Name: Tamron SP 200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di Auto Focus Zoom Lens with Hood for the Maxxum & Sony Alpha Mount, with 6 Year USA Warranty
Brand: Tamron
SKU: TM200500MAX
Price: 499.00 USD
Availability: Discontinued
Rating: 4.1 (41 reviews)

Tamron SP 200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di Auto Focus Zoom Lens with Hood for the Maxxum & Sony Alpha Mount, with 6 Year USA Warranty

Tamron 200-500mm

Tamron

Tamron SP 200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di AF Zoom Lens for Sony

Adorama

Photography

Lenses

SLR Lenses

Tamron SLR Lenses

Tamron 200-500mm 

Buy: Tamron SP 200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di Auto Focus Zoom Lens with Hood for the Maxxum & Sony Alpha Mount, with 6 Year USA Warranty Compatibility: Sony a99 II, CompatRestriction: Sony a68, Image Stabilization Type: No, Lens Format: Full Frame

Bought this lens knowing it was defective. Shipped out super quick and I got it two days later.recieved this lens yesterday and was able to diagnose the problem in a couple minutes. Repaired the lens  today. Now I have a fully functional lens.

Super happy with this lens

Is a good lens overall.
what impressed me the most is its weight for this zoom range. 

Auto focus is decent

Picture quality is good

Not a fast lens though.. need plenty of light for hand held shots

Also lack of image stabilization will mandate the use of a monopod or a tripod etc

light super telephoto no image stabiliza

Great for wildlife. Tripod or monopod a must, as there is no image stabilization.

Nice reach

although this lens is a little old and is being replaced, you can't beat the quality for the money. It is not an IS lens but because it's so light you can hand hold it with pretty good results.

Good lens for the money

I use this lens for distant wildlife photography. You can't beat the price for the reach. As I titled, you have to know how to use the lens and what the right conditions are to use it. The lens does get soft if you're shooting a small object far away. The moon... forget it. However, if you are shooting, say an animal, at a reasonable distance and you're using the zoom to bring the animal in to fill the frame you can get some great pictures. That is the key, zoom to bring in an animal and mostly fill the frame. I also found this lens, even when tripod mounted, is best used when following the focal length to shutter speed rule. This lens loves good to bright light. Tripod is highly recommended, mono-pod if you're steady. The lens is heavy, but not unduly so for being a 500mm lens. The focus is reasonably fast considering it's half the price of its competitors and it's a 500mm lens. Photos added are only cropped off the width to fit 8x10, no other cropping.

You have to know how to use it.

I use the lens for wildlife images. The images are as crisp and clear (in my view) as my Canon lenses. Shooting with a 7D the 400mm Canon options weren't as useful beccause of restrictions on extenders. It is heavy to lug around at my advanced age. The new release of the Canon 400mm with extender built in was a bit steep for my purse. (11K)

Offers good alternative to Canon Lens

I have tested the lens taking pictures of birds using a tripod at different settings not very clear at 500 mm had hoped for a clearer focus. Ok .

Ok lens

First, my experience with Adorama was excellent and i managed to buy a used lens that was in absolutely mint condition for a great price. Now as to the results i got with this lens they have been nothing short of amazing. Not really meant for super fast sports but if you know what you're doing and where to place yourself as well as some idea of where the shot is going to be then this lens is as good as anything else. In good light you don't need anything else. focus was much faster than I expected. I am truly pleased with this lens. I have even captured some great shots of the moon and that was hand-held!!!!

Amazing value!

Lens does an admirable job for the price.  Prints from 500mm are not tack sharp but are very acceptable.  Use only with monopod or tripod

FIrst time dealing with Adorama Used Department.  Very good experience...  Good advice and quick service.  Would not hesitate to recommend Adorama for equipment purchases

Good Lens for Money

Purchased for wildlife and landscape photography. To determine quality, I compared with a friend who uses a Canon f/2.8 200 mm lens. I set the Tamron on 200 mm, and we shot several shots outdoors. Both he and I were impressed at how close in quality the Tamron's results were to the Canon's. Also, I have gotten extremely sharp shots of birds at 400 and 500 mm. If anything, I would wish for a "faster" lens, but at the price this one cannot be beat!

Tack-Sharp Tamron!

bought this used, they rated e- its excellent for my use.

Great product

Possible to get a sharp photo but very difficult without a tripod and remote shutter release.  Poor in low light and slow focus.

You get what you pay for.

For the size/ price focus is quick and easy.
It's a bit heavy for me so I always use it on a tripod or monopod to get sharp focus

Great lens for Wildlife

I use the lens with a Canon T2i and carry it most everywhere I go. The lens works well whether shooting scenery or live animals (birds, including humming birds, various 4-legged creatures, butterflies, etc.). The lens can be used hand-held or on a tripod or monopod. It is heavy, so some practice is necessary to use it effectively hand-held.

Great combination of price and performan

I like this lens a lot. It does have a learning curve so be patient. 
Best advice, take lots of pictures to see what works best.

One BIG lens

This lens allows great wildlife shots from a distance
Easy to use, although really needs a tripod or monopod for sharp focus

Great lens, good price

After several years of shotting with a 80mm - 400mm zoom lens on a D 300s I decided to extend my reach this fall and purchased the Tameron 200mm - 500mm for the fall bird migration season.  While I had basically been satisfied with the 80 - 400 I decided that I wanted the extra reach provided by the Tameron.
   Prior to placing the order I spoke with people using the big pro glass from N & C and the "Bigma", viewed examples of their work and considered the costs.  Obviously the Tameron can not match the performance of the pro glass, but the Tameron is much more economic and I could not justify the investment that would be required to purchase a long pro lens.  After viewing work produced with the "Bigma" I concluded that the Tameron is ever so slightly sharper and since I only use this lens on a tripod I could do without the stabilization offered by the "Bigma".  If you plan to hand hold your lens , your needs may be different.
   After using the Tameron this fall I am completely satisfied with my purchase.  The Tameron is sharp throughout the focal ranges and provides good resolution.  The focus speed is adequate, hey it could always be faster, and the lens does everything I have asked it to do.  The adjustment from landscape to vertical format while mounted on the tripod is quick and easy and I have not experienced the lens to camera body mounting problems reported by others.  The hood provided by Tameron appears to be a little longer than needed, but this simply reduces the potential of flare.
   After placing my order on a Sunday afternoon I received the package Tuesday pm.  Adorama shipping always does a great job.  The one curious thing is that the product description on the web site did not list a lens case as being included even though my package included an adequate case.  All in All I am pleased with my purchase, enjoy using the lens and recomend it as a reasonable alternative to the much more pricey pro glass.

i am pleased with my purchase 

I use this lens for natural landscape photography and have not been disappointed yet by the results it produces.....clear, clean, crisp images at all focal lengths.  This Tamron lens has a solid, rugged look and feel and is built to last.  Why spend thousands on a high end lens, when you can get the same result with this 200-500mm Tamron.  Of course, there are some pixel peepers out there who may notice a tiny difference between this lens and say, a $10,000 name brand lens....don't worry about them.  You will be pleasantly pleased by the outstanding performance of this high quality lens and its fine optics.

Excellent quality for the price

Great long lens

This lens is best used when you can control camera shake and have good lighting.It can be difficult at dusk and dawn when the animals are the most available.The picture quality is very good.

Good Quality, difficult to hold still

At 500 mm, the reach is great. It's by far lighter than lenses at this focal length so it was easy to carry around but I found it still too heavy to shoot handheld for long periods. Just couldn't get a super sharp shot at 500mm in good light even with a support. Focus seems soft overall. Needs IS. Price is very reasonable for the focal length.

Great reach; the good news ends there.

I read many reviews on line before purchasing this lens. Range of reviews ran from very poor to high quality.  Took a chance and ordered as most of the reviews rated the lens very well.  I could not spend the $4000 top rated lens in this zoom range cost, but questioned what I was going to get for less then $1000.  I am very happy with the Tamron lens I received.  Have found the lens easy to use hand held even at slow shutter speeds with my Sony A500.  Also happy with how quickly I received the $30 rebate from Tamron.

Took a chance and am pleased.

Great lens overall, sturdy with tripod mount attached. I must admit it would be nice to have image stabilizing but I know that would increase the price drastically. A tripod is 100% a must and either a 2 second timer or remote is needed for triggering otherwise even the least bit of touching the camera vibrates the lens so much that any subject being photographed will be blurred to an unrecognizable blob.

Great lens length, could use IS tho.

I've had this lens for about 2 years now and have used it on 3 Alphas, A100,A700 and A900. I have yet to get shot that is spot on focus even with the micro-adjust available with the A900. The color is faded and the contrast is poor from this lens. It now sits in the case where it will stay. Maybe I got a bad one.

A very poor lens.

I purchased this lens for a month long trip to the Alaskan wilderness. This single lens suited all my needs perfectly for wildlife photography during that trip and the photos are sharp.

Focus is certainly slower than the fixed length Nikon telephotos I have used so I do not recommend this lens for action sport photography. However, its 200-500mm zoom range and much lighter weight make this lens ideal for shooting wildlife all day with only a single lens and camera. You travelled much further and faster with this lightweight set-up. This is the use that my recommendation is based upon.

Lightweight for wilderness travel

I love the zoom. I even hand hold and photo wildlife. Color, Sharpness and Contrast have won competitions with this product.

Enjoyable to use

Great lens for the money

I bought this lens instead of the Nikon 300mm f/4 for two reasons: price and zoom capability. Before purchasing I rented both lenses and that's when the advantage of the zoom became apparent. I use this lens mostly for fairly close-up bird photos and the zoom range is perfect for my situation. 

The Nikon is a great lens, probably the sharpest I've ever used, but the results I've seen with the Tamron leave nothing to be desired. I can finally see all of the detail that was unattainable when cropping photos taken with a 70-300mm zoom. I have a D300 and even at ISO 800 the level of detail is remarkable. 

When you consider the cost of the Tamron with the zoom capability versus Nikon + teleconverter + replacement collar, the savings are significant. The only feature on this lens I wish for is VR (for the occasional hand-held shot) but it really isn't critical. Focus can be slow at times but under those conditions I'll use manual focus mode and continue to get great results. I couldn't be more pleased with the photos I've taken with this lens and if Tamron releases a VR version of it I'll be happy to stimulate the economy a bit.

Exceeded my expectations

I'm an active wildlife photographer/writer published. Lost my first lens in a boat fire two years ago and finally replaced it this year. Can't imagine why I waited so long. It's a wonderful value and a great match for my Fuji S-3Pro. Able to hand hold at 500MM and get crystal clear focus at high ISO. Would buy another in a heartbeat.

Excellent Value

Wasn't real sure when I purchased this lens. After using it I'm pleased. Auto and Manual focus operations are quick and smooth. Lens lock has prevented creep. Only objection is that the lens is heavy. It may not be an $8000 canon lens but it works very well and I would recommend it to my friends.

Tamron SP 200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di Auto Focus Zoom Lens with Hood for the Maxxum & Sony Alpha Mount, with 6 Year USA Warranty

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