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Rating: 
Summary: Wishful thinking
Review: Having carried two cameras (Nikons with Nikor zooms) to give me a range of 28 to 300mm, I thought it would be great to have the same range and only have to lug one camera. Being a loyal Nikon fan and user, I was somewhat leary of the Tamron Brand. I did some research and used the lens to take some test rolls. The test results were fine. The Zomm action worked very hard in the beginning & Within six months it was so loose that you could not hang it over your shoulder without locking the lens, because it would extend to 300mm on its own. I just returned from Alaska and the Tamron was not satisfactory in my opinion. Half way through the trip it started to take longer for the auto-focus to focus - if it did at all. During a glacier trek it was damaged - I'm not getting it fixed! I'll lose 100mm and buy the Nikon 28-200 Zoom.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice piece of equipment
Review: I've been using one of these for about 18 months. Mainly in Asia so I have no feel for cold climate performance, but it seems pretty well resistant to humidity. In that time I've shot approximately 380 rolls of film, with this lens responsible for about 70% of the frames that's about 9 - 10,000 pictures, exposure accuracy and focusing have been excellent (Nikon F90s and F100). For a lens of this focal range it is well protected from flare. I have routinely produced acceptable 11 X 14 prints (100 ISO film). My biggest complaint is that after a "wearing in" period the lens doesn't creep, it runs, and you have to get used to using and, not forgetting to, releasing the lock. This does make for complications on "down hill" shots with the camera on a tripod.It isn't perfect, but for an all-in-one lens for touring, it comes pretty damn close.
Rating:
Summary: Get the Nikon 70-300 instead
Review: This lens does have some nice features, the most notable of course is the ability to go from a semi-wide angle shot all the way to 300mm and zoom in. The lens has a locking feature that allows you to lock the zoom.
Unlike the other reviewers I was not happy in the least with the prints I got using this lens. I took six test rolls of film and found the pictures to be sub-par. The auto focus on this lens seems to be the main culprit. Even in conditions with good lighting this lens seemed to be forever focusing, and half the pictures still seem to lack focus. The color separation was horrible on the prints. Until I bought this lens I never had a problem getting good pictures using automatic settings on my camera (N70).
I brought this lens back and bought the Nikon 70-300 and continued using my Quantray 28-80 for the majority of my shooting. The difference was noticeable, immediately noticeable. The Nikon lens focus's quicker, and the prints come out a heck of a lot better.
Rating:
Summary: Get the Nikon 70-300 instead
Review: This lens does have some nice features, the most notable of course is the ability to go from a semi-wide angle shot all the way to 300mm and zoom in. The lens has a locking feature that allows you to lock the zoom.
Unlike the other reviewers I was not happy in the least with the prints I got using this lens. I took six test rolls of film and found the pictures to be sub-par. The auto focus on this lens seems to be the main culprit. Even in conditions with good lighting this lens seemed to be forever focusing, and half the pictures still seem to lack focus. The color separation was horrible on the prints. Until I bought this lens I never had a problem getting good pictures using automatic settings on my camera (N70).
I brought this lens back and bought the Nikon 70-300 and continued using my Quantray 28-80 for the majority of my shooting. The difference was noticeable, immediately noticeable. The Nikon lens focus's quicker, and the prints come out a heck of a lot better.
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