Used Tamron SP AF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di VC Ultra Silent Drive (USD) Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon EOS Mount

2025-06-29T16:07:27

This is one VERY sharp lens!! It consistently turns out excellent images of birds and other wildlife that I love to photograph. Since I have arthritic shoulders and back, I can no longer lift anything larger or heavier to my eye and this lens on my cropped sensor Nikon gets me to 450mm full frame equivalent which is plenty to photograph birds at local nature preserves and centers that are my preferred places to do nature photography. Very fine lens for a modest cost!!

Ken H.

2020-11-04T09:09:02

great lens for the money. it shoots pretty sharp photos. I'm happy i bought this lens

Alex L.

2018-10-11T07:53:27

the lens has a nice weight to it and is of very good quality. I love how quick it is to focus and how silent it is. The one aspect i am not used to is it has a bit more resistance when your focusing at the extreme spectrum of its focal length. overall this is a great lens and would buy it again.

Jacob B.

2018-07-08T01:59:54

Awesome quality lens for a surprisingly lower price than its competitors

STEVEN D.

2018-06-26T17:41:50

I have seen this used by pros on dvd's I have and rated great by Canon's Photo Plus Mag

Pete M.

2016-11-10T06:32:49

I noticed when using for sports there is a hosting effect on people. Also the focusing ring doesn't turn too smooth. If i use it for still portraits it's not too bad though.

Collette S.

2016-08-30T06:27:38

I wanted to replace my 16-year old Canon 100-400L because it was too heavy to carry in a backpack all day and I wanted a more updated IS system. I really hoped this Tamron would do the trick because I didn't want to shell out 3 times as much money for the Canon 70-300L. I also considered the Canon non-L version. Some reviews of that lens are very impressive, rating its image quality much higher than the Tamron and even comparable to the L version. However, other reviews said the Tamron gives slightly better image quality, and backed it up with pictures taken in real-life situations (which to me are more meaningful than pictures of flat target images in a studio, though those have their place). I think the differing comparisons between the Tamron and the non-L Canon probably came down to quality differences between the individual copies of the respective lenses that the reviewers ended up with, which tells me there might be some disparity there. In the end I decided against the non-L Canon because of its reportedly cheap feel, the fact that it extends during focusing, and the rotating front element which makes it challenging to use certain filters like polarizers. So I got this Tamron, and found that it was really a joy to use (which is the reason a rated it as high as I did). It felt good on my Rebel (especially compared to the 100-400!), and focus seemed spot-on with every shot. Some reviewers said the snappy IS can be disconcerting, but I actually found it reassuring during shooting to have the image snap in place and stay there. I enjoyed shooting with it. Unfortunately all that joy was quickly deflated when I opened up my test images on my computer. They were very soft, especially wide open, and some had a hazy appearance to them where the bright areas seemed to send a "glow" into the dark areas. This improved greatly when the lens was stopped down, but in many telephoto situations you need as much light as possible and stopping down is not an option. Color rendition was nice overall, though in certain shots there was a mild to severe color shift, which may have had something to do with the lens' interaction with the camera's color balance system(?). This was not a consistent problem, but it did occur. With much disappointment, I turned around and ordered the Canon L. Before sending the Tamron back, I took identical test shots with both lenses to get a real comparison (and to make sure the extra money for the Canon was justified). In the Tamron's favor, it is noticeably lighter in weight than the Canon L (they are basically the same size), and as I said, the Tamron was a joy to shoot with. I did enjoy shooting with the Canon as well (carrying it around all day may be a different story, but it is still MUCH lighter and smaller than my old 100-400L, so I'll take it). The Canon may have been slightly quicker in focusing, but I still thought the Tamron was very good. The Canon's more subtle IS didn't give the same feeling of confidence during shooting that the Tamron's snappy IS did, but actually the resulting images were very close and if anything the Canon had the slight edge in minimizing camera shake. The IS on both was very good. However, the difference in sharpness between the two lenses was undeniable, especially at wider apertures. The Canon L wins, hands down! The only exception was with a few close-up shots I took, where the Canon back-focused a bit behind the subject so the Tamron gave the appearance of being sharper. But aside from these few exceptions, the Canon was much better. Bottom line - The Canon L is a great lens! I returned the Tamron. In conclusion, it may be true that comparing this Tamron to a lens 3 times more expensive isn't really fair, but if sharpness matters to you, it's a comparison you have to make. This lens (or at least the one I got) may be fine for situations where you would normally want to stop down anyway (i.e. landscapes or other still subjects shot at wider focal lengths in bright lighting conditions, or tripod mounted shots), for portraits (where a little softness is often not a bad thing) or for general snapshots that are just going to be posted on Facebook (though if that is your primary interest then you probably aren't reading this review because you are likely using a simple point-and-shoot or your cellphone rather than lugging around an SLR). But I would not want to use it for situations where it is necessary to shoot at wider apertures (i.e. moving subjects. lower light situations, or longer telephoto shots without a tripod), unless you plan on viewing/displaying the image at a small size where softness won't be as noticeable. If you want to do any large size display or cropping into the image to further isolate your subject, forget it. I ordered this lens primarily for shooting wildlife, but the one I ended up with would not have worked well for that.

Jarrod B.

2015-12-26T13:19:47

This is my second purchase of this lens. the first was a second hand and I really abused it. Finally I wore it out and thought that I might look at another brand and type. For a 70-300 telephoto range on a crop I get about 425 focus length and use it for portraits from afar off, candid and also wildlife. I found that the better quality 2.8 lenses much more expensive and limited the focal length, these others lenses are far, far heavier. In wildlife photography although I got a limited maximum focal length compared to most wildlife photographers, unless you are sitting in a blind all day I seemed to get more shots than people having bigger lenses because theirs were heavier. In the end there is no perfect lens, but for the weight and the fall in price this was a no-brainer to buy. Also I have some gorgeous shots which I have blown up and exhibited.

Lorretta C.

2014-09-01T21:00:00

The vibration control is excellent. I have been able to capture whisker sharp hand held pictures of animals at 300mm (450mm equivalent for my camera) from as far away as 50 yards. It also has been great for macro type photography. I have some nice pictures of sharply defined insects on flowers and other plants.

jll

2014-07-27T21:00:00

I got this lens a week ago and am using it in a bit of a jerry-rigged fashion, since my camera is a Sony NEX 7 which does not have in camera stabilization. The Sony version of this lens would not work for me since it assumes in-camera stabilization. So I bought the Canon version and a Commlite EX-NEX adaptor to attach it to my camera. The lens behaves beautifully. My only issue is with autofocus, which is probably as much due to my configuration as it is to the lens. I find that the lens, in auto focus, more often than I like, tends to search recursively and never resolve to a final setting. So I generally leave it in manual focus and have had good results. The stabilization is very good. That was the main selling point for me after optics. The results are better than what I have gotten with other lenses when out to 300mm. I have had good results with pictures taken as slow as 1/20th of a second. The lens, attached to a NEX 7, does look a bit like a battleship artillery piece attached to a VW beetle, but it works and the feel is good.

jll

2014-04-21T21:00:00

Although this was a refurbished lens I am very impressed with the overall condition - no evidence of any use at all. Delivery was quick and the packing was excellent. So far I'm liking the lens performance. The focus is very quick and very quiet. Looking forward to getting to know this lens better.

NKC R.

2014-04-15T21:00:00

I've been using it for just about everything this week and just love it. Very sharp even wide open and focus is fast.

LANCE J.

2014-04-07T21:00:00

I bought the lens to replace my Tamron 70-300 NON VC that broke recently. Build quality is significantly better than the Tamron 70-300 non VC. I recently moved to a full frame camera so I appreciate the extra 100mm over the 70-200's. This is my first VC/VR lens and it is pretty amazing. My Canon 24-70 F2.8 is plenty fast but I've found that often times when I need the extra light the f2.8 gives,my depth of field is too narrow leaving me with out of focus images. The VC does a great job letting me slow down my shutter speed to let more light in when needed.

Pat

2014-04-07T21:00:00

What I was looking for was an IS (or for Tamron VC) lens that would zoom to 200 or so. Looked at this lens as a new purchase (about 600) and then found it used here at Adorama....for half that price. For what I intend to use it for, this works nicely. Have run some tests on the lens and it's nice and sharp up to about 200mm. Beyond that, it gets a little sloppy...but...I only really need critical to 200mm. I will say I shot an airshow this past weekend, zoomed to 300mm a lot...and the shots were not bad at all.

KENNETH B.

2014-03-03T19:00:00

I am SOO Impressed with this lens. My Pics are exactly what they are supposed to be and crisp clear.

Tammy

2014-02-24T19:00:00

This is a great lens, especially for the price. First one went swimming in the Pacific Ocean. Bought a new one within one week.

DAVID C.

2014-01-10T19:00:00

Noticiably sharper than the Canon 55-250IS lens. I bought this for the USM focusing. That part doesn't seem to be much faster or more accurate than my Canon lens. The build feels strong and well made. Down side of this is that the lens feels about twice as heavy as the Canon. It is also much "fatter" in diameter. Haven't put it through its paces at the downhill ski races....yet. Mike

shastamike

2013-09-23T21:00:00

good bargain. good stabilization. pretty fast AF. also you can override AF with manual focus. shooting video is not as smooth compared to 70-200mm 2.8 is, but still pretty good. a bit jerky. Solidly built.

SANG K.

2013-07-15T21:00:00

This is my first telephoto lens. It's my least expensive. I bought it to essentially play around. It's best on Auto. For whatever reason, I try to recreate Auto settings Manually but there's no comparison. Most likely I'm doing something wrong and haven't figure out what yet. That said, it's a great buy for the money. Seriously!

BRYAN E.

2013-06-19T21:00:00

Use for Wildlife and landscape photography.

Kim

2013-06-17T21:00:00

I purchased this used after raves for Adorama used and was quite impressed with both the glass and Adorama used. The anniversary rebate put the new price in the ballpark so that wasn't a big issue. The images are rather good and the full time manual focus is a big plus, especially that it lacks a tripod collar. Sharpness and color rendering are good. So far I am pleased.

WILLIAM E.

2013-05-13T21:00:00

I love this lens. While it's not a PRIME lens, it does allow me to get in there UP CLOSE & PERSONAL to some things that I'd not get a chance to get close to! You can't beat the price, especially when there's a rebate as well.

Kim N.

2013-03-17T21:00:00

This lens gives great zoom of 300 mm on full frame DSLRs. It has a very fast AF, also very well constructed. The vibration reduction feature allow at least 3 f stops reduction. It is also very light compared to other 70-300 mm lens. It is also on sale with $100 off until June this year.

NANCY H.

2013-02-04T19:00:00

Very nice lens. Good zoom range and quick/accurate autofocus. The lens is EF size so it's a big lens and a little on the heavy side. I've used the lens primarily for landscape and wildlife and results have been very good. I've not used the lens much indoors or with flash so I cannot comment on those applications. I'm happy with the purchase of this lens and would recommend it.

JOEL A.

2013-01-28T19:00:00

Great product for the cost. More rugged than the oem lens

JON Z.

2012-09-26T21:00:00

I enjoy sports photography; garden photography and this lens has been great for it all.

Carla R.

2012-09-23T21:00:00

I was happy to get this lens, it takes great photos. Focus is nice and fast, the image quality is great. BUT After less than two weeks the lens stopped working. Now I have to send it in for repairs. Not happy. We shall see what the turn around time is, and how much hassle the future holds.

ROB B.

2012-07-09T21:00:00

I find this is an excellent lens for outdoor portraits in subdued/shaded sunlight where there are no cast shadows. Sharpness best at f8 and above. Autofocus is a bit slow.

Hayrod

2012-06-17T21:00:00

I would reccomend this lens to anyone who are looking for crisp sharp images. I bought a canon 55-250 and returned it the next day. This lens is a hidden gem. You wont regret after buying this. That too with $100 rebate, the price is the best. Grab one today!

daringnaren

2012-05-25T21:00:00

I would love to shoot with Canon "L" glass, but that is a little out of my budget. I did compare this to the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM, but decided to buy this lens after reading many reviews. The 70-300mm range is great, I have pulled in some wildlife shots that I never would have otherwise been able to take; although it starts to become slightly soft at the far end (as does their competitors). The lens is not as bright as some of the much more expensive options, so indoor use can create blur when you need to stop it down for lower light shots with a subject in motion, but you get what you pay for. In my opinion, the cost to quality of the images/features/construction of this lens is excellent. Adding to it a 6-year warranty, 70-300mm lens (480mm max equivalent on a 1.6x crop camera), an included lens hood, vibration reduction, a non-rotating lens (a consideration if you use a circular polarizer and are zooming in and out) manually being able to bring the lens into close focus while in the automatic focusing mode (some other lenses can be damaged doing this), a quick and mostly accurate auto focus plus other features all for under $400 (with a rebate) make this lens a must have.

Canon B.