sharpness, color reproduction and contrast. ideal for travel/outdoor

weighty, slightly slower a/f

superb sharpness across the range, edge to edge. best at f4 and faster. i was surprised at quality of built, having used other standard tamron products. sp range as close to pro as you can get for the money.

Customer Service

have not had to use

Similar Products Used:

minolta 28-70 f2.8 ( too pricey, no discernible difference )

Birghtness of view finder is exceptional. The zoom has little drift when held vertical. Focusing is quick on my N80, and even quicker on my D100.

The outside ring rotates when focusing, which is a disadvantage when using a polarizer. It is difficult to put the lens cap on when the bayonet lens hood is on, but both of these negatives are true also of my other lenses.

Prior to owning this lens, I was shooting with a 35-105/3.3-4.5 Nikon lens. I had to buy this lens because of shooting needs. A lab required a constant exposure for some work I was doing in bulk shooting in a studio setting. The 2.8 constant aperture was the only way to ensure that I was getting the same exposure as I zoomed in on some subjects. In addition, I have shot many weddings, and have been very pleased with this lens. I have not experienced any unusual focus noise...it is certainly quiter than my Nikkor 80-200 lens. Now I haven't shot sharpenss test, but you can view for yourself on http://pbase.com/lokerd/kennedybday that the lens is quite SHARP and perfectly contrasty. I have shot this lens against my Nikkor 80-200/2.8 at 80 and 100mm and can hardly tell a difference.

Customer Service

N/A with this camera in the 7 years I have owned it. However, I once worked with Tamron on a 300/2.8 and they were very good to work with. Did work in warranty, even though it could have been ruled ou

Of course, that fixed f 2.8, the range up to 105 mm and the minimum focus distance of 1 metre (3.3 feet) should make it ideal for portraits... but I would suggest you try it before keeping it. Good materials.

A little bulky, but not much for all it offers. The one-touch action could slide the zoom if you release it, mine was that soft. Mine had such a low contrast that it was hard to know when the subject's eyes were focused upon.

I bought this lens for its features "on paper", and for the good reviews here. But mine (it was second hand, for 350 US$) was so so so soft (low contrast) that it was almost useless unless stopped down to f 5.6 Resolution was aceptable closing to f 4 or more. I only had it one week before returning it to the shop, but I shot two rolls of portraits, landscapes and test patterns under controlled conditions. I don't feel like buying one now, maybe some day...

Customer Service

Lens was second hand, due to the poor results with this unit I returned it. I don't know how the other units might perform.

Similar Products Used:

Tamron 28-80/3.5-4.2 SP (a great one), 28-70/3.5-4.5, 35-135, Nikon AF 28-85/3.5-4.5, Sigma AF 28-70/3.5-4.5

Solidly built. Extremely sharp.

Niosy focusing motor.

This lens is extremely sharp and bright. Nicely contrasty. A very nice lens to keep on the camera as a "normal" lens. Focusing motor is quite loud - the only drawback I can tell so far. The lens has a nice heft, (without being too heavy) and feels quite solid.

Customer Service

not required

Similar Products Used:

Sigma 28-28

Sharp as a tack and good contrast. MF version yields fairly good results with Canon 2x-B extender.

Fast, constant aperture.

One-touch zoom collar has good friction and doesn't slip when the lens is pointed down.

Can be a good value on the used market, now that Tamron has replaced it with a 28-105 f:2.8 constant aperture lens.

Some barrel distortion at the wide end.

Sharpness is comparable to single focal length lenses and the constant aperture feature yields excellent, consistent results when shooting in manual exposure mode. For my taste, the distortion is unacceptable in the 35-50mm range for architecturals or other images with prominent straight lines, but it's the perfect lens for shooting candids at indoor events or parties in enclosed spaces, good for street photography if you're careful to watch for straight lines at the edges of the frame in wide shots, and is a fine lens for landscapes and nature, when a long telephoto is not required.

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None

Super sharp, great saturation, durable, and

AF focus is very adequate, but not as fast as Nikon. Perhaps 28-105 f2.8 is better?

This lense is worth buying, especially if you are someone who hasn't tried an after market lense such as Tamron or Sigma. Super sharp, especially >f4. I bought this lense used and have used it for Landscape, sports and travel photograpy over the last five years. Great saturation. The new 28-105 would be a worthy replacement, for the 28mm range is all this is missing. The lense is very, very close to as fast and as sharp as similar nikon. Very durable. 4.75 out of 5.

Customer Service

Internal elements became loose about 4 years ago and the lense was repaired free of charge by Tamron. Not expediently, but it hasn't had a problem since.

Similar Products Used:

Nikon lenses.

Terrific color saturation and image sharpness at f/4 and smaller.

Front element rotates.
Focusing motor is noisy.
It is a variofocal design which is probably necessary for a 3x zoom. It is a heavy lens.

This is an aspherical f/2.8 zoom lens that produces excellent, enlargeable images with great color saturation and sharpness at all focal lengths. Sharpness is best at f/4 to f/22. AF is noisy but focus is accurate. (EOS mount) If I could have only one lens, this one would definitely be in the running (28-105/2.8 and 28-70/2.8L would be my other picks) A good used one at a reasonable price would clinch it. There may be some distortion at the wide end but I have not noticed anything obvious. When storing this lens in the bag, set the focus switch to manual to avoid damaging the focus motor gears. Pick it up by the front end and it will become obvious.

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None