The Tamron AF 28-75mm f/2.8

Been a week or so since I updated. Lotsa stuff been stealing my time. Mostly good stuff!

According to the Hollywood guys, things are moving forward (in a positive way) with the reality show. Seems there's two companies showing marked interest: A&E and Showtime. They said they've so far had 12 teleconference meetings with A&E and a number of conversations with Showtime. If it turns out that one of these companies move forward, the show would be very different depending on which one takes the plunge. Obviously, A&E would mean a tamer show. Airing on Showtime would mean a raunchier more risque series.

There's also been some forward momentum on my planned Pretty Girl Shooting DVD. I'll be having a lunch meeting next Wednesday with someone regarding funding and distribution. This person is very high on the concept. It seems programs of (what he calls) a "how-to" nature are currently a hot ticket. With the inherent "eye candy" value of a program such as this, coupled with the popularity of digital photography and glamour shooting in general, he believes a DVD of this nature is a no-brainer in terms of its potential.

Back to what I intended to write about: The Tamron AF 28-75mm f/2.8 SP XR ZL Di LD Aspherical (IF) for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

I purchased a Tamron AF 28-75 last week. Bought it from Amazon, partially paying for it with sales commissions from my Amazon link here, on the blog. Thanks guys! Your Amazon purchases, via this site, puts gift certs in my pocket and I use them to buy books and other stuff from Amazon. (We don't need no steenkeeng cash!)

Recently, I was going to buy a used Canon f/2.8 28-70 L off of Craigslist (for about $700) when a friend told me about the Tamron AF 28-75mm f/2.8. I was going to say something smart ass to him about Tamron, Sigma, and Tokina aftermarket glass, i.e., about them being inferior to Canon's L series, when he told me this particular Tamron lens is almost universally reviewed as being optically superior to the highly-touted Canon 28-70 L as well as Canon's newer ($1300) 24-70 f/2.8 L.

I did some research of my own and, from what I read in review after review after review, my friend was telling the truth. The Tamron wasn't reviewed as favorably as its Canon counterparts for build quality and auto-focusing in low light but the price difference was, well, ridiculous.

So I bought the lens from Amazon... for less than $400. In fact, for less than that after the gift certificates were applied. Free shipping too! Gotta love that.

Yesterday, I had an opportunity to try out the lens with a model. I was impressed with its performance.

The Tamron AF 28-75mm f/2.8 is much lighter than its nearest Canon competitor. That's due, of course, to its build quality-- No doubt there's a lotta plastic making up this lens. What impact this will have on the Tamron's longevity I don't know. But for the price, I'll risk it having a shorter life-span than comparable Canon "L" series glass.

While the Tamron doesn't have Canon's USM, it's very quiet when auto-focusing. Not only quiet, but fast. Very fast! Admittedly, I wasn't shooting in low-light conditions. But I've shot with similar Canon glass in the same sort of lighting and this Tamron was as quick to focus as the Canon lenses I've used.

Now here's the really cool part: This glass is sharp! And the resulting images look, IMO, as good as those produced with a similar Canon "L" lens. Obviously, this isn't a scientific review. I didn't take any pictures of rulers at various apertures or anything like that. I'm only saying this in a non-scientific way. But, non-scientifically speaking, I'll give this glass marks as high as similar focal length Canons for optical performance. I also liked the color reproduction.

With it's f/2.8 aperture available at all focal lengths affording a really bright image in the viewfinder, and considering the purchase price, I recommend this lens... especially as a utility or walk-around lens that can hang off your camera on a regular basis.

The pretty girl at the top is Marie from yesterday's quick shoot. Photographically speaking, it's a nothing special shot but, I think, a pretty decent example of a pretty girl captured with the Tamron lens I'm writing about today.

Marie captured with a Canon 5D and the Tamron AF 28-75 f/2.8. ISO 100, f/8 @ 160th. I lit (the VERY white-skinned and slightly nerd-ish looking) Marie with three Profoto Acute heads. The mainlight was modified with a 7' Photoflex Octodome and the two kickers, on either side up high and behind her, were modified with small, silver-lined umbrellas. Very minimal processing on Marie's pic. Model did her own (minimal) makeup.

And yes, those are real.