I'm suspect of the image quality of the lens, as the sharpest lenses currently available utilize one or more "superior" LD elements, such as Canon's Flourite, Sigmas FLD, & Tamron's own ELD.
Tamron's 70-200 2.8 contains 1 ELD, 4 LD elements, wile the 150-600 has 3 LD elements and "0" ELD.
It strikes me that Tamron is compromising image quality for price-point.
I wish they'd gone for a $3K price and superior image quality.
By the way, even the EF 100-400L has superior Flourite elements.
I actually had a reply from Customer Service of Tamron as I inquired about a suggested MSRP. They did not yet have a retail price to offer yet was the answer. Also requested a testing opportunity
Yes it is quite interesting how so much of the discussion in this thread has been on the $1500 price point even though its just a price which someone arbitrarily made up. Tamron has not announced the price. The rumor posted earlier in the thread listed $1500 as the "projected price". So it is not based on any information that the rumor site got, its just what they think it might cost.
Lars Johnsson wrote:
The $ 1500 price probably came from the Polish Canon-board website
Who mentioned this as the "projected" price, not something they heard from a source. In other words a totally arbitrary number. My projection is it would cost $2200. So lets now start a discussion how good it could be for $2200
Nov 09, 2013 at 04:26 PM
Lars Johnsson Offline • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
curious80 wrote:
Who mentioned this as the "projected" price, not something they heard from a source. In other words a totally arbitrary number. My projection is it would cost $2200. So lets now start a discussion how good it could be for $2200
You are the only person that I have seen writing about it as a "projected price"
Just a guess , but I imagine the price will be right close to the price of the Tamron 70-200f2.8 VC lens. That would provide a complete telephoto kit for approximately $ 3,000.00 should one buy both Tamron lenses.
The Nikon Polish board is the first place that leaked the image 2 weeks ago. The Canon Polish board leaked more detailed specs along with price a day before the announcement. The same person leaked the info on both boards. The price was given as 6000 PL which translates to about $1500 based on previous lens price conversions.
There is no guarantee on price but based on the accuracy of the previous leaks on those forums then the suggested price has some validity.
And here is the thead started by the same person just before it became official. http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhttp://forum.nikoniarze.pl/showthread.php%253Ft%253D238363%2526page%253D19%26biw%3D1920%26bih%3D1075&rurl=translate.google.ca&sl=pl&u=http://www.canon-board.info/obiektywy-21/tamron-150-600-f-5-6-3-vc-usd-93364/&usg=ALkJrhh9y3xusfHNHNaFiWtCW-uIfcU1RQ
I don't know the price, but let me say this, if it's as optically good at 600mm as my 100-400L is @ 400mm, then even at $3K it would be a veritable bargain and at $1500 it open up the world of wildlife and birding to a huge number of people and would sell like hot cakes IMO. If those MTF curves hold up and real world samples are good, I'll be selling my 100-400L in a heartbeat and it's already my most used lens.
Pixel Perfect wrote:
I don't know the price, but let me say this, if it's as optically good at 600mm as my 100-400L is @ 400mm, then even at $3K it would be a veritable bargain and at $1500 it open up the world of wildlife and birding to a huge number of people and would sell like hot cakes IMO. If those MTF curves hold up and real world samples are good, I'll be selling my 100-400L in a heartbeat and it's already my most used lens.
If the IQ holds up that's a heck of a lot of reach in a 4.5lb package.
I owned a couple of Tamron 90mm macro lenses and was impressed with the quality per price.
Not so with the Tamron 200-500:
This lens was not even a year old, when two parts of the focusing mechanism came apart. They were held together by glue, and the glue failed. What kind of quality construction would rely solely on glue to hold two moving parts together?
The optical quality was quite good considering the price. Images with the 1.4X TC were soft, and with the 2X TC they were unacceptable. AF speed was terrible with either TC and not great with the bare lens.
If the 150-600 was comparable in sharpness at 600mm to the 200-500 at 500mm, I would consider getting one for still subjects if that projected price is close to reality.
I doubt Canon will do a 500/5.6 but it depends on what they do with the 100-400 and the 400/5.6. If an updated 100-400 has high enough IQ maybe they will discontinue the 400/5.6 and up it's reach to 500.
Hell Canon gives us a 400 f/2.8, f/4 and f/5.6, and a 100-400 f/4.5-5.6, so I can't see why they shouldn't or couldn't offer a 500 f/5.6 or say a 125-500 f/4-5.6.
Canon needs to do 2 things; update the 400 5.6 and add IS, they also should update the IS system in the 100-400. Users here have been asking for these changes for years..
If this new Tamron lens is decent and has any sucess at all, maybe it will give Canon the gentle nudge it needs to get these changes made.
A new Tamron lens and maybe a new Canon body... whew thats a lot to take in for one month !
