Thanks to Tamron for lending me this lens for a day at the Cincinnati Zoo. Since I knew I would be walking a lot, I took only my mono-pod with me. I am very impressed with this lens. It can take very sharp photos.

Will give you very sharp photos; Zoom range of 500mm; Build quality felt good; Just love the design of Tamron's; lid caps

Not a hand-held lens; Should at least use a mono-pod, Wide open of 200mm could be a problem

What digital camera reviews the Tamron SP AF200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di LD (IF) lens...

Along with my 18-200 Canon lens, this now gives me everything from 18-500mm with only 2 lenses. Best to use a good mono or tripod, but in good lighting it can be used without. I love taking it to the Zoo and Wild Animal Park and have taken some great photos.

Consistent Output; Durable; Easily Interchangeable; Quick Focus; Rugged; Sharp Focus; Strong Construction

Heavy

I have been using this lens on a Sony A700 and have never had an issue with the quality of the images. I do wish that the lens has SSM and a much faster focus. With that said, I found for my sensor setting the ISO at 800, SS at 500-1000 and aperture between F9\F16 really improves the sharpness of...

Excellent results from 200-500; no distortion; CA or loss of detail

Difficult to hand hold at full extension

I borrowed this lens from my father-in-law for over a year. He says he's used it for bird in flight photography, but with the auto focus on this lens, I don't see how you could do that. It worked great for egrets and other stationary birds.

Lots of reach Spinning filter ring and hood Really sharp from 200-380mm

Kind of slow Focus is not great Not all that great above 380mm; but still plenty usable

The longer the focal length, the bigger the lens. And if you need a 500mm lens (800mm equivalent when fitted to a digital SLR), you can't expect it to fit in the average gadget bag. To its credit, the Tamron 200-500mm is pretty compact for a lens of this range.

SurpriseI stumbled across this lens while shopping at a pawn shop.

Affordable; Quality Lens; Great Clarity; Wide Range of Zoom

Focus ring position requires getting used to.

I love the lens. I mainly shoot from my back porch looking out to a wooded ravine. In the winter months in WI I love to get close up photos of the birds at my feeders and in the yard. This does the trick for me.

Very good lens from Nikon. Affordable for wildlife photography. Optical quality is very-very good. VR is the best I've had on any Nikkor. Focusing speed is fine but not a race engine. All in all a home run from Nikon.

Handling and Features Performance Verdict Specification The AF-S Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6 E ED lens is an FX format powerful telephoto zoom, ideally aimed at sports and wildlife photographers.

Quality of manufacture; Hand-holdable; Excellent even results; Excellent ergonomic design; Constant f/5.6 aperture

Weight