Tamron Lenes On A Nikon

[tlc]

I was at a wedding a couple of weekends ago and I had my D80 and taking a few shots, and I got talking to the pro photographer that was taking the wedding photos, she was using a D80 also, said she had a D200 but it was in the shop getting fixed, she was using the kit lense 18-135 mm for tall the photos. She asked me what my lense was and I said 18-250 macro Tamron and she said that you should never put any lenses on a Nikon except Nikon, I was really taken aback and couldnt bring myself to ask her why?? I felt like a real dummy, Is she right? Id love to hear what other think about this and if they think she is right in saying that why??

Edited April 29, 2009 by tlc

[chezzyr]

Not familiar with that particular lens but I have happily used third party lenses (including Tamron) with my Canons.

[kja]

She's a snob.

Of course you can put other lenses on a body, jeesh.

Some of the third party lenses - Tamron, Sigma, Tokina - rock the house and are a fraction of the cost of what a Nik or Canon version would be. Sometimes you can't get the Nik or Canon version at all...like the excellent Tokina 11-16 2.8.

I know lots of 'togs using third party lenses with perfectly fine results.

Not all lenses are the same, of course, and there may be tradeoffs in build quality or IQ, but often the IQ trade off is really only visible to basement dwelling pixel peepers. Do a little searching in the real life reviews of what togs think about one lens or another and you'll be able to weed out the problems more or less.

I have a Sigma 50-150 2.8 that I bought before my Canon 70-200 2.8 IS because I could afford it and it got pretty good reviews. My thought was to sell it when I got the Canon, but it's such a workhorse AND I actually love the range for some things, that I've kept it. It also makes a heck of a backup should my Canon ever go phooey and need to go in for repairs.

I go on...but short answer, she's wrong

[chezzyr]

Thankyou KJA - I *felt* like saying snob

[BlenheimBoy]

I was at a wedding a couple of weekends ago and I had my D80 and taking a few shots, and I got talking to the pro photographer that was taking the wedding photos, she was using a D80 also, said she had a D200 but it was in the shop getting fixed, she was using the kit lense 18-135 mm for tall the photos. She asked me what my lense was and I said 18-250 macro Tamron and she said that you should never put any lenses on a Nikon except Nikon, I was really taken aback and couldnt bring myself to ask her why?? I felt like a real dummy, Is she right? Id love to hear what other think about this and if they think she is right in saying that why??

This actually makes me laugh... she's using a consumer camera and a cheap'ish consumer lens to shoot a wedding - and she's dis'ing your lens?

all I can say is PFT!

You should have replied with "So you're shooting a wedding with *NO* back-up camera and a consumer lens... Gees!" and then walked off...

ETA:

... the pro photographer ...

Edited April 29, 2009 by BlenheimBoy

[Ripley]

She's a snob.

That's exactly what I thought too. I have a Canon and 2 Sigma lenses. A 17-70 for walkabout use and a 10-20 which was a recent purchase. They are both very good lenses. I've read reviews of the Tamrons and they seem to be quite good too.

[~*Shell*~]

This actually makes me laugh... she's using a consumer camera and a cheap'ish consumer lens to shoot a wedding - and she's dis'ing your lens?

all I can say is PFT!

You should have replied with "So you're shooting a wedding with *NO* back-up camera and a consumer lens... Gees!" and then walked off...

That's what my reaction would have been!

[ILuvAmstaffs]

I have read that on the D200 there "can" be issues with using a third party lens due to the fact that Nikon doesn't share information about the interface they use. Maybe she was referring more to that than actually knocking the quality of the lens?

This is what the Ken Rockwell site says:

Off-Brands

No-name lenses like Quantaray, Sigma, Tokina, Tamron, etc. aren't always compatible with new cameras. Sigma lenses have some problems on the D200 as you can read here. Nikon doesn't prosecute people for making lenses that fit Nikon cameras, but Nikon shares nothing about the electronic interfaces involved. It's not unusual for third-party lenses not to work 100% with new cameras. Nikon has always designed their lenses to work great with future cameras and often includes secret features about which they tell no one till the cameras are introduced later. For instance, my twenty-year old AF Nikkors digitally encode their name and focal length setting which is recorded in the EXIF info by the D200!

Link

[kja]

Nice find, Iluv. Did not know that about the NikD200.

I love my Sigma 17-70, too (and I loved my Sigma 10-20 before it went swimming with the fishies one day) And my Tokina 11-16 2.8 and my Tokina 11-17 fisheye... Yay, third party lenses

[chezzyr]

"she said that you should never put any lenses on a Nikon except Nikon"

she wasn't talking specifically about the d200 in this case

[ILuvAmstaffs]

The above actually refers to all Nikons, not just the D200. It was just in relation to the D200 that I found it as that is what I have bought myself & I had noticed that she said her D200 was in being repaired.

I do agree it's a bit rude to say what she said. I am only trying to give a reason as to why she might think that way.

[kja]

That's so weird...I have lots of friends who shoot Nikons (the whole range) with the Sigma 17-70, 10-20 and the Tokina 10-17 and Tokina 11-16 with no problems at all, so at least those four work Don't know about the others...be interesting to try to find more first hand accounts for those who are thinking about Nik and 3rd party lenses. I wonder what the problems are and if they are "important" or not ... sigh, I don't need to wander off on this tangent, I'm swamped with my own stuff AND I don't even shoot Nikon so it doesn't effect me LOL Bad me!

[tlc]

Thanks for all the replys, I tell you what it was on the tip of my tounge to diss her being the "pro" photographer but as she was a friend of the groom I couldnt bring myself to do it.

I did not take my flash as I just wanted to blend into the crowd with taking photos and didnt want to stand out too much. It just so happened that the bride when doing the seating for the wedding put the photographer at my table as she tought she didnt know anyone else and her and I would have a lot in common, well we did with the same cameras and that was it!!

She actually said to me when I said to her oh we have the same camera, (I think at that point she was embarrassed that a guest at the wedding had the same camera as her) "oh so I see you only use your camera on Auto" and "you wont do any good without a external flash" to which I replyed, "I do have an external flash but didnt want to look like I was trying to be something im not in this situation". And I dont use it on auto at all usually I use it on P as I can change the exp comp and the iso and in certain situations I also use it on A or S or Manual but It just depends on the situation.

Anyway I really wanted to tell her was that the bride had originally asked me to shoot thier wedding, now I know I only have a D80 but she loves my photos and knew I would do a good job and didnt care that they wouldnt be fully proffesional. But I said to her it isnt the kind of Photography that I enjoy and it is way too much pressure for me but I would take some pics on the day and any good ones they can have!!

But the funniest thing when they were about to cut the cake and then have the first dance the "photographer" had to change memory cards which she did sitting next to me and when she put the card in, (it was a brand name id never heard of and looked cheap) it wouldnt work, well it did work but it didnt display the numebr of photos and the display on the camera wouldnt give any details, so she asked me to try it in my camera and I did and it worked perfectly in both my D80 and my canon ixus 970 so she didnt know what to do as she said she had taken 2000 pics of the day and this was her last memory card, at this point I just thought ha suffer in your fat jocks love......

and here is me with about 5 or 6, 2 gig memory cards in my camera bag, now Im not a nasty person actually Im very kind and always go out of my way to help others, my OH always says im thinking about everyone else before I think about myself, but I thought you know what this is your problem not mine, and then I made sure I got some really nice pics of the bride and groom cutting the cake and dancing just incase hers didnt turn out.

The others sitting at my table one girl in particular (a friend) had noticed all she had said to me and said I handled the situation nicely and had put her back in her place very well, she said I didnt have a clue what you were talking about but you sounded more professional than her

Anyway with al that being said, I went to the park the other day for a doggy date with some friends and I put the 18 - 135 kit lense back on and noticed that it is considerable faster focusing than the tamron and will always take the photo where as sometimes the tamron just doesnt wanna work, I am not real happy with it but just keep putting it down to the fact that maybe I dont really know what the hell im doing with it.

Here is one pic from the wedding, I would post more but dont think I shoudl considering the bride hasnt see them yet. I liked this one and I thought it wasnt bad considering the light was fairly low and I didnt use the flash, not much P just checked levels and it was a little dull so lightened it a bit and sharpened and thats it.

thanks again, I really appreciate the responses!!

Edited April 30, 2009 by tlc

[Aubrey]

As a D80 user I would definitely say snob.

As a D80 user who loves his Tamron 28-105mm 2.8, I would definitely say idiot

My lens is pin sharp, and has longer range than the 28-70 Nikon lens at a fraction of the price.

Plus I am looking at getting the Tamron 70-200 2.8 to go with it, and at a fraction of the cost of the Nikon version with better quality.

Let her pay over the odds for the lenses she thinks are the best, and you go on paying less for lenses that give better detail

Sometimes I think Nikon (and other manufactures for that matter) do the kit lenses as a package to try and get people to stick with their lenses. Personally I'm going to get rid of the 18-55 and 55-200 kit lenses for the 3rd party ones which are better for the same price.

[rugerfly]

Good stuff TLC.