Sharp, sharper and sharpest. Bests the Nikon 105. Handling and focus is nice in manual mode.. beautiful bokeh makes this a good portrait lens in spite of high sharpness factor.

Build is okay, but not like the Nikon 105. Lens is light weight and that can be a problem for some handheld stuff via low damping factor.

This is for the DI version as used on a D70 and D200.
Yes, it does happen. Sometime a 3rd party lens maker gets it right...and charges us less. A LOT Less! Like many folks, I read the near legendary level ratings on this lens and finally took the leap as I would be able to compare it side by side with a Nikon 105 2.8. I bought the lens from KEH.com for just 329.00, second hand but in like new condition. This is the DI model which is supposed to be optimized for digital. Some people, who have the older version, claim there is little or no difference between them.

Sharpness:
The Tamron 90 will give you incredible sharpness. I believe it's my sharpest lens, easily a match for my 1700 dollar 70-200 VR at 90mm. It's sharper than the Nikon 105 2.8...sharper than the 50mm 1.8 and that's sharp!

Color:
Simply faultless. Again, this lens is astounding in color rendition. Skin tones are fantastic.

Bokeh:
Again, this lens rivals my more expensive zoom, though I slightly prefer the bokeh on the 70-200. The Tamron is far superior to the Nikon 105 Micro for out of focus rendering making it a very viable portrait lens.

Handling:
The lens hood is a bit awkward to get on and off. The auto/manual mode is a push-pull slide color. It works, but it's easy to slip it into either mode by accident. The focus limit switch is a dial, which is odd. Manual focus is excellent on this lens. The lens is mostly plastic and doesn't feel as solid as the Nikon 105, but I hear no stories of the Tamron falling apart either.

Overall:
The Tamron beats Nikon's entry in every area, except build. The Tamron is sharper and has better bokeh. As a portrait lens it does a very good job, though ultimate sharpness is not always desired in model work or even candids. A lot depends on your style. There are certainly lenses like the Nikon 85mm 1.4 which will probably be more flattering to a face. For macro work the Tamron makes no excuses. It focuses down 1:1 nicely and my macro shots have been impressive from the start. Keep in mind that the Tamron 90 is only a 2.8 when shooting objects around 10 feet or further away. Otherwise expect apertures in the 3+ range. This is probably the best macro lens available in the 90-150mm range. I've yet to see any portrait shots from the new Nikon 105mm VR than are it's equal. I give this lens my highest rating. Also: I recently tested the Nikon 105 VR and found the Tamron is still optically superior in sharpness in Bokeh. The Nikon is a good lens though and VR makes more capable as a short telephoto in some cases.
Capt. RB

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Nikon 105, Nikon 60, Tamron 180, Sigma 150....

As other reviewers have stated, the resulting pictures (taken on Kodak HD200 film) show incredible sharpness and wonderful contrast. A very nice lens. There is not that much difference(If any) between the photos taken on this and my much venerated Canon 24-70L and the 70-200 F2.8L IS

It IS a bit "plasticky" and the autofocus is not up to "L" spec but hey ho, the results are wonderful.

For an experiment, I fixed it to my EOS1V and used it as a one and only prime lens for a days shoot at the Bluebell Railway in Sussex. I have only used it before for macro work. It took a bit of discipline to use, having to do lots of walking back and forth to frame up pictures, BUT... the end results were worth it. I did not originally buy the Canon Macro equivalent because I saw a telling A-B comparison test on an "On Line" website where there was virtually very little difference between the two. Also the amount of macro work that I do do did not qualify the expenditure on the Canon.

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The only other prime lens that I own is the Canon 50mm F1.4, which is another fine lens.

sharp. very very sharp. f2.8-f64. Lightweight, recessed front element.

This is my favorite lens in my bag so far. Very versatile: flowers, insects, objects in the studio, portraits, sports, "easy" wildlife, and so on. Results are very, very sharp at f4 and higher, contrasty, with excellent colors. In good light it produces good results handheld, even with a 1.6 fov dslr. AF is good, but don't expect it to track a fast-moving subject; if you want the lens to double as a sports lens, get the Canon 100 mm which has usm. I like to use autofocus then disengage as I bracket or fool around with lighting etc, but when switching from AF to MF the push-pull clutch goes clunk and sometimes causes me to lose focus. Not a big deal since MF is easy. Build quality is ok, but I don't think this lens will last me 10 years of outdoor use. I like the recessed front element: no need for a lens hood and the front element is well protected from impact. Lightweight and easy to carry around, much lighter than the Canon

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Canon 100 mm macro (store test)

Sharpness, color, contrast, bokeh, all are are in the highest elite class of 35mm lenses. A 5 for performance, and a 6 for value IMHO.

Crappy AF performance, made of plastic.

The best lens I own in terms of sheer optical quality. It doesn't have superb build quality, it doesn't have good AF, but WOW does it take amazingly good pictures! Absolutely stunning contrast, absolutely stunning sharpness, absolutely stunning color... Its a WOW lens in every optical category I can think of. The only time it's ever not tack sharp is at a distance of say 2 meters or more and wide open. Which actually makes it nice for portraits, since the *slight* softness lends a slightly more flattering look. Up close this thing is tack sharp no matter what aperture you're at, and stopped down this thing is tack sharp no matter what distance you are at. From the center to every corner, absolute perfection! I saw flare on a shot I took once with no hood and the sun at a weird angle, that was once and I've never seen flare again. And OH, the manual focus!!! Its a dream, it's smooth enough, but it's not the physical action that amazes me, but how images *pop* into focus. Its incredibly good to manual focus with because of this. And even with all these great aspects, there is one even greater.... the bokeh, it will make you weep with joy, its that good!! It's like the lightly feathered strokes of Da Vincis Mona Lisa, its just that smooth and creamy. You know the AF is average, maybe even slightly below, the build quality is plastic, though it seems solid enough. Neither bother me, I'm no idiot, I'm not going to take points away from this beautiful lens because of average AF performance. People obsessed with AF probably don't even know what "bokeh" is, much less care about it. If you are a picture taker, and not one of the sheep carrying Canon's around at baseball games, you're going to love this lens like a dear child. It trully has the best bokeh I've ever seen....

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I use this lense with my Pentax istD which has been said to have a slightly soft look to it's images. Well, this lense rectifies those "problems". At 3.5 and up this lense gets incredibly sharp images, with beautiful color. The images have that "pop" that makes you say "wow, did I take that??"

Auto focus will go the wrong direction and is a little noisy.

Sharp, great color, great contrast, auto focus is not super reliable but very useable. Very impressed overall.

- lightweight - excellent sharpness - great color and saturation - easy to use - has a limiter that helps with keeping focus within certain range

- AF hunts a little too much for my taste - The finish is a little plasticky but the build quality is still good.

I love the pictures I get from this lens! Sharp, nice color, great saturation. I shoot it on a Nikon D100. It is light, not too bulky, and fairly good build quality. The AF is a little noisy and it searches a little too much for my taste in lower light situations. I mostly use it for the Macro ability. In macro mode you really have to watch the depth of field. This is true of any macro lens. I like the D100 because it has a depth of field preview button so that I can get everything focused in the picture that I need before I take the picture. It is also a fabulous portrait lens.

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Nikon 50 mm various zooms

inexpensive price for 1:1 Macro, Light in weight, Easy switch between AF and MF.

lens length grow 1.5X when focusing close object. In my experience, it broke down.

A little bit disapointed with this lens. The AF/MF shuttle switch is good and quick. However the AF function of my new lens (just bought less than 3 days) was broken down with my EOS10D. Second, the lens become longer when doing Macro which increase the total lens length. In result, I brought back the lens to the shop and add extra for the EF100mm f2.8 lens which has excellent resolutions and the advantage of Internal focusing. If the lens AF servo didn't broken down, I believe it is a good quality lens.

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Canon EF100mm f2.8 L 1:1 Macro

It has everything and then some of the highest price lenses in this lens class.

NONE!!!

I won't spend much time relaying my views only to say "DITTO" to every good or great review that's already here. This lens is my prime one and I get the best pictures I could even hope for. Outstanding all the way around. Even if you use the 1.4 or 2x TC this lens performs beautifully. ENOUGH SAID...BUY IT!!!!

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First true Macro lens I have ever used, and now I don't need anything else.

Sharp, light, nice manual focus, overall it's impossible to fault.

None I can think of

I feeling pretty pleased with myself, having just purchased this lens used, but in perfect "as new" condition, for a good price. I have been shooting like mad on a Fuji S2 Pro DSLR, and I am very impressed by everything about this lens. Great image quality. Excellent feel to manual focusing. What more do you want? P.S. Accidentally posted this first under the Adaptall section.

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Beautifully sharp. Sturdy feel.

Auto focus searches a bit at the macro end on my F60, but possibly less of an issue with multipoint focusing. Often resort to manual focus for close work which is easy to do as the focus ring also acts as a Man/Auto switch, and is smooth and precise.

Bought this lens for close-up nature photography - flowers mostly. Have been very impressed with the quality and sharpness as other reviewers have noted. I've been equally impressed with the results I've achieved using this as a portrait lens... the manual focus ring is geared toward the macro end, but for portraits the auto focus works fine. I'm yet to master depth-of-field at very close range... documentation could use more examples... would be less of a problem if your camera has DOF preview I guess. Price paid is in Australian dollars (AU$1 = US$0.56).

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Macro function of Nikkor 35-135 - doesn't compare.