Leaf Cells

A large near perfect six inch wide leaf growing ten feet about the ground, natural back lighting, 300mm (70-300mm f/4.5-5.6) Nikon lens, 1/350 sec at f/5.6, and a handheld Nikon D700 went into making this photo.

My general purpose Tamron 28-300mm VC full frame lens is being retired and I’ll soon sell it. While I love it’s focal range I find it’s sharpness and focus to be somewhat inconsistent. With most shots the sharpness is spot on, at other times I wonder where I was when it went so soft. I’ve used it a long time thinking this seemingly random softness was a lack of technique on my part but I now believe it’s inherent to this lens.

If this issue is confined to certain focal lengths, I haven’t been able to isolate what those are. The vibration reduction function does seem to work fairly well in this lens but doesn’t affect this softness issue.

The Tamron lens has been replaced with the Nikon 70-300mm VR-II lens–used for the above photo. While not extremely fast, this lens is sharp and consistent at all focal lengths. With my D700 FX camera I like having a zoom which reaches out to 300mm (equivalent to 200mm in DX). For low light or shooting into deep shadows I’ve found it best with the Nikon lens to switch to manual focus to advoid time wasted while the lens searches for focus.

7 Comments

  1. Congratulations on the acquisition. I was tempted by the range of those 28-300mm lenses, but I read too many comments similar to yours. The inconsistency would drive me crazy.

  2. @Anita: I loved having that range but it’s not worth it when you can’t be sure of the final result. I shot for over a month now with the Nikon 70-300mm and while it’s not a very fast lens it is sharp and consistent. It also has the latest VR-II which is nice when shooting handheld. I do have an older Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 that I can use if I need a fast lens in that range but it doesn’t have any form of VR.

  3. I sympathize on that non VR issus. I bought a Canon 70-700mm f/2.8 before Canon added IS. Bummer. It’s a fantastic lens and I still use it—it’s killer with the 1.4 teleconverter added. Still, I use my 70-200mm IS f/4, more frequently. With that set up, I’m in the same boat you are. I have the reach, but it isn’t exactly fast. All it would take to solve our problems, Earl, is unlimited funds.

  4. @Anita: I agree about the unlimited funds–I’ll share with you when I find the source for those funds and I’ll expect the same in return from you! ;-)

  5. Jason Kolsch

    I might be willing to deal with certain inconsistencies in a controlled studio environment. How much are you willing to let it go for?

  6. @Jason: Thanks. I’ve sent you a direct email with the details.