Tamron SP AF 28-105mm f/2.8 LD Aspherical

Great lens for the money. Best bang for the buck in a 28-105 /2.8,AF,IF,Asp There is perhaps no lens on the market today that can give the bang for the buck that this Tamron lens does.. Unfortunately, rather then improve on a good lens over the years, Tamron took the cue from the big boys at Nikon and Canon, and decided to discontinue this lens. Instead making a 24-70mm f/2.8 in its stead. As a result, the only remaining ones are used specimens that may or may not have been treated properly, much less periodically cleaned and adjusted to factory specification. The main pro features of this lens is the most obvious, the constant f/2.8 wide aperture available though the entire zoom range. While this is not the sharpest pencil in the pouch, it delivers with accuracy and consistency, and if you know how to use it, it can be a very valuable asset especially with modern digital SLRs. Developed and manufactured as a 35mm lens or Full Frame, ASP-C cameras can also use it with even better results. In reality it is a remarkable lens when you consider the aspirations Tamron had when they created this lens. First is the fact that of the lens manufacturers out there today, no one makes a 28-105mm constant f/2.8, and if they did, manufacturers like Nikon or Canon would probably ask upwards of $3,000 for it. The ability to go from a moderate wide angle lens to a portrait lens on a full frame camera is brilliant (Nikon and Canon please listen), however, with a lens of this zoom length the obvious first issue is size. Tamron was able to keep the overal size in terms of length within normal for a lens of this focal range, the constant f/2.8 aperture however, resulted in a lens with a massive 82mm diameter filter ring. When you first pull out this lens in front of people, their firt reaction is concern that you are about to launch a grenade from this bad boy. It's massive size yells out to people, move out of the way, Professional coming through. If mounted on a smaller ASP-C DSLR camera, you've just increased the focal range by a crop factor of roughly 1.5x, meaning that in 35mm or full frame camera body terms you would be enjoying a focal range of 42 mm to 157.5 mm at a constant f/2.8. This together with a wide angle zoom in the 12-24mm range (35mm equivalent of 18-36mm on an ASP-C) would pretty much cover an entire wedding event range with just two lens. While admittedly the Tamron 28-105mm is not the tack sharp Nikon 24-70, f/2.8, or the Canon 24-70, f2.8, it does have the same f/2.8 constant aperture with wider zoom range at a fourth the price. Most of the time at a wedding the use of the Speedlight is predominant. When this lens is stopped down to f/4 or smaller, the softer nature of its resolution is all but eliminated. It's only a concern if you love really tack sharp photos at the ultra wide apertures, otherwise you get a rather well focused image with a very slight soft focus effect (perfect for portraits) in some of these lenses, while others tend to be a bit more on the sharper side. What determines if you get a softer focusing sample or an extra sharp one has a lot to do I would imagine with the QC at time of manufacturing and also to do with the abuse and lack of maintenance most people give these lens. But that's a whole other story. For the most part this lens delivers in spades with Auto Focusing that's fast enough and on the money, as well an Internal Focusing, an excellent anti slip feature to prevent "zoom creeping" of the lens, Macro focusing, and superb low light capability.

In action Did a portrait photo shoot and used it. I bought the first generation years ago and it has always been my favorite lens. I don't need IS technology because I have strong technique. This is the next generation lens and it is mechanically much better than the first generation. It does seem a little softer than my current one, however that is not unusual to see variations in lenses. My customer did not notice it, that is what matters to me. Nothing that an unsharp mask can not fix. I have been searching for this lens for a long time in this price point. Competitors are selling this for 1/3 more the price. I will do business with Roberts again in a heart beat.

Best all around lens! I had one before. Still a fantastic performer and a great travel lens! I keep hearing that the at is slow. I am not a sports photographer so the at is adequate for me, even with my newer cameras. The weight helps me keep the camera steady and the fast aperture is a bonus!