Tamron 28-75mm f2.8

For those looking for a mid-range zoom lens, the Tamron 28-75mm is probably one of the best choices. Now I am not gonna bore you with test charts or 100% zooms to pixel peep, I am just gonna write in general how this lens feels and performs hands-on.

I have had this lens for roughly 5-6 months now, so I've had plenty of experience with it, considering also this is my primary lens now, replacing my previous Canon 18-55mm IS kit lens.

The Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 mounted on EOS 40D

Lumix DMC-LX3, 1/30s shutter at f/2.0, ISO-80 with 580EXII

The main reasons I opted for this Tamron....
1) The focal length:
    The 28-75mm is a very sweet range for general purpose photography and you can practically bring this  
    lens anywhere and have good confidence that you are going to get the shot, especially when it comes to
    frame filling portraits. This lens has an equivalent focal length of 42-112mm on a full frame camera. Not a
    really wide lens at 42mm, but I have shot group photos of 20+ people in a tight living room using this lens.

The 28-75mm focal range....great for portraits.

Lumix DMC-LX3, 1/30s shutter at f/2.0, ISO-80 with 580EXII

2) The fixed aperture:
    This Tammy comes with a fixed f2.8 aperture throughout the 28-75mm focal length, which means you get
    the benefits of a fast f2.8 aperture throughout the zoom range. Very cool and useful for low light and
    indoor photography. Compared to the 18-55mm kitlens, the Tammy is roughly 2 stops faster (at 55mm).
    The f2.8 also provides better subject isolation given the smaller DOF.

3) The image quality:
    One thing you will notice (upgrading from the kitlens) is that the lens quality really shows. Being dubbed
    the "SP" suffix in the name means it is Tamron's highest quality lens line. This really shows with vibrantly
    colored shots straight out of cam. Sharpness at the center of the frame is also superb. But one thing I
    noticed is that shots from this lens tends to be quite warm (yellow).

SP...Tamron's stamp for "superior performance"

Lumix DMC-LX3, 1/30s shutter at f/2.0, ISO-80 with 580EXII

4) Price:
    I got my copy for RM1,700 (around May'09). For the price tag, this lens is really great value for money.


The one and only obvious complaint I have for the Tamron is pobably the Autofocus. It tends to hunt quite often indoors and in low light situations. Though with the 580EXII Speedlight mounted, this problem is nearly non-existent (due to the 580EXII's AF assist lamp).

So the bottomline is a great walk-around lens in the Tamron 28-75mm f2.8, the build quality is also very sturdy and the rubbery grips on the lens body gives it much better handling. The macro capabilities of the lens are also quite good, providing 1:2.8 amplification (0.36x magnification). Great lens for beginners and amateurs to start their photography before making the jump to Canon "L" lenses.


The full name:
Tamron SP AF 28-75MM F/2.8 XR Di LD Aspherical (IF)

SP - Super Performance (Tamron's highest quality lens line)
AF - Autofocus
XR - Extra Refractive Glass (reduces lens size)
Di - Digitally Integrated Design (to reduce ghosting, flare, CA and peripheral light fall-off along with improved resolution)
LD - Low-Dispersion lens elements (to reduce chromatic aberration for sharper images)
Aspherical - contains aspherical elements (compensates for spherical aberration and distortion, making for better performance with fewer elements (and thus allowing for smaller, lighter lenses)
(IF) - Internal Focusing


Lens Construction (Groups/Elements) 14/16
Angle of View (on film) 75°-32°
Type of Zooming - Rotation
Diaphragm Blade Number - 7
Minimum Aperture - F/32
Minimum Focus - 0.33m (13") (entire zoom range)
Macro Magnification Ratio - 1:3.9 (at 75mm, on film)
Filter Diameter - 67mm
Weight - 510g (18.0oz.)
Diameter x Length - 73mm x 92mm (2.9in x 3.6in)
Accessory - Lens hood
Available Mounts - Canon, Minolta, Nikon-D, Pentax



Relevant links:
http://www.tamron.com/lenses/prod/2875mm.asp
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Tamron-28-75mm-F-2.8-XR-Di-Lens-Review.aspx
http://www.radugrozescu.com/photo-tech/tamron-28-75-review.html

So what's the deal with RAW?

I was 1st introduced to the RAW format when I bought my 1st semi-pro compact, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 (see my personal review here) . Back then, I had no idea what RAW was all about. But after jumping onto the DSLR bandwagon with the Canon EOS 40D, I slowly grew to love RAW as my standard shooting format over JPEG.

So what is RAW? How does it differ compared to JPEG?

Quote from wikipedia:
"A camera raw image file contains minimally processed data from the image sensor of either a digital camera, image or motion picture film scanner. Raw files are so named because they are not yet processed and therefore are not ready to be used with a bitmap graphics editor or printed. Normally, the image is processed by a raw converter in a wide-gamut internal colorspace where precise adjustments can be made before conversion to a "positive" file format such as TIFF or JPEG for storage, printing, or further manipulation, which often encodes the image in a device-dependent colorspace."

A bit confusing? In lame man terms, RAW, as the name indicates is the unprocessed & uncompressed image coming from the camera's sensor, all stored into 1 big file. It lets you have more creative control over your image during editing basically, and you get a much higher usable dynamic range.

So to make things simple, here is a simple break down of what makes RAW tick....

1) Much greater dynamic range to work with during PP (post processing).
2) No worries on getting the white balance spot on in camera, white balance can be tweaked in PP.
3) Changes done to the RAW file are reversible (because changes are saved in a different *.xmp file), which means the "original photo" is always safe.
4) You have 12-14 bits of color tone data to work with (compared to JPEGs 8-bits).
5) Exposure can be tweaked up to 1 or 2 stops (risks of over or under-exposure minimalized).
6) You have more control over how you wanna process the image (contrast, saturation, hue, noise reduction, sharpening, etc), while JPEG have fixed parameters based on programming/image processor inside the camera.
7) No JPEG compression means no data loss.

As you can see from here, on the right is the JPEG version, on the left is the RAW version of the same shot. Much of the white balance issues can be corrected easily with RAW and highlight clippings are easily recovered.

Sounds good, but then....

1) RAW files are huge (easily 2~4 times more than high quality JPEG).
2) Bigger files means less capacity for your camera & longer write times.
3) Your PP workflow increases at the cost of greater control over IQ (image quality), which means you might spend more time in front of the PC editing your pics rather then shooting photos.
4) You need to install codecs or a 3rd party software like Photoshop to view RAW files (unlike JPEG, where you can view it almost everywhere as long as there is a PC).
5) You need a really fast PC to really benefit from RAW during PP as it takes up a lot of memory.
6) Significantly reduces your camera's burst speed (due to the larger files & longer write times).

Exactly the same shot, but the RAW file is roughly 7 times bigger. 

And so, RAW isn't all that perfect. It has its cons, but for some, the IQ gain out weighs everything else.
Although I have read quite a lot of pros recommending the use of RAW; I have also read my equal share of pros advising against using RAW too often because photography is about spending more time out of the house shooting, not spending hours in front of the PC editing RAW files.

In the end, it is up to the photographer to decide which suits them best.
I for one, like the freedom that RAW provides in PP and I shoot RAW 40% of the time.
Try to mix things up a bit to find your own balance.... =)


Some relevant reading materials on RAW:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raw_image_format
http://www.digital-photography-tutorial.com/shooting-raw-vs-shooting-jpeg/
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/rawtruth1.shtml

Day 9 - Yehliu

This is Yehliu, a geopark near Taipei.
It was drizzling a lot throughout our trip, so we did not manage to get many nice photos. Many of my shots had "water droplet" marks on them....-___-"

Beehives

EOS 40D, 1/160s shutter at F/11, ISO-400

Nature's Weird Art-piece

EOS 40D, 1/500s shutter at f/3.5, ISO-400

Waves

EOS 40D, 1/2000s shutter at f/5.6, ISO-400

Splash

EOS 40D, 1/3s shutter at f/29, ISO-200

Overlooking the seas

EOS 40D, 1/500s shutter at f/8.0, ISO-200

Yehliu in HDR

EOS 40D, HDRed from 3 exposures

Rocky beach in HDR
EOS 40D, HDRed from 3 exposures



For the complete album, please visit:
http://khpc82.multiply.com/photos/album/136/Taiwan_Day_9_-_Yehliu



Links to the rest of my Taiwan photos:
Day 1 - Taipei

Day 2 - Cing Jing

Day 3 - Cing Jing & Alishan

Day 4 - Alishan & KaoHsiung

Day 5 - KaoHsiung & KenTing

Day 6 - KenTing & Hualien

Day 7 - Taroko & Hualien

Day 8 - Taipei