Contemplating the new Tamron 150-600, thoughts or suggestions?

[dxqcanada]

I think -4 looks better maybe.
Was this shot at 300mm wide open ?

 

[kenerickson]

I think -4 looks better maybe.
Was this shot at 300mm wide open ?

Yes, shot at 300mm and 5.6.

I have a total of 5 lens for my Sony A77. They all required some amount of calibration. All started out with rear focus. The lens that required the most correction also happened to be the most expensive. A fixed 50mm macro Sigma with a fixed aperture 2.8. The lens that required the least was my "kit" 18-55 lens that I received when I purchase my A57.

Thanks for the help!

 

[kenerickson]

This one was shot with my Tokina , 300mm wide open with auto focus after micro focus adjustment. I think it is pretty sharp considering the distance and crop, or wishful thinking?!

 

[dxqcanada]

I think your AF caught the branch in front.

 

[TheNevadanStig]

People love that new lens. I wish I could even come close to being able to afford it.
I do agree that your sample images don't look very good. But at the same time your settings aren't very good for wildlife photography with a large lens either. I'm assuming you were working with some pretty poor lighting. The major one I see is your shutter speed. Way too low for wildlife. I like to shoot at around 1/1000 or so. Also, at f/6.3 you're not getting the most out of the lens, try jumping up to f/8 or so. I would suggest trying those settings on a better day with that lens before getting frustrated with it and spending a good chunk of money replacing the lens. I suspect with those settings in those light conditions you aren't going to be happy with any future lens you might purchase.

 

[kenerickson]

Here is one I took with lots of good light. Even with bumping the ISO up to 400, F6.3 I was still only able to shoot at 1/400 shutter speed. To be able to shoot at 1/1000 and f/8 I would guess this shot would have been 2000 ISO or so? , which brings in the noise issue.

 

[kenerickson]

sorry,, double post