After months of researching, saving and trading in old equipment, I was able to cobble enough money together to buy the Tamron 150-600 telephoto zoom lens. It arrived on Monday and I have been able to take it out a few times and I am impressed. I probably could never save up for a Canon prime 500 or 600 lens or justify spending that kind of money so I was praying that this Tamron would be an answer for me. I have it paired with the Canon 7dMark II.
All wildlife and bird photographers want more reach. You always want to get closer and fill the frame with your subject. Birds especially are challenging as they are so small in the frame if you don’t get close enough.
This morning I tried it out on one of the tiniest of birds I know, the Bushtit, and I am very happy with the results. These birds are so small and fast moving that to get a good photo of them is very difficult or at least I have always found it so. They are lively little things and flock in large noisy social groups and I think I have several good photos here that demonstrate how sharp this lens is. All of these were taken at 600mm.
I took a pretty good photo of a Mountain Bluebird sitting on a bird house yesterday also at 600mm. I don’t see any softness with these photos at 600mm. The Mourning dove was on my fence in the backyard and was also taken at 600mm hand held.
I took this in flight photo of a Northern Harrier which is not sharp but that was operator error. The Tamron is so light at just over 4 pounds that you can hand hold it for bird in flight photos. Someone let me take some photos with their Canon 600mm prime once and I think without a tripod I could not take any photos at all.
Can’t wait to take this new lens up to Klamath and on a Sage Grouse trip I have planned for next month.
Northern Desert Photography 