| | |  | Sports and Outdoors | Home » » Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Di LD Macro Zoom Lens for Konica Minolta and Sony Digital SLR Cameras | | | | | | | Description: | | The Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di LD Macro Autofocus Lens is a compact, light-weight, ultra-tele zoom which covers the 70mm to 300mm telephoto range and produces photographs of exceptional image quality. It is ideal for taking pictures at a distance particularly when the subject is difficult to approach such as in nature and wildlife photography as well as at sporting and theatrical events. The Tamron 70-300mm also excels at portraiture and allows you to isolate the subject from the background for eye-catching, dramatic portraits. This versatile zoom has superb macro capability with a magnification of 1:2 enabling 1/2 life-size close-up shots of flowers, insects, and other objects that normally would require the use of a specially designed macro lens. This new lens is made with the Tamron Di (Digitally Integrated) design which uses an optical system with improved multi-coatings designed to function with Digital SLR Cameras as well as Film SLR Cameras. Tamron also incorporates LD (Low Dispersion) glass in this lens to correct chromatic aberration, resulting in clear, sharp, and beautifully vivid images. | | | Features: | |
• 70-300mm macro lens with f/4-5.6 maximum aperture for digital or 35mm cameras
• Easy-to-use macro switch lets you alternate between 180mm and 300mm focal lengths
• Minimum focus distance of 59 inches from subject (normal) or 37.4 inches (macro)
• 9-blade circular diaphragm provides beautiful soft-focus imagery; 62mm filter diameter
• Measures 3 inches in diameter and 4.6 inches long; weighs 15.3 ounces
| | | Product Details: | | | Product Length:
| 5.3 inches | | Product Width:
| 4.1 inches | | Product Height:
| 4.1 inches | | Product Weight:
| 1.25 pounds | | Package Length:
| 7.32 inches | | Package Width:
| 4.57 inches | | Package Height:
| 3.94 inches | | Package Weight:
| 1.5 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 307 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 307 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
132 of 135 found the following review helpful:
Surprisingly good lens for just over a $100Mar 03, 2009
By D. Brodsky
I own both Canon gear (Canon 40D) and Nikon gear (D40). Since Nikon is my cheaper lighter gear, I am not to invest a lot of $$$ into it. While D40 is light and cheap, it is an excellent camera which I use all the time for many reasons. I needed a tele lens to compliment my kit 18-55 lens (which is excellent in itself and gets great reviews). I was between Tamron 70-300 and Sigma 70-300 APO since Nikon's 70-300 is 4 times more expensive than Tamron and Sigma. After reading tons of reviews and playing with both Tamron and Sigma, I chose Tamron and I am very happy I did. There are several versions of Tamron's 70-300, however this one is the latest, 2008 version, which autofocuses on D40, 40X and 60. This lens is remarkable for the amount it is sold for. I've taken many great photos with it on vacation and around town. It is also very compact and light. While it is not an ideal lens to shoot Birds in Flight (neither is D40 with its 2.5 fps) due to its slow autofocusing mechanism, it is great for general photos and portraits. As you can see from samples I even took some bee shots with it. I took a star because of slow autofocusing, but hey, you are paying $130 for it, realize it. I recommend this lens over Sigma for budget shooters who want 300 tele, but don't want to pay $450 Nikon wants for its version. I am happy with it
114 of 117 found the following review helpful:
Very good lens with some nice extrasJul 23, 2006
By Hiram Grant
"just call me Sam"
The new Di lenses from Tamron are designed to work well with digital cameras, although those with the Di will work for 35mm as well (Di-II only work with smaller, APS-C chip size digital cameras). This is an improvement on the fine 70-300 LD (Low Dispersion glass) design. The major improvements in this lens are in the coatings, to help reduce any color bias, and minimize reflections. Additionally, lens manufacturers are doing more inside the barrels to reduce reflections.
Like the older LD design, the new lens has a close-up mode (not strictly "macro") position that allows images 1/2 lifesize on the negative. That's about twice the size of most 300mm zooms lacking this feature.
Compared to the Canon lenses, it includes a lens hood ($$ from Canon) and a six year USA warranty (vs. 1 year). It's a bit noiser than the Canon lenses in autofocusing. Additionally, the Canon 75-300 III is a considerably older design, which came out well before the needs of digital cameras were known. One slight drawback is that the Tamron uses 62mm filters vs. 58mm for the Canon (which is the same size as the popular 18-55 kit lens).
55 of 55 found the following review helpful:
 Awesome lens at a bargain priceDec 11, 2007
By L. Smith
When my old Sigma 70-300mm lens died this summer, I wondered if I'd be able to replace it with anything I liked as well. I'd used it with my Minolta SLR camera for years, and then for a couple of months with my new Sony DSLR, and it had performed beautifully. But this Tamron lens far exceeded my expectations. It is relatively lightweight, yet feels sturdy enough to stand up to hard use. The focus is sharp and quick, and it works very well with Sony's Super Steady Shot feature (essential for me since I don't use a tripod). Pictures shot in macro mode are gorgeous, once I got used to the minimum focal distance. And the price of the Tamron lens is a real bargain when compared to other lenses that work with Sony DSLRs. I'm a pretty good amateur photographer, and I'm picky about the quality of my equipment, but I don't want to spend more than I need to. This lens is just what I needed.
49 of 49 found the following review helpful:
great!May 05, 2007
By billsirinek
For the price, this is simply an amazing lens. You'll have to spend AT LEAST 3x as much to get a better quality telephoto.
I was originally leery of purchasing a 3rd party lens (this was my first), but figured I'd give this a try since I knew a couple other people with this lens who liked it, plus I had read some not-so-good reviews about the Canon equivalent.
This lens is much sharper than my Canon 28-135 IS lens which cost twice as much used on that big auction site. I'm about to replace that with Tamron's 28-75 f/2.8 lens based upon my favorable experience with this lens.
The lens comes with a hood too, which was a nice touch, one that Canon does not provide with their consumer-level lenses.
84 of 88 found the following review helpful:
Good value in this updated design.Jul 23, 2006
By Hiram Grant
"just call me Sam"
The new Di lenses from Tamron are designed to work well with digital cameras, although those with the Di will work for 35mm as well (Di-II only work with smaller, APS-C chip size digital cameras). This is an improvement on the fine 70-300 LD (Low Dispersion glass) design. The major improvements in this lens are in the coatings, to help reduce any color bias, and minimize reflections. Additionally, lens manufacturers are doing more inside the barrels to reduce reflections.
Like the older LD design, the new lens has a close-up mode (not strictly "macro") position that allows images 1/2 lifesize on the negative. That's about twice the size of most 300mm zooms lacking this feature.
If you're buying this for one of the new Sony Alpha series, this might be your best bet. The Tamron will include a 6-year USA warranty. It also includes the lens hood. The Sony 75-300 is repackaging of the older Konica-Minolta 75-300 lens, a lens that hit the market before any KM digital SLRs.
See all 307 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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