Tamron AF 28-75mm f/2.8 SP XR ZL Di LD Aspherical (IF) with Built-In AF Motor for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras 28-75mm f/2.8 Di LD Aspherical (IF) Tamron zoom lens (A09NII) * effective focal length: * 28-75mm with 35mm film and full-frame (Nikon FX) sensor digital cameras * 42-113mm with APS-C (Nikon DX) sensor cameras * compatible with Nikon 35mm film and digital SLR cameras * built-in motor for full autofocus capability with Nikon digital SLRs, including the D40, D40x, and D60 models * advanced optical design with low-dispersion, aspherical, and extra refractive index glass elements for superior image quality * internal focusing design maintains constant lens length for better balance and easier operation * special internal surface coatings to eliminate ghosting and flare * minimum focus distance: 13 inches (throughout zoom range) * diaphragm blades: 7 * attachment/filter size: 67mm *
Customer Review: Perfect walk-around lens, my new favorite
It’s been about 2 months that I’ve had this lens and it almost never leaves my camera. I’m came to buying this lens after being lured in by the ever-so-attractive constant f/2.8 aperture. It was a contest between this lens and the Nikon 16-85 f/3.5-5.6 VR and now, I know I’ve made the right choice.

First and foremost, the constant f/2.8 is what makes this lens worth every penny. I don’t know how I ever got along with my old 18-55 kit lens. Here’s a little breakdown of the good and bad of this lens:

THE GOOD:
- Constant f/2.8 aperture (*angelic singing*)
- Extremely sharp even wide open at f/2.8 (although I’d recommend f/4 for maximum sharpness)
- Zoomed in at 75mm and wide open at f/2.8, this lens makes beautiful portraits with nice bokeh.
- On a purely subjective scale, bokeh is pretty awesome, 8 out of 10.
- Focusing is relatively fast and very accurate (about as fast as the 18-55mm kit lens, which is almost always good enough)
- Zoom action is well damped although I would’ve appreciated a very slightly shorter throw between 28 and 75mm.
- Autofocus/Manual focus switch conveniently located on the side of the lens.
- Internal autofocus motor! (Works on my D40x, will work on D40 and D60 also)
- Close focus ability enables shots with a closer perspective.
- Metal mount is always a good thing to see.
- Looks pretty awesome on the camera

THE BAD
- For travel and other things, 28mm will not satisfy some, buy a wide angle (and telephoto if you need it) to go with this lens.
- External focus ring moves during autofocusing (keep your hands away!)
- Focusing is noisy (much noisier than my AF-S Nikkors and HSM Sigmas)
- In manual focus-mode, the focus ring is a tad loose
- Lens hood doesn’t seem to work too well, doens’t look that great either, in my opinion.
- Rear lens cap sucks, throw it away and buy a Nikon one.

OVERALL
I’d rate this thing 4.5 stars if I could, but I gave it 4 so as not to give the impression of a fault-less lens.

This lens has a great deal of good points and very few bad ones. Most of the bad I attribute to the construction of the lens: somewhat solid, but not. It’s a little loose inside since it zooms and is made mostly of plastic. Optically though, the lens is amazing, especially for the price. For me, it’s created amazing portrait work, some cool close-up (see the “PS” section at the end) shots, and many others. Until you build up the money and arm strength to buy and haul around the Nikon 24-70 f/2.8 go with this lens. You cannot pass this up for the price, it’s capable of so many things, and all for about 400 bucks.

PS
Tamron may call this “Macro” but it’s not really macro, it’s more of a close focus (I have the Nikkor 60mm Micro, and this is not it). However, the close-focus can be really useful and can add some creative shots to your collection. However, do not confuse this lens with a real macro lens, it can’t focus as close and can’t reproduce 1:1.
Customer Review: I agree. Outstanding lens… however.
This is definitely one of the better lenses I’ve purchased. I’m not a professional but many of the people I’ve asked in reference to this lens are professional photographers. Most nude photographers even recommend this lens. It gives great portrait shots. The built-in motor does the job with auto focus. It does give a small noise when focusing but it is nothing compared to the images u get. However, i did not purchase my lens thru amazon. I went to Calumet. They r wholesalers for Tamron and Sigma. I got my lens a lot cheaper from them. Do ur homework before u purchase. It could save u a lot of money.

Tags: Nikon Camera, Nikon Digital Camera

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 20th, 2010 at 8:00 pm and is filed under Nikon Digital Camera. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.