Gary Wolstenholme takes a look at Tamron's first lens to include both an Ultrasonic focusing motor and Vibration Compensation.

Very good optical performance; Good build quality; Ultrasonic drive; Effective vibration compensation system

Focusing a little slower than other silent focusing systems I've used

Unlike the somewhat basic affair that is the Tamron AF 70-300mm Macro, the new Tamron SP 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di VC USD has all the latest bells and whistles, or at least their high-tech, optical equivalents.

The Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di VC USD Lens features a popular and useful focal length range, a nice design, USD (Ultrasonic Silent Drive) AF and VC (Vibration Compensation) for a very affordable price .

The Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di VC is a new telephoto zoom that covers a convenient and popular telephoto range. In Tamron terminology, Di means the lens is optimized for digital cameras and VC is vibration compensation, similar to Canon's image stabilization (IS) and Nikon's vibration reduction...

Tailor-made for wildlife and sports shooters, this third-generation 70–300mm full-frame telezoom in Tamron's SP line adds Vibration Compensation (VC) plus two innovations: an Ultrasonic Silent Drive (USD) focusing motor for near-silent AF, and an element of what Tamron calls XLD glass, a relatively...

For the first time, Tamron has incorporated an Ultrasonic Silent Drive, or USD, with full-time manual override in this zoom lens, making it a competitive technology with Nikon's Silent Wave Motor, Canon's Ultrasonic Motor (USM), and Sony's Super Sonic wave Motor.

Tl;dr: low aberration is a boon, distortion is well controlled, Tamron priced it well The full review: Tamron made this lens to fit well in an area that is kind of empty: mid-range telephoto lenses under $1k, and the features that it offers is excellent.

Have had this lens about a month and overall I'm quite satisfied. Images are sharp as a tack through all zoom ranges (may drop off slightly at max but not objectionable). Image stabilization is excellent and is better than I expected. Overall operation is smooth and quiet.

Consistent Output; Easily Interchangeable; Fast / accurate auto-focus

Heavy

A surprising good lens, did read many reviews in order to choose between nikon 70-300 and this one , in the end the Tamron was best in most of the reviews. So bought one. (nikon was $ 713 that's $ 300 more !

Sharp; light; accurate autofocus ; inexpensive

noise; distortion

I saw Tamron has more rebates out right now. Got my first one on rebate...this makes it enticing to look at more toys...

Just chiming in as others have said--spectacular value; I bought this from Newegg over a year ago Along with a Canon T2i), and it is still performing flawlessly; It is a joy to use; The Image Stabilization (IS) is truly as good as everyone says it is.

It wasn't free