My overall impression... for an amateur, or a semi pro such as myself without thousands of dollars of expendable income, this lens is a must have for your kit. Don't let the nay-Sayers sway you... This lens is an incredible bargain! The only reason its 4 instead of 5 stars, is the auto-focus... Read on. Took a lot of pics in the city park across the street after un-boxing. Posted good examples of functional limits.
PROS
1) Well built, heavy frame. No rattling parts, fits snugly to the body of my Canon 80D. It feels heavy and solid, and I like that. My hands shake, so a heavy lens helps me to stay stable.
2) The focus is tight enough so that it doesn't drift in vertical shots, and the optics do not rotate, perfect for a polarized filter. Some have complained about this, but truly it is an advantage. It is the way this style of zoom is designed, take it or leave it.
3) The fine focus wheel in manual mode could be a little tighter, but for my intended use for this lens, it is perfect. I like to get very fine adjustments in macro mode, and a looser fine focus wheel makes this possible. The required fine tuning takes less time this way.
4) The macro function on this lens only works between 180 and 300mm, but with this focal length, that is an advantage. I can shoot great close ups from 2-5 feet away.
5) Perfect for insect shots, where getting close can ruin your chance at a shot. See the flower shots, and the water drops (no insects available during testing, sadly... VERY cold yesterday).
6) Shake at max zoom with or without full macro can be an issue. I was using my pro-master MPV428+ convertible mono-pod, and as you can see, you DO NOT need a 300$ tripod for this lens like many others have claimed, you just a steady hand and patience, and knowledge of your cameras full manual mode.
7) Aperture settings in macro are very effective (specifically see the pics of the dandelion head at f/5.6 and f/32) in Av or M mode.
8) VERY comfortable hand grip. Auto focus is not effected by me using the lens as a hand hold.
9) This lens CAN be used for portraits. Preferred under ideal lighting, but I was able to shoot lots of good portraits of my daughter and wife with minimal effort, using AF and MF under the lighting in our house with no special preparation and no support (mono-pod/tripod). Not posting family pics, sorry.
CONS
1) As many others have said, the auto-focus is agonizingly slow and noisy (price trade off). Manual mode is the better way to use tele lenses IMO anyway. But the AF is effective, I have no complaints other than speed and noise.
2) At max zoom, images are indeed fuzzy... You get better glass with a higher price. See the images of the birds shot at 300mm with a tripod. In defense, it WAS windy. Mode settings are in the meta-data. I hope. Not sure how Amazon uploads.
3) I did not notice chromatic aberration... but all the professionals claim it exists. I have no reason to doubt, as I do not have a studio to test under ideal lighting. Again, this is a price trade off.
Ending arguments... AF is slow and noisy, and blur at max zoom can be an issue. These issues can be resolved with Photoshop and a tripod if they are that big of a deal to you. I barely noticed, except the max zoom blur which is pronounced compared to even my old FD 70-300 from my Canon A1. Though I did not notice chromatic aberration, this is NOT a professional lens. It DOES deliver some impressive results, many of which I consider to be professional quality. This lens requires skill and knowledge of the tenets of photography to use to its fullest. But if you are looking for this style of lens, you likely already posses such knowledge. For the price, this lens is a steal for any kit, even as a backup lens. Well done, Tamron.
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