This article was co-written with Claus Møller, who also supplied the photographs.
What are we shooting with?
The Tamron 150–600mm f/5–6.3 Di VC USD is an impressive telephoto zoom for its price. It offers a very useful focal-length range for wildlife, sport and moon photography, while its ultrasonic autofocus motor is relatively quiet. At around 2kg, it is not a lightweight lens, but neither is it unusually heavy for this class of super-telephoto zoom.
The lens has a nine-blade circular diaphragm, a 95mm filter thread and a minimum focusing distance of approximately 2.7 metres. Its maximum aperture varies from f/5 at the wide end to f/6.3 at 600mm. The supplied lens hood is a useful addition, although I would have appreciated a proper protective case.
Tamron designed the lens for photographers who want a versatile long-range zoom without paying the price of a professional super-telephoto prime. The sharpness is good for a lens with this range, and it remains useful at the shorter end as well as at 600mm.
A teleconverter can extend the reach, but it comes at the cost of light and autofocus performance. A 2× converter costs two stops, so at 600mm the effective maximum aperture would be around f/13. That is a significant compromise, and compatibility should be checked carefully before using a converter.
Where is it sharpest?
In our tests, the lens appeared to perform particularly well around f/7.1 to f/8. As always, the best aperture depends on focal length, subject distance and the particular copy of the lens.
What is not to like?
Image quality softens somewhat when zooming beyond 500mm, although the photographs we produced were still perfectly acceptable for our purposes. Stopping down to around f/8 improved sharpness in our tests.
One disappointment was the lack of a proper carry case or protective bag. A lens of this size and price deserves better protection when travelling.
Looking at the price
At the time of writing, very few zoom lenses offered a 600mm reach for a full-frame camera at this price. Sigma was the obvious competitor, although pricing and availability varied. The Tamron offered a compelling balance of reach, image quality and cost.
Further information
Lens controls and tripod collar
The button layout is straightforward, and the tripod collar can be removed from the lens when it is not needed.
Photographic examples
400mm, f/8, 1/1000 sec, ISO 800.
Historical note: This is a review of the original Tamron 150–600mm generation and reflects our experience and the market at the time of writing.
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