Tamron AF28-300mm (F/3.5-6.3 XR Di MACRO) Sharpness Test

What I did with this test wouldn't consider scientific but I think it's close enough to what I will be doing during sunny days in Europe--hand holding my camera. (Though I will use a small tripod or rest the camera on something while doing night photography). The image above shows the distance between me and the clock. This is also the spot where I tested various focal lenghts. Click on the links below to see samples. Keep in mind, these samples, shot at ISO 200, are shown @ 100% from 36.4MB files with some Photoshop sharpening. (Note: Judging lens quality from an image viewing at 100% in Photoshop, though this seems to be the standard practice, IS NOT fair to any lens because viewing at this size, the image is many times bigger than the actual print size. Plus, not all computer monitors are set at the same resolution. The true test is to make prints and then do side-by-side comparison).

- 1/800 F8.0 - 50mm - View @ 100%
- 1/800 F8.0 - 70mm - View @ 100%
- 1/800 F8.0 - 100mm - View @ 100%
- 1/1000 F9.0 - 130mm - View @ 100%
- 1/640 F11 - 200mm - View @ 100%
- 1/640 F11 - 300mm - View @ 100%

In reality, I wouldn't stand this far back to take a picture of the clock. In fact, I would get a lot closer. The point of this test is to see how far I can push this lens.

At 200mm and 300mm, the image is a bit softer than the rest hence required a little more sharpening and chromatic aberration is really bad though easily removed. I think shooting at these two focal lengths, the images are still presentable with some help from Photoshop.

Below is another shot I took last week. It was shot at 1/1250s F8.0 100mm (ISO 400) with AI Servo AF mode. You can see full frame and close-up at 100%.