Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di LD Aspherical (IF)

An AWESOME Lens I pruchased this lens to fill the gap between two of my Canon lenses, and it has quickly became my favorite lens. It has consistantly produced very sharp, crisp photos, with great color. It is now the one that stays on my camera all the time now. It is equivalent to a 34.8-121mm in 35mm, so the range of it is pretty decent for most photos. I have used it to shoot my daughter's softball games, portraits (strictly amateur and just take them of my family), historic sites I have visited, and so on. It has done everything I have asked of it without fail in the short time I have owned it. The focus on it is fast, sharp and quiet (maybe not quiet as the Canon lens, but it definately is not loud in any sense of the word). It has never failed to focus using auto focus. And, if you want to manual focus for something just flip the switch to maual, and away you go. There is a lock to prevent lens creep on it while carrying it, but I have never had to use it, and don't expect to. It is awesome in low light situations, where a flash is just not feasible. I recently visited a museum with everything under glass, and took all photos with no flash, and they came out awesome, with the majority of them being done using the camera's auto settings. Not once did I have to change lenses, where as before I was back and forth between the others that I have. I would highly recommen this lens to anyone who is looking for one in this range, or as an upgrade to a kit lens. It has done everything I have asked so far, and well above my expectations. I have no doubt you will be as happy with it as I am. If I had one complaint about this lens it would be for a little longer zoom. Say, maybe out to 135, or something around there. But then again that may affect the quality of the photos, which right now are perfect, or atleast for what I want. In my opinion the money spent on this lens was money well spent. If I had to do over again I will purchase this lens again, and not think twice about it.

2.8 is better then VR This lens is better than you would expect. Decent build quality certainly better than a nikon amateur zoom lens like the 18-70 or 18-55. Sharp in the center even at 2.8. I never used it on full frame. Produces images with excellent dreamy bokeh. I never shot it on full frame. For reasons I don't understand it does occasionally miss focus but good technique reduces this possibility. As far as I am concerned any nikon non AF-S lens has this problem anyway. Perfect focal length for for shooting people. You need this lens if you are shooting a wedding on a budget. There is no substitute for a 2.8 lens. Buy and sell it used it will cost you nothing. Supierior to the 18-200 in brightness and possibly sharpness at these lenghts. Worst problem is nasty moustache distortion at wide end but this would not be used as a wide lens. Best feature is very decent macro performance and small size. Also I like the zoom lock feature for walking. I rate as excellent taking into account price and size. Nikon prime lenses are brighter and sharper in these focal lenghts but don't have macro or zoom. A nikon 2.8 17-55 or 24-70 are monsters in size and weight in comparison. Perfect walk around lens that does not stick out like pro 2.8 nikon. Oh yes it kind of needs a hood as it does flare quite easily. Don't even think of using stup up rings (67 to 77) as it will flare. To give you an idea of my taste I think the 18-70 sucks. The 18-200 has unacceptable distortion. The 18-55 is not that sharp as rockwell says. The 17-55 2.8 is Awesome from 24-55. The 105 micro is perfect. The 50 1.8 is super sharp and does not ghost like the 1.4. The 12-24 sucks wider than 18 and the tokina 2.8 11-16 is incredible on a d300. The 70-300VR is the best amateur zoom nikon makes. www.robwouds.com

Excellent lens; good value. Most of the other available lenses in this zoom range with a constant f2.8 aperture are significantly more expensive. Does that mean this lens is not a good choice? No, absolutely not. Image quality is very, very good. This lens is ideal for a full frame camera (I use it on a Sony a99 body). The plastic lens hood is not very thick - mine got broken. I was able to glue it and continue using it. However, I am looking for a metal hood to use with it.