Customer Reviews

Tamron AF 90mm f/2.8 Di SP A/M 1:1 Macro Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an excellent choice if you're interested in close-up and macrophotography -- it's sharp corner-to-corner, and you get life-size photos down to the size of a large bug. Usually you end up focusing macro shots manually, and the Tamron manual focus ring travels about 270 degrees, giving lots of smooth fine-tuning capability.

For portraits and medium telephoto shots, the autofocus capability works well but it's audible. You can set a limiting switch so that it won't hunt through the entire range, from 8" to infinity. It's easy to switch from autofocus to manual by feel -- you can do it without moving your eye from the viewfinder.

There are probably better choices if you want to do portraits first and macrophotography second -- Canon's 100mm and Sigma's 105mm macros, in particular, but the Tamron is an excellent choice for macro work.

The lens body is plastic, so it's lighter than OEM lenses from Canon & Nikon. The light weight makes one wonder about how rugged it is, but it feels well put together, and anyway you shouldn't be using a lens to drive nails.

Note that the 90mm designation applies only to full frame SLRs. On digital SLRs like the Canon 300D & 350D or the Nikon D50 & D70, the lens gives you an effecive focal length of about 130mm. So you get a bit more working distance for macro subjects, but you may have to stand back too far from the subject for portraiture.

I am professional photographer specializing in botanical and nature photography. The 90mm has proven to be excellent optically as well as ergonomically well designed. The light weight, for its size, coupled with the very intuitive af-mf push-pull design are great in the field. I work at Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden in Miami. For images taken with the above lens, please visit [...].

This lens has a couple little advertised qualities which make it double as a superb portrait lens:
First, it is not bittingly sharp wide open at f2.8, just about perfect for softening skin flaws, Stopped down to f5.6 and beyond, this lens is simply too sharp and contrasty for the average face. Second, wide open and at f4, this lens produces very attractive out of focus backgrounds, perfect for outdoor portraiture, where backgrounds can easily be distracting and intrusive.
Regards

Pro:
- great color, IQ, contrast.
- light weight
- accurate AF when needed
- great MF
- well made

Neutral:
- AF is slow but ok for a true macro lens. (My Tamron 180mm's AF stopped working in the first week even though I only tested a couple for times and never really used its AF for real at all. Being a tripod macro lens, MF (plus live view zoom in, which is far better than my 1.5/2.5 vertical finder) is a must for me. I hope AF on this one last longer because AF is indeed useful for hand-held quick shots)
- price (not cheap for a 3rd party). But with $90 rebate, it's not bad at all.

Minor incovenience:
- Once the lens is extended, the only way to get it back is to pull back the focus ring and switch to MF and turn the focus to infinite. A quick release mecahnism would be nice. This is a common problem not unique to this Tamron though.

- There's only one position the hood and back cap can be attached to the lens, a Tamron design. This design makes the attachment much stronger but much more hassle to attach in the first place. I much prefer Canon or Sigma's in this regard. I've never had accident with Canon or Sigma lenses when the hood or back cap accidentally fell off. (Correction - just had the precious hood on the Sigma 12-24 "bulb" off without noticing it in the bag, with the bulb completely exposed, which scared the day light out of me! But again that is the front cap not the rear one. To be care, I think Tamron does do a better job at designing their caps. Now I am so much more used to the Tamron way of doing things - just aim the special area (feel it with your finger) of the Tamron rear cap at the red dot on the lens, that is where the cap hooks up with the lens.)

- switching AF/MF produces a loud click sound. The switch can only happen at certain positions. My Sigma 20mm/f1.8 got a better design - I can switch any time, the switch is much more smoother. Tokina 11-16 is also smoother. Don't have the Tokina 100mm macro to compare with, though.

Bottom line:
I have the Tamron 180mm macro, great when mounted on a solid platform, not great hand held - too big and heavy. This one fills the gap. The small size and light weight is perfect to be carried around with other lenses on routine outings. Like other Tamrons, this one is plastic all the way (hence the light weight), but well made, MF ring is well damped with plenty rotation for fine tuning. I was a bit unsure about the closest focus distance on this one, turns out it's plenty for real wold use. The protruding front element is not a problem in real world use at all (as oppose to Internal Focus of the Canon 100mm Macro, or the Tamron 180mm ). In short, this is a perfect hand-held macro/portrait lens.

Update: this is fantastic tele as well if you are in no hurry. The IQ is just breathtaking. Tried Canon 100mm macro in store the other day, the Canon AF and build quality are better. But if you only use this sort of lens once in a while, you might want to save your buck here because this lens is for real.

I could not believe my eyes after seeing the pictures taken by me using this lens. Sharpness is just astounding.
On the flip side it does not have the smooth and quiet USM motor as its rival (Canon 100mm macro); but historically some of the great Macro shots have been taken by focusing the lens manually.
The lens comes with a hood which is not usually necessary since the glass is recessed far inside, but since I sit a filter over the lens I use the provided hood. Canon DOES NOT provide the hood for free :(
All in all I would say that Canon has (good glass and USM motor) while the Tamron has (good glass, free hood and, of course is cheaper).
Anyways I think it was a good decision of mine to go for the Tamron instead of the Canon. To further strengthen my decision Tamron had a $60 rebate (and yes I did get the rebate check from Tamron).

I have read people raving about using this lens for portraits, but I found the Canon EF 50mm f1/8 ($80 value) lens to be a better performer.

The macro I've had before was the camon 55mm which was great but at times when I had to get close to a subject (non human) it took off. This lens allows you to get close enough but not enough to scare your subject matter away. It takes great shots, quiet on the autofucus and gets you right up to the target. I looked at other macro's in the 90-100 range and did my research and in Digital Camera Magazine, this was the editors choice. I tried it and it didn't let me down. I plan to use this for what Macro lenses are used for and for some sports photography I do as well. It's a great lense and for the price, you can't beat it.

I wanted to get into macro photography and decided on Tamron because of the rebate offer. I was truly blown away on how sharp this lens performed. It has also double as a great portrait lens. On my Rebel XT, the focal length actual equals 144mm which gives great heads shots. The focusing is slightly slow but that didn't bother me any. Once you look at the results from this lens you it's a no brainer.

This lens has a unique/particular optical/photonic signature: in macro-mode, it is excellent at turning distant backgrounds into pastel-washes of the softest most pleasing qualities. Worth the price for this alone. Also a fine portrait lens, light weight and reasonably priced.

I spent a month or two researching macro lenses before finally settling with the tamron 90mm, and I really couldn't be happier with my decision. I was also considering the sigma 105mm and the canon 60mm, but ultimately I decided to go with this one because I wanted a lens that could double as a portrait lens and work as a macro where I could have some distance from my subject. I got it to shoot flowers and bugs primarily, and since I am terrified of (and deathly allergic to) the latter, I opted for the 90mm. I absolutely love this lens. I find that I am favoring it over my canon 28-105mm as a general use lens. Cost was definitely a deciding factor, and as a hobby for an amateur photographer like myself, this lens is ideal both financially and artistically.

Back in film days I used the Tamron 90mm f/2.5 macro for portraits and nature photography. Even back then (that was a long time ago!) the Tamron macro had great respect for sharpness and quality at a reasonable price, competing favorably with Nikon's much pricier 105mm f/2.5 macro.

When I moved to digital (and Canon) I sought the same performance, and hoped that Tamron hadn't spoiled the reputation earned by their earlier lens. After all, digital has more demands than film, most notably autofocus and sensor reflectivity. Plus, the pressure to compete and reduce price is relentless.

I was not disappointed - this lens is every bit as sharp as its predecessor. It's a tiny bit slower, and sometimes you have to help the autofocus if the starting point is way out of focus (this is common for AF macro lenses). But this lens is sharp corner-to-corner (I have an APS camera though, so can't comment on full-frame). IMHO it's a bit long for portraits, especially indoors. But if you have the room, it's excellent for portraits too - the speed, shallow DOF wide open, and the color richness yield gorgeous portraits.

Highly recommended.

This is my first non-Canon lens, and I have to say after a couple days I love it. I have a lot to learn about macro photography of course, but thats why you buy a lens like this in the first place.

This will take some work, and will be very fun...

I would buy this lens again, as matter of fact, I will probably pick up a Tamron wide angle as this lens is great. Can't beat a 60 Dollar rebate too... Put my price under 4 bills!!

Rp