kashka51

I am very new to bird photography. I own a Canon T5i. Any comments, concerns or suggestions on adding Tamron SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD Lens for Canon to my collection. I have a Canon 55-250 mm but I am looking for more focal length. Thanks for any info!!!

orrie smith Loc: Kansas

I had a Tamron 150-600 that took good photos. I shoot nikon, so i rented the nikon 200-500 and it was much better than the tamron so i sold it and bought the nikon. The picture quality was a little better, but what sold me was the much quicker focusing on the nikon. If there is a Canon version of the 150-600, or somewhere close, i would suggest renting the two lenses and comparing them in the field before you buy.

kashka51

Thanks!

Old Timer Loc: Greenfield, In.

I have the Canon version of the Tamaron 150 600 and well satisfied with it. I also have a Canon 300 L lens that I some time use with TC that works well and also some times use my Canon 70 200 with TC. I like a prime but some times you need to have one that you can zoom in with in case one is close. No one is perfect but I like the Tamaron except for the weight on a full from it is heavy for hand held. You will need a good tripod and heavy duty head or preferable Gimble head for it.

kashka51

Thanks for the reply!

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Get the G2 version, it is much better than the original.

kashka51

Thanks

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

Your camera has a crop sensor. Your horizontal field of view at 200' for the 250 would be about 18', for the 600 it's about 7'. So think about the size of the bird and the likely distance you will have to the subject versus how large it will appear in the field of view. An on-line photography calculator helps with this visualization. I use the one at tabaware.com.

kashka51

ok thanks

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Many users find the original Tamron 150-600mm to be a bit "soft" between 500 and 600mm. How much of that is due to the lens or "user error" with such long focal lengths is hard to say. Be aware that Tamron has superseded it with a "G2" version that's said to be improved quite a bit. Of course, it also costs more. You might search for info about the two versions.

Sigma also makes two 150-600mm zooms. Their "C" or "contemporary" version is roughly equivalent to the first version of the Tamron. Their "S" or "sports" version is heftier, more pro-oriented build quality and probably the best image quality of the four... but it's also the biggest, heaviest and most expensive.

These lenses were actually quite ground-breaking. Before them, you could expect to spend $10,000 for a 600mm lens. Sigma has a couple that reached 400mm or 500mm, but there were few affordable lenses longer than about 300mm.

A lot more "hand-holdable" and pleasant to carry around, both Sigma and Tamron are also now offering 100-400mm lenses, if you could "get by" with "only" 400mm (which qualifies as "super telephoto" when fitted to an APS-C camera like your T5i). These considerably smaller and lighter than the 150-600mm lenses, as well as more affordable. It appears the Sigma is the slightly sharper of the two at the max focal length, but it doesn't have a tripod mounting ring or any means of adding one. The Tamron doesn't come with a tripod ring either, but it can optionally be fitted with one. That fact alone would have me leaning toward he Tamron. The very best of them all is the Canon 100-400mm II, but it's more than double the cost of either the Sigma or Tamron 100-400mm... even more expensive than any of the 150-600mm.

Canon doesn't have a 150-600mm at present (or a 200-500mm like the Nikkor mentioned in another post, for that matter). The closest they come is the 100-400mm II mentioned above. That's said to work well with a quality 1.4X teleconverter (such as Canon's own), though I haven't ever had occasion to use my 100-400 II that way. Plus, with an f/8 effective aperture that lens/teleconverter combo on a T5i would be manual focus only, won't be able to autofocus (can AF on some of the newer models, most at center AF point only).

Canon's only other super telephoto zoom is their EF 200-400mm f/4L Extender, which has a built in, matched 1.4X teleconverter than can be enabled or disabled with the flip of a lever.... effectively giving it a 200 to 560mm range of focal length (f/4 from 200 to 400mm, f/5.6 when the teleconverter is engaged from 280 to 560mm). That has stunning image quality, internal focusing and zooming, pro-level build and sealing, and top notch overall performance. HOWEVER, it's a big, 8 lb., $11,000 lens!

kashka51

Very helpful Thanks!

crazydaddio Loc: Toronto Ontario Canada

crazydaddio Loc: Toronto Ontario Canada

Great post and lots of detail.

Only additional comment is the sigma 150-600 c is better than the Tamron g1 but not as good as the g2. Consider that in your decision.

kashka51

Thanks

wesm Loc: Los Altos CA

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