August 17, 2010: Maxwell International has announced that the new full-frame compatible Tamron 70 – 300mm lens, which claims a new benchmark in terms of high performance at an affordable price, will be available in Australia from next month at $699.
The Tamron SP AF70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di VC USD (Model A005) commemorates Tamron’s 60th year as a lensmaker. Tamron says that it delivers ‘best in class resolution’.
The lens will be released initially with a Nikon mount in early September, with Canon and Sony mounts to follow. It’s designed for full frame DSLRs and film SLRs, and can also be used with APS-C sensor cameras for a 109-465mm focal length.
The best in class claim is achieved via an advanced optical design featuring an LD (Low Dispersion) and an XLD (Extra Low Dispersion) lens element made from specialised materials that prevent chromatic aberration. As a result, Tamron says, it boasts sharper contrast and greater descriptive performance than all others in its class.
It’s also the first Tamron lens sporting a USD (Ultrasonic Silent Drive), Tamron’s own ultrasonic autofocus drive mechanism. This USD mechanism delivers fast focusing, making it a perfect telephoto zoom choice for photographing sports, racing and other fast-moving subjects. The lens also boasts Tamron’s proprietary VC (Vibration Compensation) image stabilisation to assist in handheld photography, not only at long focal length ranges where blurring is more common, but also under low-lit conditions.
When focusing, the internal elements of the lens move and the lens’ external size does not change. This offers better balance and easier telephoto shots. Moreover, the barrel is not subject to stray light entering from external helicoids that can adversely affect image quality. (Damn you, external helicoids!) Because the external elements do not move, it’s easier to utilise filters such as polarisers and the supplied flower-shape lens hood to control the amounts and angles of light entering the lens.
Manual focus is engaged by adjusting the focus ring, allowing the photographer to make adjustments on the fly. This feature helps the lens produce impressive results even in telephoto situations where the depth of field is shallow.
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