Finally put the Tam 150-600 to the test... Hummingbirds and Lizards!

[Hillary]

And she passed.
These were all taken freehand , I was really impressed with this lens, although my arms were sore!!
Ignore the cliche sitting hummingbird.
They were a little too quick for me sans monopod.











x

[Coup de Grace]

They look awesome, how in the heck did you spot them hummers sitting on a limb we have them little dudes all over the place but I can never see them land.

[gdawg]

Great shots! After all the great shots I've seen from that lens, may have to pull the trigger. Was also looking @ Sigma in same configuration but not sure it can beat the quality of this lens which is 1/2 the cost!

[RRFishNHunt]

Great captures!! That lens is on my list next!

[Limbwalker]

And so it begins.

Welcome to the club. It's a great club to be in.

I was with a group of birders today, and several had the older 100-400 Canon IS lens. They all oooh'd and ahhh'd at my Tammy, esp. after I showed them a few shots I took with it while they were hammering away with their "mid" tele's. LOL.

Since I got my 150-600, I've completely lost interest in any other telephoto lenses, at any price range. I don't want Tamron to know this, but I gladly would have paid 2-3x as much for this lens, considering what it can do.

Enjoy yours. The more you learn it, the better it gets!

[ahlongslide]

That is impressive! I'll have to look into the 150-600.

And here I was thinking I was set on the 100-400mm L...

[npe001]

Awesome pictures! I have never seen that kind of lizard before.

[Hillary]

They look awesome, how in the heck did you spot them hummers sitting on a limb we have them little dudes all over the place but I can never see them land.

Just have to keep your eye on one of them until it lands! It takes a while, but you can see where they like to land after a while

Awesome pictures! I have never seen that kind of lizard before.

I have no idea what kind of lizard it is. He lives in one of our wood piles up at our ranch in the hill country.

[WyoBull]

What is the price of that lens?

Limbwalker, when you say "learn" the lens, how about some more specifics. I am curious about what there is to learning this lens.

[Limbwalker]

That is impressive! I'll have to look into the 150-600.

And here I was thinking I was set on the 100-400mm L...

I've swapped lenses with 100-400L owners more than once now. Every single time, they told me they were going to sell their lens and get one like mine, and every single time I have been less than impressed with the results from their 100-400L. I used to want one too. Not anymore. When you upsize a 400mm image from the Canon L lens, it never equals the native 600mm image from the Tammy.

In fact, since owning this Tammy, I've completely lost all interest in any other long telephoto lenses. Any 600mm prime would be 2-3x as large and heavy. This lens is so portable once the lens shade is reversed and it's collapsed, it's crazy.

As far as "learning it" I mean that it takes some time to become intuitive with the controls. Grabbing the zoom ring, switching on and off the focus limiter or VR, etc. Knowing where to locate the tripod ring (or remove it)...

At first, the lens seemed heavy and cumbersome to me. Now, it seems like an extention of my arm and I can get an image many times faster.

This one is from my back yard the other day. I had less than 2 minutes to run to my car, pull that lens and camera and snap a few shots of this Cooper's hawk before she flew.
IMG_6041 by johnmagera, on Flickr

[Limbwalker]

This was from Thurs. morning on a bird tour I led.

IMG_6169 by johnmagera, on Flickr

[Limbwalker]

What is the price of that lens?

When they first came out, they retailed at $1069. That's what I paid for mine at Hou. Camera Exchange, and I was thrilled they even had one in stock.

After having used this lens for several months, I would not feel bad at all paying $3K for it. It's that good.

[Hillary]

Just to add, I think "learning" the lens soo also means finding the sweet spot. The f/ stop that will give you the best results.
I had really good results in f/8

[Limbwalker]

Good point Hillary. I found the same thing and I shoot nearly everything at f/8 now. The VR allows me to hand-hold at speeds down to 1/125 sec. and sometimes even 1/60, so I can usually keep the ISO within reason.

Having said that, I'm not afraid to shoot this lens at f/6.3 or 7.1 I've taken some outstanding photos at 6.3, but if you pixel-peep, you can see it sharpen up a hair at f/8.

[txbassnaholic]

Mine is due in any day now!!!!