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I feel like I must be doing something wrong 70-300 VC Tamron vs. 70-200 2.8 VRI Nikon

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redtorozts

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I rented the 70-200 Nikon today for a wedding tomrrow. I was acclimating myself to the feel of the lens again (I occasionally rent this lens but it has been over a year). I figured the extra stop would help with the people movement.

As I was snapping a couple of shots in my office, it seemed to me something was different.

I own the 70-300 Tamron bought new last year. I've been very pleased with it (i know there are endless debates about this lens, but lets assume for now it works well).

The VC seemed to work better than the VR especially in the horizontal plane. Maybe the difference is the fact the Nikon is a rental and maybe abused more? Also could be that the Nikon is far heavier and harder to hold steady, but I thought the heavier lenses tended to be more stable hand held.

So I shot a couple of comparisons. These are at the same camera (D700) same aperture (F5.6)/SS (1/13) handheld but braced, locked white balance (incand), same ISO (6400), same Zoom (200mm), same focus point (the selector button on camera). Converted SOOC with ViewNX.

The Nikon color is off, and the detail seems to be better with the Tamron.

EDIT: I just repeated the test with my D7000, with similar results.

What think you?

Tamron 70-300 VC
Tamron 70-300 VC

Nikon 70-200 2.8 VRI
Nikon 70-200 2.8 VRI
 
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Solution
Shotcents
I own the 70-300 VC and the 70-200 VRII and previously the 70-200 VR1

The VC on the Tamron is superior even to my VRII and by an OBVIOUS margin. Anyone who says otherwise does not own both. The VC is so good that I get better results at 300mm than the Nikon at 200mm at times!

The Nikon is shockingly sharp at 200mm wide open and that's where the Tamron falls well behind by design. Very different lenses and very good at what they do.

Robert
Nikon shot has motion blur; about 0.5mm horizontal (extra ring on selector button, extra line on body pad above that, indistinct reflections on zipper teeth).

I agree, Nikon colour also off, but I must admit Tamron is usually very good with colour.
 
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I don't have either, but may I suggest:

- unless those are very close crops, the pics are close to minimum focus distance (roughly 1.5m in each case).

The 70-200 2.8 at 200mm and minimum focus distance is likely not at its best.

May I suggest you take a few comparison shots at various focus distance and focal lengths (and apertures, starting with that 5.6) and compare the results.

I suspect you may find that the Nikon will be better at 'regular' distances and better than the Tamron at regular and longer distances (up to a point on the longer), especially at focal lengths between 80mm to 150mm.

If not, I suggest you try another copy.

On the color, not so sure, but I think once the lens is not at its best FL and distance, that will also affect contrast and color rendition.

Just a couple of suggestions.

Good Luck.
 
If you were testing for VR effectiveness, there's nothing wrong in your testing.

The original 70-200 VR system is a joke. The 70-200 VR II is miles better.

When I had the original 70-200 VR it was hard to get sharp photos handheld at 200mm and 1/80

When I switched to the 70-200 VR II I could consistently get sharp shots at 200mm and 1/15
 
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The colour shift may be because the light in your office does not have a constant colour output.

I suggest checking again outdoors in daylight.
 
That's helpful. I owned a different VRI that was very effective. I definitely noticed a big difference. The Tammy was very effective.
 
This may be true. But for what is a lens costing three times as much I would expect the Nikon to outperform the Tamron under all comparable conditions. If I get time , I'll try some longer distance comparisons.
 
Check out ThatNikonGuy's comparison of the stabilization systems of the two lenses. He is simply amazed that the performance of the vc as implemented in this lens could approach let alone equal or surpass that of the beloved Nikon 2.8. You are not alone. Plus, I would think a rented lens might not represent full quality especially in terms of vr performance. The os unit on my Sigma 17-70 has failed twice. Technology!
 
aldridgec said:
I rented the 70-200 Nikon today for a wedding tomorrow...
Click to expand...
That's where my heart stood still for a second... :-D

And +1 one for the open card door. One day, it *will* break for you. By accident of course!

But yes, the VC on that Tamron is truly great. Almost as good as the one in the Nikkor 70-200mm f/4!

Besides that, I can't really contribute with anything not already said. The colour shift is most probably caused by lighting, has been seen before.

Happy Shooting tomorrow! And do bring the Tamron with you! :)
 
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On the D700 (12mp) the 2 lenses are very close. You must be planning on a dark venue. I try not to shoot 6400 unless there isn't a choice and never below 1/100 if it can be helped. One advantage I have with the 70-200 VR1 is I can shoot F4 and still get great shots just like with the Tamron I can shoot over 200mm. One thing I noticed is even though the VC does better than the VR is that the VC takes a second to engage while the VR is almost instant in low light.



2842369






 
OT but i dont transport them with the doors open. But if its closed I may grab it and run out the door not knowing. It works for me and I haven't broken a door on 5 different Nikon bodies.

The color was very repeatable between the two lenses and not isolated to a single shot.
 
Janoch said:
aldridgec said:
I rented the 70-200 Nikon today for a wedding tomorrow...
Click to expand...
That's where my heart stood still for a second... :-D

And +1 one for the open card door. One day, it *will* break for you. By accident of course!

But yes, the VC on that Tamron is truly great. Almost as good as the one in the Nikkor 70-200mm f/4!

Besides that, I can't really contribute with anything not already said. The colour shift is most probably caused by lighting, has been seen before.

Happy Shooting tomorrow! And do bring the Tamron with you! :)
Click to expand...
Why the beat skipping with the rental? We rent what we need to do the job the best and take backups in case that fails. We buy when it makes financial business sense to do so.

I appreciate the advice on the card door from all... But still a chance I'm willing to take. I can shoot with a broken door and a card...can't do anything if no card is in the cam. I've done that more than once and tho I always keep a spare card in my bag, Murphy's law got me once and I had taken it out, and left without one in my main camera. Thankfully I had a second body of course (one with two card slots so even more redundancy).

I guess this speaks to the impressiveness of the Tamron and places it as a real competitor to the OE lenses. My first experience with Tamron was terrible and I'm glad I gave them another chance.
 
aldridgec said:
The color was very repeatable between the two lenses and not isolated to a single shot.
Click to expand...
I've noticed that my Tamron is very good for colour, also excellent VC. shots at 300mm and 1/125s are usually OK.

Colour problems due to lighting (fluoro) are only likely at high SS. Any filter fitted?

Nobody seemed to comment much on the blurring problem with your image; strange it really stuck out for me.
 
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The 70-200mm photo has camera shake blur. Eventhough you braced the camera, you moved enough to not allow 1/13 shutter speed in this case. The VC in the Tamron lens is excellent. The VR in this first version is not even close.

One of the reasons for the f/2.8 lens is that you can use almost two stops faster shutter speed. In your example you tested the VR/VC and the results are exactly what you'd expect. The Tamron is also good and sharp at 200mm (and still sharp at 300mm, though just sligthly less). At same aperture and other parameters, results would be pretty similar, except for when the VC is much better than the VR and saves the photo.
 
john Clinch said:
ormdig said:
aldridgec said:
john Clinch said:
john Clinch said:
What think you?
Click to expand...
I Think You should close the Card-Door. ;-)
Click to expand...
Only if there is a card in it! Reminds me not to forget.
Click to expand...
Good way to break it.

You are probably getting color shift from the light "cycling" as the frequency shifts. Very common with office lighting. Any shutter speed below double the frequency will catch only a portion of the full light spectrum,

--
Pete
Click to expand...
Do you really thinks its possible that the lights didn't cycle twice in 1/13 of a second?

--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/john_clinch/
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Hi, I blew that one didn't I? Completely missed the SS and got it backwards to boot. As Lynniepad stated it's high shutter speeds. More coffee please......

Now that I am looking closely at the exif, ISO 6400, straight ViewNX conversion OOC and no noise from a D700?

--
Pete
 
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aldridgec said:
redtorozts said:
aldridgec said:
I rented the 70-200 Nikon today for a wedding tomorrow...
Click to expand...
That's where my heart stood still for a second... :-D

And +1 one for the open card door. One day, it *will* break for you. By accident of course!

But yes, the VC on that Tamron is truly great. Almost as good as the one in the Nikkor 70-200mm f/4!

Besides that, I can't really contribute with anything not already said. The colour shift is most probably caused by lighting, has been seen before.

Happy Shooting tomorrow! And do bring the Tamron with you! :)
Click to expand...
Why the beat skipping with the rental?...
Click to expand...
No, no, no! Renting is good! Best to touch and try before buy! 100% agree! :-D

It's more the getting new gear one day before a major event...
 
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