14 Big-Boy Bonanzas of the Tamron SP AF 200–500mm f/5–6.3 Di LD Lens

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1. Despite its enormous focal length range, the Tamron SP AF 200–500mm f/5–6.3 Di LD Lens is rather small and light. At its 200mm setting, without the hood, it is 3.7 x 8.9 inches (93.5 x 227mm). The lens weighs only 43.2 oz. (1,226g). Under some shooting conditions, it can easily be used hand-held, but you should include a tripod or monopod among your equipment when you take this big boy into the field.

2. This Tamron lens is a very good choice for nature photographers, especially capturing tight images of birds, and many sports applications, motorsports in particular.

3. The mount on the Tamron 200–500mm is compatible with Canon, Sony and Nikon camera bodies.

4. Tamron designates the 200–500mm as a “Di” lens, or Digitally Integrated, which means it was designed specifically for DSLRs. Tamron claims this technology delivers higher resolution, controls flare and ghosting, minimizes peripheral light fall-off and reduces chromatic aberrations.

5. The lens is constructed with 13 glass elements in 10 groups; two of the elements are low dispersion, thus the “LD” designation in the name.

6. The Tamron 200–500mm lens has a minimum aperture of f/32 and a minimum focus of just a bit more than 8 feet (2.5m) throughout the entire zoom range.

7. A very beneficial technology Tamron has included on this lens is called the Filter Effect Control. Typically, it’s difficult to change the angle of a polarizing filter on the front of a telephoto lens when the lens hood is attached. Tamron’s little trick is to place the filter effect control adapter between the lens hood and the lens, so you can turn the hood, without removing it, to adjust the filter.

8. This Tamron lens comes with a detachable tripod mount, which, according to third-party tests, holds the lens securely. Locking the zoom at the 200mm setting eliminates any lens creep.

9. Thankfully, the Tamron SP AF 200–500mm f/5–6.3 Di LD lens is quite affordable (less than $1,000, see below), since it requires 86mm filters, which can cost more than $100.

10. This Tamron lens has an internal focus mechanism, so the length remains the same during focusing. Neither does the front of the lens turn while zooming or focusing.

11. Auto-focus operation was quiet enough, again, considering the price of this lens. Plus, moving from the closest focus at 8 feet to infinity and vice versa takes only 1.1 seconds, which compares very favorably with much more expensive lenses of this type that rate at just less than a second.

12. Optical performance of the Tamron 200–500mm is quite good, even compared to similar zoom lenses that cost thousands of dollars more. Vignetting was essentially non-existent at any focal length or aperture. In terms of chromatic aberration, third-party tests show that the low dispersion glass elements in the Tamron lenses do help measurably.

13. Of the various accessories included with this Tamron lens, some photographers have found the carrying case to be quite a bonus. It has a generous amount of padding and a strap that can be removed.

14. B&H Photo Video offers the Tamron SP AF 200–500mm f/5–6.3 Di LD Lens for just $899.00 at http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=SP+AF+200%96500mm+f%2F5%966.3+Di+LD+Lens&N=0&InitialSearch=yes.

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