Test shots with the a6700 and Tamron 18-300

goactive · Sep 7, 2023

Just got in my second a6700 and a Tamron 18-300. Had a battery all ready charged up so here is a few quick test shot with the 18-300.

Got this lens in place of the 70-350 as its smaller plus cost a lot less. It will fit in my side holster more easy its 3 inch shorter then the 70-350 plus I get the wide 18 end.

It gets me out to 450mm FF range and I think for my use that will be fine. I am not a bird photographer.

Plan to use it for video the Most outdoors but also for photos. Out doors in good light so far it seems quite good to use as a travel lens that covers a wide range in one lens.

This is from the JPGS. Shot in the 16.9 frame size for 4k TV viewing as this will be used the most for a YouTube channel.

--
Started shooting digital back with the first 2MP cameras. Over 20 cameras later still going. I shoot for a living - family and people portraits, weddings, Sports and a little of everything.

jcurtistx · Sep 7, 2023

Those are good photos from my untrained, non-professional eye. I have the a6600 plus the 18-300 and used it recently for our trip to Maui and had good results. I will be using it tonight for a situation it is not meant for nor an ideal lens, but it is what I have... Indoor Volleyball.

Will see how it goes. I know the best lenses are 2.8 or faster, but that speeds of a zoom lens is not in my kit right now.

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Sony a6600, Tamron 18-300mm, Sigma 18-50mm f2.8, Sony 11mm f1.8

Martin_99 · Sep 7, 2023

You could share full size photos with EXIF to check by those who consider the same lens. I would also appreciate more wide angle photos.

Adam-T · Sep 7, 2023

Looks superb at around two megapixels (Image sizes posted) .

I know you want it for TV viewing but how is it at more demanding sizes (at least 12Mp resized or 100% cropped in at the long end )

It`d be interesting to see both ends full size wideopen

--
** Please ignore the Typos, I'm the world's worst Typist **

jcurtistx · Sep 8, 2023

Here are a few unedited originals shot with my a6600 + Tamron 18-300. Admittedly it is not ideal for action shots - quite a few misses when I have tried to use it for fast moving action such as dogs running at you, indoor volleyball, etc... Indoor sports is clearly not the purpose of the lens, but it is all I have at the moment with zoom reach.

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Sony a6600, Tamron 18-300mm, Sigma 18-50mm f2.8, Sony 11mm f1.8

Adam-T · Sep 8, 2023

jcurtistx said:
Here are a few unedited originals shot with my a6600 + Tamron 18-300. Admittedly it is not ideal for action shots - quite a few misses when I have tried to use it for fast moving action such as dogs running at you, indoor volleyball, etc... Indoor sports is clearly not the purpose of the lens, but it is all I have at the moment with zoom reach.

Thanks !! . seems to pixel peep rather well for such a lens in those landscapes and static dog and if it pixel peeps well, it`ll crop well and print large

.. Tamron have really come on somewhat since the dreadful 18-200 E and the Sony badged version (which were worse than the old DSLR 18-270VC)

--
** Please ignore the Typos, I'm the world's worst Typist **

goactive · Sep 8, 2023

Martin_99 said:
You could share full size photos with EXIF to check by those who consider the same lens. I would also appreciate more wide angle photos.

I see the data is not showing go fixed that in my editing program so it will shot for now on.

I will shoot a lot more in a few days maybe Sunday. I have a wedding today and tomorrow I will not be using it on. Will be using the Sigma 56mm on the a6700 and my Nikon z6 with 24-120 on it

I missed last night I was going to go shoot video of a band playing at a local park but we got home to late.

--
Started shooting digital back with the first 2MP cameras. Over 20 cameras later still going. I shoot for a living - family and people portraits, weddings, Sports and a little of everything.

goactive · Sep 8, 2023

AdamT said:
Looks superb at around two megapixels (Image sizes posted) .

I know you want it for TV viewing but how is it at more demanding sizes (at least 12Mp resized or 100% cropped in at the long end )

It`d be interesting to see both ends full size wideopen

Here is two of the jpgs right from the camera full size as shot. Still looks good to me. Will have to see what its like in lower light and some higher iso. But my main use will be outdoors in day time but on some very over cast days will have to see how well it can do with the 6.3 F stop I hope I dont have to go to high with the ISO.. Its another sunny bright day here today.

--
Started shooting digital back with the first 2MP cameras. Over 20 cameras later still going. I shoot for a living - family and people portraits, weddings, Sports and a little of everything.

Drmarcus · Sep 9, 2023

I have been using the Tamron 18-300 first with my A7R IV on a trip to New England in 2022 and then on my new A7RV on a trip to Japan in 2023. The landscapes, people, and animal photos were amazing. The lens is slightly soft at 300mm (equivalent 450mm) however when shot at F8 it sharpens up. Since I now possess the A6700, this lens now will live on this camera. For my my new trip to the Western USA including the National Parks my Tamron 20-40mm will sit on my A7RV. I will now have a fairly light travel kit and will not have to switch lenses and the two lens two camera kit together only weighs 2.2 kilograms.

I found an image quality chart published by Sony Alpha Blog:

Image quality and sharpness at center and corners at focal lengths and F stops

Horacecoker · Sep 9, 2023

goactive said:
AdamT said:

Looks superb at around two megapixels (Image sizes posted) .

I know you want it for TV viewing but how is it at more demanding sizes (at least 12Mp resized or 100% cropped in at the long end )

It`d be interesting to see both ends full size wideopen

Click to expand...

Here is two of the jpgs right from the camera full size as shot. Still looks good to me. Will have to see what its like in lower light and some higher iso. But my main use will be outdoors in day time but on some very over cast days will have to see how well it can do with the 6.3 F stop I hope I dont have to go to high with the ISO.. Its another sunny bright day here today.

These are 16:9 aspect ratio. Is that what you've got set in the camera?

goactive said:

goactive · Sep 9, 2023

Horacecoker said:
goactive said:

AdamT said:

Looks superb at around two megapixels (Image sizes posted) .

I know you want it for TV viewing but how is it at more demanding sizes (at least 12Mp resized or 100% cropped in at the long end )

It`d be interesting to see both ends full size wideopen

Click to expand...

Here is two of the jpgs right from the camera full size as shot. Still looks good to me. Will have to see what its like in lower light and some higher iso. But my main use will be outdoors in day time but on some very over cast days will have to see how well it can do with the 6.3 F stop I hope I dont have to go to high with the ISO.. Its another sunny bright day here today.

Click to expand...

These are 16:9 aspect ratio. Is that what you've got set in the camera?

Yes as I will use most of the photos when I get going with it to show in videos I make. I like to see a full screen image.

Horacecoker said:
Horacecoker said:

Click to expand...

--
Started shooting digital back with the first 2MP cameras. Over 20 cameras later still going. I shoot for a living - family and people portraits, weddings, Sports and a little of everything.

JimH123 · Sep 9, 2023

AdamT said:
jcurtistx said:

Here are a few unedited originals shot with my a6600 + Tamron 18-300. Admittedly it is not ideal for action shots - quite a few misses when I have tried to use it for fast moving action such as dogs running at you, indoor volleyball, etc... Indoor sports is clearly not the purpose of the lens, but it is all I have at the moment with zoom reach.

Click to expand...

Thanks !! . seems to pixel peep rather well for such a lens in those landscapes and static dog and if it pixel peeps well, it`ll crop well and print large .. Tamron have really come on somewhat since the dreadful 18-200 E and the Sony badged version (which were worse than the old DSLR 18-270VC)

There were actually 3 different models of the Sony 18-200. There was the LE version and it was the worst performer. Then there was the power version in which the zooming was run by a motor. And finally, the Silver 18-200mm f3.5-6.3. I hear this is the best of the 3 and better than the Tamron equivalent. This is the one I own.

Here is a test shot with the Silver 18-200mm in which I only reduced the exposure just a bit and raised the shadow levels just a bit.

Original

And for comparison, the same image processed by Topaz PhotoAI in which I used the new Version 2 of the Standard Sharpening AI module.

PhotoAI using the v2 Standard Sharpening Module

Zoom in all the way and have a look. In looking at the baby pine cones when zoomed in all the way, I can see only a very minor improvement when Photo AI was used.

And here is another alternative, but this is a A-mount lens, the SAL18250, which is the 18-250mm, which today I would have to use the Sony LA-EA5 with my A6600, or the LA-EA4 with the A7iii.

I haven't used this lens recently, but it's not that bad either.

Adam-T · Sep 9, 2023

JimH123 said:
There were actually 3 different models of the Sony 18-200. There was the LE version and it was the worst performer. Then there was the power version in which the zooming was run by a motor. And finally, the Silver 18-200mm f3.5-6.3. I hear this is the best of the 3 and better than the Tamron equivalent. This is the one I own.

This is the one I call the "Silver missile" and the one I had on the NEX7 at launch (it was the first of the 18-200s and debuted with the dedicated NEX 5 based Video camera) ..at the time it was optically the best standard zoom for the system IMO beating the Distortorama 18-105 F4 and the dreadful 18-55 - it took far too long for this heavyweight monster to be beaten and lets face it , it wasn`t a high bar to beat . the light , relatively compact 18-135 eventually came and wow was it a breath of fresh air after the 18-55 / 18-200LE / 16-70 Zony / 16-50PZ and yeah the oversized but light 18-105 F4 and the massive and heavy 18-200 missile - as you say the ancient silver 18-200 was still the best megazoom (10X or more) for E mount until the new Tamron 18-300 came out , shows how starved the system was of decent standard zooms for such a long time .

My findings anyway - no way would I use the missile on the A6400, I remember how way out of proportion and unbalanced it was on the NEX7 - was really well made though unlike the 18-55 and 55-210 which were plastic junk with a cunning thin skin of aluminium over .

JimH123 · Sep 9, 2023

AdamT said:
Adam-T said:

There were actually 3 different models of the Sony 18-200. There was the LE version and it was the worst performer. Then there was the power version in which the zooming was run by a motor. And finally, the Silver 18-200mm f3.5-6.3. I hear this is the best of the 3 and better than the Tamron equivalent. This is the one I own.

Click to expand...

This is the one I call the "Silver missile" and the one I had on the NEX7 at launch (it was the first of the 18-200s and debuted with the dedicated NEX 5 based Video camera) ..at the time it was optically the best standard zoom for the system IMO beating the Distortorama 18-105 F4 and the dreadful 18-55 - it took far too long for this heavyweight monster to be beaten and lets face it , it wasn`t a high bar to beat . the light , relatively compact 18-135 eventually came and wow was it a breath of fresh air after the 18-55 / 18-200LE / 16-70 Zony / 16-50PZ and yeah the oversized but light 18-105 F4 and the massive and heavy 18-200 missile - as you say the ancient silver 18-200 was still the best megazoom (10X or more) for E mount until the new Tamron 18-300 came out , shows how starved the system was of decent standard zooms for such a long time .

My findings anyway - no way would I use the missile on the A6400, I remember how way out of proportion and unbalanced it was on the NEX7 - was really well made though unlike the 18-55 and 55-210 which were plastic junk with a cunning thin skin of aluminium over .

I had the 55-200mm also, but sold it. I found its IQ to actually be inferior to even the 18-200mm. I had the 18-55 in A-mount, but it wasn't anything to get excited about either.

I tend to use primes now on my e-mount cameras. The 35mm f1.8 and the 50mm f1.8. Also have the 10-18mm zoom.

But I also have a ton of A-mount lenses and adapters.

tbcass · Sep 10, 2023

JimH123 said:
There were actually 3 different models of the Sony 18-200. There was the LE version and it was the worst performer. Then there was the power version in which the zooming was run by a motor. And finally, the Silver 18-200mm f3.5-6.3. I hear this is the best of the 3 and better than the Tamron equivalent.

The Tamron 18-200 for A Mount was absolutely the worst lens I have ever owned.

tbcass · Sep 10, 2023

It would also be nice to have full-sized images available as these are only 2.36mp.

--
Tom

Adam-T · Sep 10, 2023

tbcass said:
JimH123 said:

There were actually 3 different models of the Sony 18-200. There was the LE version and it was the worst performer. Then there was the power version in which the zooming was run by a motor. And finally, the Silver 18-200mm f3.5-6.3. I hear this is the best of the 3 and better than the Tamron equivalent.

Click to expand...

The Tamron 18-200 for A Mount was absolutely the worst lens I have ever owned.

the recent VR edition in Nikon was utter cack too as was the 16-300 .. the 18-270VR was OK at some points in the zoom range but from ever since late 80s when they invented superzooms with the 28-200 in F mount, they`ve been pretty much utter garbage throughout - the very recent 28-200 RXD really was the first good one , it would seem that the 18-300 in E mount is better than the usual APS_C disasters .....

Sigma made some howlers too but they DID have a couple of usable 18-200s

Dirk W · Sep 11, 2023

I tried the 18-300 for two days and returned it because the 18-135 was so much sharper at the long end and with cropping gave me almost the same detail at a 300 mm like crop. At the same time much much smaller and lighter.

Tom Chua · Sep 11, 2023

How is the balance of the 18-300 and a6700?
Could you share a photo of the body and lens combo? It looks unwieldly large from Camera Decision site.

tbcass · Sep 11, 2023

AdamT said:
tbcass said:

JimH123 said:

There were actually 3 different models of the Sony 18-200. There was the LE version and it was the worst performer. Then there was the power version in which the zooming was run by a motor. And finally, the Silver 18-200mm f3.5-6.3. I hear this is the best of the 3 and better than the Tamron equivalent.

Click to expand...

The Tamron 18-200 for A Mount was absolutely the worst lens I have ever owned.

Click to expand...

the recent VR edition in Nikon was utter cack too as was the 16-300 .. the 18-270VR was OK at some points in the zoom range but from ever since late 80s when they invented superzooms with the 28-200 in F mount, they`ve been pretty much utter garbage throughout - the very recent 28-200 RXD really was the first good one , it would seem that the 18-300 in E mount is better than the usual APS_C disasters .....

The Tamron Sony A Mount 16-300 non-VR version I owned was OK below 200mm. Above 200 mm the IQ was pretty bad so I used it as a 16-200mm lens.

Test shots with the a6700 and Tamron 18-300

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