Tamron AF 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 LD for Pentax Digital SLR Cameras

by Tamron

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.4 x 4.3 inches ; 15.4 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005V8SA
• Item model number: TAONAF276P700
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: January 25, 2002

Product Description

The AF 75-300 f/4-5.6 extended-range zoom lens offers true telephoto capability ideal for a variety of applications including sports and wildlife shooting. The lens also features the capability to provide beautifully blurred background to high light the main subject in portraiture, or "compression effects" that make the most of the telephoto lens.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Put this lens in your toolkit, January 10, 2004

By 

Michael F. Frey "copperpop" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tamron AF 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 LD for Pentax Digital SLR Cameras (Electronics)

The Tamron f/4-5.6 75-300 zoom is a great buy at the price. The zoom is very smooth and auto focus very responsive. Very nice optics. For outdoor work you can, almost, get away with this as the only lens. Results are crisp beautiful photos. Quality is vastly superior to the lenses generally included in a Pentax kit.

Personally I find the low end of the focal length limiting (indoors in particular) and it could be a bit brighter (aperture) but the quality is very good at 300mm. As far as cost goes there is nearly a $100.00 price delta between this and an equivalent 28-200mm lens.

I have personally used this lens for several weddings (paid and voluntary) with great results. Lens is light enough that I have been able to do a lot of shots freehand (no tripod) without noticeable "shake" in the resulting photos. In addition to the weddings I have also had good results with equestrian, other "slow" action photos and in particular landscape shots where I use the zoom to frame the shot with different points of view (POV).

In summary this is a very good lens at a very good price. If you need a long lens in your set this is a very good choice.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Used exact same thing before... and will again!, August 16, 2006

By 

J. Baker - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tamron AF 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 LD for Pentax Digital SLR Cameras (Electronics)

This Objective is the best in this price range I have used. It works just great, light intensity is good enough, and I found it to be able to accomodate the strangest requests especially at the Cliffs of Mohare in Ireland, Malta and here in my homecountry, the U.S. Even with diffuse light situations, the Tamron still gives you some power to accomplish what you want.
I would personally recommend Tamron Objectives to everybody on a budget. If you need better light intensity you will have to go with a lower spread, which will, depending on the lens you buy, drive the price right up. Tamron is a great Customer Service experience as well.

I just recently bought a Pentax DSLR and this one will be equipped with a Tamron soon.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice telezoom - mostly, June 20, 2008

By 

David Schlier (Westminster, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tamron AF 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 LD for Pentax Digital SLR Cameras (Electronics)

I've owned the Tamron Autofocus 75-300mm f/4-5.6 LD with Hood for Pentax SLR Cameras for about a year now. I use it on a Pentax DSLR (I am a big fan of conventional lenses on smaller sensor cameras - the sensor picks up the sweet spot of the lens). It was/is my 'go to' lens for far-away outdoor sports, action and even outdoor portraiture. The size translates to 110 to 480mm in 35mm film camera terms, so it will not do for close up work but the reach is awesome!

Pros: great depth of field at wider apertures (even relatively long focus) which makes subjects pop. Reasonably fast focus (about a second from close to far). Solid zoom feel and there is little tendency to creep. Solid build. The lens has 'presence' - when zoomed to 300mm, it looks huge! When used on a DSLR with a smaller sensor (1.6 factor), there is no noticeable pincushion or barrel distortion. It is, especially for the money, fairly sharp.
Cons: Occasionally, aperture control closes down (may be a flaw in my lens as opposed to all lenses). Causes me to turn off camera, partially disengage and then reengage the lens from the camera, turn camera back on (cycle is about 5-7 seconds - I have lost shots because of this). It tends to hunt for focus with some subjects. The lens is somewhat heavy.

All in all, despite the one major issue I have with the aperture, it's a really nice lens at the price I paid. Great value for the money. I rate it a 3 because of my particular issue. Without the issue I would rate it a 4+ or 5-, mostly because of weight.