So, on Friday my shiny new Tamron 70-200 f2.8 VC arrived. Today I was at my daughters dance concert and had a chance to give it a reasonable go. I thought I would give it a quick review...

Why I wanted a 70-200 2.8
Like a lot of people, I have dreamed of getting one of these lenses. As my daughter does dance (usually in poorly lit halls) I have a need for both the range and the ability to raise the aperture as high as possible. In the past, I have hired the Nikon v2 and of course loved it. It was quick, super sharp and simply unbelievable to use. HOWEVER, like many the price was just too much.

Very Comfy!
The first thing I noticed was that the Tamron was really comfortable to use. When I have used the nikon for a couple of days straight, I was left with a tender left hand. But the Tamron is noticeably different. The collar and foot are perfectly sized. The combination of the size of the foot and the distance the foot is from the collar itself means that you can balance the lens in your hand and support it via the foot. This also meant that there was no inadvertent 'bumping' of the focusing ring, which many reviewers talk about. This may seems like a silly thing to talk about but it was honestly the first thing I noticed. After a day using it I was left with the desire to... do it all over again

Quick, Sharp and VERY Quiet
To me (IMHO) the lens was quick and produced some lovely sharp images. OK, it is not as good as the nikon, even I could notice that. There were times when it didn't focus and some images, especially at 200mm at 2.8 aren't super sharp. However, for me, the fact that it was half the price of the nikon (even comparing, Tamron local vs Nikon grey import) excuses this. Because I was still able to get the shots I wanted 90% of the time. The lens also seemed to produce best results at f4 or above especially when at full zoom. Another thing I noticed was just how quiet this thing is. To be honest, I don't think I could hear it working at all.

I have only just arrived home and haven't even loaded the shots yet, When I do, I will post here ASAP. I simply wanted to get my thoughts down about the lens while they were fresh in my mind.

Cheers
danny