First piece of glass!

[Crimsonandwhite]

I just got my first piece of glass (besides my kit lens)

Tamron AF70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di LD Macro 1:2

I already understand that from the price of this lens I shouldn't expect to have award winning stuff come from it, but from the reviews I could find on it everything seemed to be good. I thought this would be a good spot to start experimenting.

Thoughts/suggestions or advice on what I should look for in this lens or things I should watch out for.....

TIA

 

[Bandit]

Thoughts/suggestions or advice on what I should look for in this lens or things I should watch out for.....

TIA

Keep your shutter speed up to avoid camera shake. Don't go slower than 125th @ 70mm and a 500th @300mm and you will be sorted. Push the ISO up if needed, a noisy sharp photo is a lot better than a soft noise free one. You may be able to reduce the shutter speed with practice.

If you plan on using a tripod disregard the above

 

[Big Mike]

When using a longer lens like that, you really need to watch your shutter speed when shooting hand held. The rule of thumb is that you should have a shutter speed that is as fast as the reciprocal of the focal length (times the crop factor).

So when shooting at the 300mm end of the zoom, your shutter speed should be at least 1/450 (1/460).

The problem is that with only a maximum aperture of F5.6 at the long end, you will need a lot of light to get a shutter speed that fast. So this lens is best used outdoors in nice bright light. Other times, you will probably need to turn up your ISO pretty high.

Of course, you can use other means to keep the camera steady. A tripod is best and even then, you should unable MLU if your camera has it.

 

[sabbath999]

I just got my first piece of glass (besides my kit lens)

Tamron AF70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di LD Macro 1:2

I already understand that from the price of this lens I shouldn't expect to have award winning stuff come from it, but from the reviews I could find on it everything seemed to be good. I thought this would be a good spot to start experimenting.

Thoughts/suggestions or advice on what I should look for in this lens or things I should watch out for.....

TIA

Congrats on getting that lens, it is an EXCELLENT choice.

I own one, and have used it for a couple years. It is extremely sharp, and likes to perform best at F/8-F/11 (as many do).

The lens isn't an uber-fast focuser, but it isn't the worst in the world either.

One quick trick... if it gets "stuck" in macro mode, turn off the autofocus on the camera body and wrack the focus around, that will unstick it. Happens all the time, you get used to it.

I have taken some of my best shots with this lens, and use it a lot even though I own a lot more expensive glass.

The macro on it is sweet, so be sure to use it!

The following was taken last year with that lens on a D80:

 

[Crimsonandwhite]

Congrats on getting that lens, it is an EXCELLENT choice.

I own one, and have used it for a couple years. It is extremely sharp, and likes to perform best at F/8-F/11 (as many do).

The lens isn't an uber-fast focuser, but it isn't the worst in the world either.

One quick trick... if it gets "stuck" in macro mode, turn off the autofocus on the camera body and wrack the focus around, that will unstick it. Happens all the time, you get used to it.

I have taken some of my best shots with this lens, and use it a lot even though I own a lot more expensive glass.

The macro on it is sweet, so be sure to use it!

The following was taken last year with that lens on a D80:

Wow that is a great shot. I look forward to playing with this thing when I get off work. I am glad it came in today, I leave for Vegas tomorrow and I am looking forward to putting it to use.

I am also curious, will this lens be good for portrait shots where I want to really defocus the background? Or should I be looking at a different piece of glass to accomplish that?

Thanks for the advise guys!

 

[Big Mike]

I am also curious, will this lens be good for portrait shots where I want to really defocus the background? Or should I be looking at a different piece of glass to accomplish that?

Yes and no.

The primary way to get a background out of focus, is to use a large aperture. F4, F2.8, F1.8 etc. This lens doesn't have a very large aperture, so that will hurt you. However, another way to get a shallow DOF is to use a longer focal length...so when shooting in the longer range of the zoom, you can probably get some nice out of focus backgrounds....the trick is that you want the background to be far enough behind your subject.

 

[Crimsonandwhite]

Thanks Mike, I will try that out.

Also I have a Sony, would you have any lenses to recommend for that large aperture for good portraits?

 

[Bandit]

Thanks Mike, I will try that out.

Also I have a Sony, would you have any lenses to recommend for that large aperture for good portraits?

If Minolta glass fits, go for the 50mm f/1.7 :mrgreen:

 

[Big Mike]

If Minolta glass fits, go for the 50mm f/1.7

:thumbup:

 

[Crimsonandwhite]

Do you guys have a "go to" place to purchase used equipment? I found plenty on eBay, but I was wondering if the photog world has a specific website that is trusted amongst the posters here....

 

[Big Mike]

There are a few, but I've got more than a few things from E-bay.

www.KEH.com is a pretty good site for used gear. I believe Adorama and/or B&H have a used section as well.

I also tend to get a lot of used stuff at local shops. When buying used, it's nice to get your hands on it first...but the price is usually much higher than on E-bay, for example.

 

[Crimsonandwhite]

Big Mike, you are the man! Thanks for the help brother!