Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 Zoom Lens for Nikon SLR / DSLR Mount - Includes Tamron Original Tap-In Console, Sandisk 64gb Class 10 SD Card and More

This lens had an interesting review in a landscape magazine and went to Amazon not five minutes after reading.I think that this kit is a terrific value.Wide open this is 5.6 and is something worth bearing in mind when shooting. I am most always at 200 - 400 and 800 if my subject isn't lit by direct sun. I would have ponied up a few hundred dollars more for something that was a bit brighter from Tamron.Would I have preferred the Nikon? ABSOLUTELY!!! Is this giving me great pics of birds at our feeders? Yep.To be certain, my Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II AF-S Nikkor (also an Amazon purchase) gives me sharper images. But given the money, I expect that from a professional tool.The Tamron is a heavy, well-built lens with a number of critical features including stabilization and being able to lock the lens in position.I do expect it to suck up dust over time as the volume changes from 150 - 600. But that's me worrying about my gear and less about the time I enjoy shooting. Besides if this really was a sticking point I could solve this by dropping $9500 on the brighter Nikon 600mm f/4.One possibly negative observation is that the lens does seem to suck up power relatively quickly. But that is probably due to the work which is being done when the magic of auto focus has to move heavy glass to where it needs to be. The work around is to carry an extra battery or two; just what pockets are for.The bonus with this kit was being able to give all the accessories to a nephew just starting out in photography (yes, I am that cheapskate, relatively thoughtless uncle).While I know this isn't the place to comment on the seller Beach Camera packed my kit with a heck of a lot of attention. I didn't notice that the "Tamron Original Tap-In Console" wasn't in the big box — until it arrived by separate shipping a few days ago.Now I have to figure out how to make good pics even better with this lens!

This lens does NOT produce images that are as sharp as (for example) the "industry standard" 70-200 f/2.8 Nikon lens, but it does produce a very good, very usable, sharp image. It takes more practice to get good images from this long of a lens than from a normal telephoto because the very narrow angle so grossly amplifies the tiny shakes of the camera. I get best results using a monopod with my hand dampening the lens from shutter vibrations. I carefully evaluated the quality of images obtained from my 70-200, a nearly-as-sharp 70-300 nm (both blown up to equivalent size) and this lens...and you will definitely get better images with this than the zoomed images from these excellent shorter lenses.That said, apparently at this price point for lenses of this type (Nikon, Tamron, Sigma all make similar ones), there is always some sample variability. If you buy a single one, and do not feel satisfied with the images, the issue may be your copy. I have used three of them. Two seemed essentially identical and the third was definitely inferior. If you can get ahold of two of them to evaluate against one another, that may be a good idea.

Lens arrived 1 day ahead of promised delivery date.--VeryLens arrived 1 day ahead of promised delivery date which was good. Box contained the lens and a lot of extras which I was nor expecting. That was very good and included the tap in adjustment gadget, a tripod, 3- 95mm filters and case,. a tripod, a back-pak camera case , a Lexan 64 GB card and some misc. stuffHowever the lens is what we are talking about. I took it this morning, after RTFM, and put it through it's paces at a place called the Venice Rookery, which has a lot of larger birds that I have been photographing since slides and Fuji Velvia.. The lens seems to be very sharp at the various settingsand has very good color to the shots. If my Nikon 600 MF is a 10 , then this would probably be a 9.5. My biggest problem is trying to have the AF maintain focus on flying birds. Is it the lens or do I just need more practice? Time will tell.

I bought this lens for a future trip to Africa. I have limited experience with it to this point but I believe it will work extremely well. This feels like a real lens, not a cheap plastic version. It will take some time to get used to the autofocus as the range is so great it sometimes cannot zero in on the subject though I am confident with practice as well as utilizing the focus limiting selector it will not be an issue. I have posted a few images and want to note, they are mostly taken withing a week of my getting this lens and they are all handheld . I did not put all 5 star as I seldom would give anything 5 star as I always hope there is something a little better

The lense came as promised. Apparently this bundle does not include the 1.4 teleconverter and I did not notice that when I ordered from Beach. The filters fit but the autofocus does not work correctly with the filters on. The memory card has value. The rest of the stuff is all junk. The tripod broke under the weight of this lense the first time I used it. The lense does not fit in the backpack. The backpack is so cheap, I would not reuse it for even a bad for kids to take to school. A few books in that backpack would tear it. There were better deals for this same lense without the junk accessories and I wish I had gone that route.