| > | | | | Macro lens. |
| At last. A macro lens with large aperture and a small | | | | 1. Super quality images. The excellent image quality |
| price tag. Tamron has delivered macro photography to | | | | was acknowledged, and a few even mentioned that |
| the world with the Tamron 60mm Macro Lens. If you | | | | the image quality was a pleasant surprise to them. It |
| are looking for a macro lens that gives excellent | | | | must be mentioned that using a prime (or single focal |
| quality, look no further than the Tamron SP AF 60mm | | | | length) lens does give a much better chance for high |
| F/2 Di II LD[IF] Macro 1:1 lens. It is available for purchase | | | | image quality than a zoom lens. |
| at your favorite online vendor. That is a name | | | | 2. Depth of Field. The plane of focus, being a macro |
| deserving of a champion, right? I mean what are all | | | | lens, was narrow enough, even at the smaller |
| those letters - are they important? | | | | apertures to produce a nice blurring, or bokeh, effect. |
| Here's the break down: | | | | This declaration by the manufacturer is important: The |
| - SP = High performance specifications (I know, pretty | | | | Tamron 60mm Macro lens is the only lens in the World |
| obscure) | | | | that can boast an F/2.0 aperture at that focal length. |
| - AF = auto focus | | | | The closest competitor has as its largest aperture F |
| - F/2 = aperture designation for the largest | | | | 2.8. |
| aperture(lens opening) | | | | This lens is not merely for macro photography, |
| - Di II = digital images only, not film images | | | | although it is very good in that category. Portraits are |
| - LD = Low Dispersion glass | | | | also produced with excellent results using the 60mm |
| - IF = Internal focusing | | | | lens. Many photographers use a 50mm lens for |
| Lots of techy information represented in those letters. | | | | portraits, but this one worked exceptionally well for |
| Are they necessary? They certainly are. | | | | taking sharp portraits. |
| The features available in the Tamron 60mm Macro | | | | Much has been mentioned in favor of the Tamron |
| lens are what make it a fantastic lens. | | | | 60mm Macro lens. But are there any negatives? |
| In spite of the long list, there are a couple of "letters" | | | | There actually is one feature that has caused some |
| that could make this an even sweeter lens - VC and | | | | negative comments. The lens has auto focus with a |
| USD. VC, Vibration Compensation, is similar to Image | | | | manual override. That means that you can use the |
| Stabilization, and USD, Ultrasonic Silent Drive, is for very | | | | camera to get the focus automatically, but if you feel |
| fast focus. In spite of being excellent additions to the | | | | that you can tweak the focus manually to get it |
| technology of the lens, they would add lots to the price | | | | sharper, you can do that. The reviewing photographers |
| tag, making it too expensive for the many intended | | | | seemed to have trouble with this feature, because the |
| users. | | | | lens would try to auto focus while they were using the |
| Who are the intended users? It is only good for use on | | | | manual override. |
| APC-C cameras... I know, more letters. Are you an | | | | This is a problem with some other macro models, too. |
| APS-C camera owner? You are if you own a digital | | | | Because you are so close to the subject, and the |
| SLR cameras with a modified sensor that is less than | | | | plane of focus is so narrow, it is sometimes difficult for |
| "full frame". These are cameras like the Digital Rebels | | | | the auto focus feature to get a tack-sharp focus. With |
| in the Canon line and the D5000 in the Nikon line. | | | | the Tamron 60mm Macro lens, the testers agreed that |
| This is a good thing, because the Tamron engineers | | | | they were able to master this problem, but it was |
| have focused on a single type of camera rather than | | | | somewhat of a negative in their evaluation. |
| trying to make a lens that will be perfect for every | | | | All in all this is a really great lens for entry level to mid |
| camera. | | | | level digital slr cameras. This lens offers photographers |
| There are two features, in particular, that have been | | | | a affordable macro lens that gives great image quality. |
| mentioned in each review of the Tamron 60mm | | | | |