintereber

    Guys, what would be better? Which lens is higher in the review or Nikon 55-300mm f / 4.5-5.6G ED DX VR AF-S Nikkor? They are about the same price. Tell me please

    • B. R. P.

      This is a very weak lens (Tamron). I have my own experience. I do not recommend taking.

    • Viktre

      If on crop - then 55-300 of course.

      Tamron can still go back and forth on the full frame, but almost none on the crop, there was experience.

      • Danil

        Can you tell me some similar lens for crop, so that the macro is more or less? Or rather, MDF is about 1 meter. Nikon 55-300mm MDF is already 1.4 meters.

        • B. R. P.

          55-300 is never macro. Even conditional. There is a whole scattering of tamronosigmas with “macro” ± meter. These are telezooms. For macro, a separate lens is better.

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