super zooms comparison

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First, thanks for the new forum.We all need help with making a right choice when planning to get a new piece of equipment,especialy lenses.Although,Philip has a nice article about equipment but it can not cover everything. Now my question: in the august issue of Shutterbug there is an article about superzooms by Joseph A.Dickerson and as usual there are no reccomendations,and there are author's opinions on any lens,just general coverage.What I'd like to know is the opinion on some of the lenses and reccomendations from anybody who have them: Nikon 28-200/3.5-5.6 $490 (soon will be reduced) Sigma 28-200/3.8-5.6 asph.uc $190 Tamron 28-200.3.8-5.6 LD asph.IF super $300 Sigma 28-105/2.8-4 asph. $195

Thanks,Zalman

-- Zalman (zalman@the.connection.com), August 01, 1998

Answers

Zalman, In the Pentax section of photo.net you will find a review of the Pentax version of the Tamron 28-200 by J. Greely. If I am not mistaken it is/will be built by Tamron with slight changes for Nikon, too.

The Tamron is supposed to be a nice and cheap 1-do-it-all travel lens.

I can't say anything to the other lenses.

-- Marcus Erne (mcerne@evansville.net), August 02, 1998.


Sorry,

I made a mistake. The article was written by Steve Graham !!!

-- Marcus Erne (mcerne@evansville.net), August 02, 1998.


Having owned the Tamron 28-200 LD zoom, I would recommend staying away from any of these lenses. They are slow, bulky, poorly constructed and not sharp enough to enlarge past 8x10. You get what you pay for with new equipment, and if you spend $300 on a do-everything lens you'll get a lens that does everything poorly and nothing well. Sigma lenses are so bad there is a web page dedicated to horror stories about them falling apart and Sigma's poor service policies. I can't find the URL right now, but you can use any search engine to get there.

-- Darron Spohn (sspohn@concentric.net), August 03, 1998.

Zalman,

With such a huge selection of lenses available to the average consumer, it's hard to say that any lens would be best for any situation. Most of the time you will be making a compromise somewhere. If you want a "do it all" lense and don't mind compromising on quality, then any of these you list I'm sure would be adequate. I think the Tamron Super probably has the best reputation of those listed hear (the Nikon is too new to really judge). If you can't afford anything more and just want one lens, then the Tamron 28-200 would probably be the way to go, but don't expect to get great enlargements past about 8x10/12. I have some wonderful photo's that I've taken with the super, but I use it mostly as a backpacking lens now, although I may pay the price and pack my heavy telephotos next time...

-- Bill Meyer (william_meyer@stortek.com), August 03, 1998.


Dear Zalman,

There are 2 versions of the Tamron Af 28-200 on the market if I am not mistaken. An older version (which one probably is still around) and the new one with the extension aspherical in it's name. Make sure you get the right one if you decided this way.

The new version is supposed to be optically improved and as others already stated will give you a good result unless you want to enlarge, make a serious slide show or you want to sell your pictures to the National Geographic........! ;)

-- Marcus Erne (mcerne@evansville.net), August 03, 1998.



Just for the record, its the new 70-300 Nikkor zoom that many suspect of being built by Tamron. The 28-200 is very similar (construction-wise) to the 24-120. By far the best review of this lens that I've found on the net comes from David Ruether and can be found at http://www.fcinet.com/ruether/articles.html . While you're there, it would be worth your while to check out his SUBJECTIVE Lens Evaluations (Mostly Nikkors) - version 5g which can be found by following the link at the top of the page.

-- Geoffrey S. Kane (grendel@pgh.nauticom.net), August 03, 1998.

Zalman, before you waste to much money in equipment you don't need, read the articles of the following web page very carefully!!!!

http://sunrise.scu.edu/photo/digest/index.html

I hope it brings you a step closer. :-)

-- Marcus Erne (mcerne@evansville.net), August 06, 1998.


I am considering the Vivitar series 1 28-200mm superzoom for my canon EOS... being a very poor student this cheap lens is very appealing. I am aware that the quality from such a lens will be poor in comparison to other lenses, but I am considering it in relation to other super zooms ie Sigma & Tamron. I am unlikley to enlarge beyond 8x10" in any case. Does anyone have any experience with the Vivitar? I am particularly interested in its autofocus capability - is it slow ? very noisy? likley to hunt? - compared to other superzooms on EOS mounts that is.

Ps I am aware that superzooms offer relatively poor image quality (I have my 50mm for important stuff!) I really just want comparisons with other superzooms, bearing in mind the price difference. Thanks!

-- mike green (mjg199@soton.ac.uk), June 25, 2001.


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