Last week I wrote an article: "Your dream of super large aperture: 35-150mm is coming", and mentioned another super large zoom lens: Tamron 50-400mm f4.5-6.3. This lens is also the lens that everyone expects. How does it perform? Let me talk about my experience in using it. Why does
start from 50mm?
As early as the SLR era, Tanlong had 18-400mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC HLD, why did it become 50-400mm f4.5-6.3 when it was microscopic? From 18mm to 50mm, the focal length seems to be not long, which is a big distance. Tenglong cut off the wide angle, leaving only the middle focus to the ultra-telephone. I think this is a new lens designed after repeated trade-offs. There is only one reason, in order to better image quality and shooting experience.
In my lens library, there is no super large zoom. For a long time, I attributed this type of shot to: lazy people's digital toys. Focusing is uneven, the image quality is poor, and is distorted and severe ... Almost all the shortcomings and problems on the lens can be found on this type of lens.
0-400mm f4.5-6.3 (left) and 35-150mm f2-2.8 (right), the length 50-400mm is slightly longer than 35-150mm, but the weight is almost equivalent, only 1155g, which is still very light.
As we grow older, we are sometimes considering whether to choose a large zoom, lightweight lens? After all, it has a wide range of use and the burden of carrying only one lens is small. Therefore, large zoom lenses are often very attractive.
My standard for weighing this type of lens is not high. The image quality is acceptable and the focus is faster and it will be perfect. In fact, I have been following the latest 50-400mm for Tamron for a long time and have read many related introductions and reviews. Almost all praises, and few shortcomings are discussed. Is it really a perfect shot like everyone's review? I'm looking forward to it, too.
1. Image quality meets the expected requirements
If you are considering the super large zoom lens, don’t focus on the image quality, you can bypass it. For this lens, I don’t worry about the picture quality before I get it. Based on the changes and performance of Tamron in recent years, this lens will not be too bad. After getting it, I tried to take a few pictures. I was satisfied with the quality of it, and it was enough to use it to sweep the street.
focal segment 400mm, aperture f6.3, ISO800, shutter speed 1/15
focal segment 352mm, aperture f6.3, ISO800, shutter speed 1/30
These two pictures are shot at very long distances (about 20 meters), and even if you enlarge 100% of the picture quality is very clear. For telephoto, the quality of the picture has a lot to do with the lighting environment. Light conditions determine the effect of imaging.
focal segment 59mm, aperture f7.1, ISO50, shutter speed 15
local enlarged screenshot
photo taken at night, the local enlarged screenshot, the text on the distant bridge and buildings is very clear, and the distortion of the picture is basically not obvious. During the period when I was testing, it was cloudy and the weather was not transparent. I would rather have such performance.
2. Focus reaction, a little regret
My focus on this lens is not on the quality performance, but more importantly, it is on its focus reaction. I have read many reviews and say that the reaction of this lens will be very fast, which makes me a little excited. The super-large zoom lens has never encountered a lens with fast focus response. I don’t believe this lens will have a big change. This time I will take it to sweep the street to see how it performs? Can you achieve a smooth feeling of lifting your hands and falling?
First I found some fast moving objects and used single-point focus mode (my most commonly used focus mode) to capture the characters. I took seven pictures, four of them were clear and three were burnt. Maybe it's because the object is moving too fast, so I'll look for another scene to try continuous focus mode.
On this level, I switched to AF-C focus mode, and I did not focus on the upper focus many times. In this environment, the light contrast is relatively small and the focus is prone to failure.It also tests the lens's sensing ability. If it is a fast lens like 70-200, such a scene will not be stressful.
After repeated adjustments, I finally took a clear picture.
If the light contrast in the previous scene is small, it is understandable that the focus is difficult. In this environment, the yellow wrapping bag is very obvious. The focus reaction is very slow in the longest phase, and the situation that does not match the upper focus still occurs. The focus reaction again has a response time difference.
For the object that is captured and moved, if the focus response is not timely, there is also a solution, which is to wait for the rabbit, such as focus in advance and wait for the object to appear in the range you are scheduled to press the shutter. I failed many times in this place, only this method is used.
In the case of better light and more obvious objects, everything is normal to focus.
The camera used this time is Sony A7M3, and I have tried several focusing modes. As for the focus reaction of this lens, the reaction in a low-light environment is still relatively slow, and the focus failure may occur. Such a situation is a common problem in ultra-large zoom lenses, but to achieve quick response, it is still a long way from the effect I want. It is not the advantage of this type of lens to be able to guide and handle. Perhaps this requirement is too high for it.
3. Anti-shake, the effect is obvious
This lens has VC anti-shake, so during shooting, I basically control the shutter speed of 1/50th second or even 1/20th second to see the effect of anti-shake.
focal segment 223mm, aperture f6.3, ISO2000, shutter speed 1/50
focal segment 400mm, aperture f6.3, ISO2000, shutter speed 1/150
focal segment 400mm, aperture f6.3, ISO2500, shutter speed 1/20
In these photos, because the shooting time is already in the evening, it is difficult to increase the shutter speed, but even in 1/20 second, the handheld can still take a clear shot. Perhaps my hands are more stable. During the entire shooting, because of the shutter speed, the most common problem is that the focus is weak. This also shows that the anti-shake effect is relatively obvious.
Finally, let’s briefly summarize the experience of using this lens. Because it has not been used for a long time and has not been strictly tested, in terms of user experience, let me tell you a few of my feelings:
. The size is very satisfactory. The weight of is controlled at 1155g, which will not make you feel burdened, and it is also easy to take it out for a long-distance trip.
. Picture quality performance, satisfaction. In the super-large zoom lens, this lens performed well, exceeding my expectations.
. Anti-shake effect, very satisfied. is very important for the anti-shake effect of ultra-large zoom lenses. When the aperture is less than F8, your ISO will often be opened to about 3000. If the shutter speed can be lower, it can reduce the pressure of high sense. I'm very satisfied with its performance at this point.
. Focus quickly and needs to be strengthened. Many people choose this lens as a street-sweeping lens. Fast focus response is very important. It may disappoint everyone at this point. It is not a fast lens and may not be so smooth for capture. But you must also realize that this is a difficult problem for large zoom lenses, so don't expect too high.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that the Tamron 50-400mm F/4.5-6.3 lens can achieve a closest focus distance of 0.25m at the 50mm end and can achieve a magnification of 0.5x. It is also a quasi-macro lens and is playable very high.
The above is my summary of my experience of this lens for your reference. This lens is now on the market and is priced at more than 8,000 yuan. My personal suggestion is still worth buying. It is not a digital toy lens, but an ultra-large zoom head with its own strength.Especially for travel and scenery lovers, it is definitely one of your higher-than-film shots.
