Tamron 150-600 or Canon 100-400 II?

smr · 22 Jun 2015 at 12:52

Hi all,

Currently researching which of these lenses to get... will be mainly used for Wildlife, motorsport (F1, touring cars etc.) Airshows, Portraits of the kids, some macro etc.

I have a Canon 700D at the moment but will be upgrading to the Canon 7Dmk2 next I think. Probably by the end of the year.

Budget wise obviously the Tamron is a fair chunk cheaper at half the price of the Canon, and has a longer reach. I'm just wondering if this lens would suffice for motorsport and airshows as much as I'd like it to. I've heard the AF can be a bit hit and miss (hunts a bit) and the Canon is superfast and doesn't have that problem at all, but is the AF really that poor on the Tamron? Is it good for panning?

If I go for the Canon I'd save up and get one for Christmas, if I go for the Tamron it would be sometime this Summer. I don't mind waiting for the Canon if it's that much better.

If anyone has the Tamron can they shed any light on what it's like for them, which body they're using it on etc.?

SDK^ · 22 Jun 2015 at 14:01

You can also add the Sigma 150-600 Sport to your options list.

smr · 22 Jun 2015 at 14:02

SDK^ said:
You can also add the Sigma 150-600 Sport to your options list.

I've ruled that out, too heavy.

JBuk · 22 Jun 2015 at 15:16

smr said:
I've ruled that out, too heavy.

How about the contemporary model?

I've just bought one for just over £700 on eBay, it's well built and great iq even at 600mm

SDK^ · 22 Jun 2015 at 17:36

If weight is a priority then the Canon 100-400 II is the one to get as it's 500g less than the Sigma 150-600 C.

smr · 22 Jun 2015 at 17:53

SDK^ said:
If weight is a priority then the Canon 100-400 II is the one to get as it's 500g less than the Sigma 150-600 C.

It is the lightest lens but the Tamron's not much heavier really, however the IQ isn't dramatically different between the lenses so if the Tamron was able to track autofocus whilst panning decently I'd be tempted to go for it.

JBuk · 22 Jun 2015 at 18:14

The tamron and sigma c are pretty much the same weight, most reviews I've read are saying the sigma just edges it on the image quality at full reach, can't report on the focussing between the two though but the sigma seems reasonably fast.

Price wise the tamron is around £100 cheaper than the sigma and usually in stock plus has £100 cashback

2StepSteve · 22 Jun 2015 at 18:47

The Sigma would get my vote, being able to use the dock on it to tweak AF speed and correct focus any issues over the period of ownership is well worth it.

Phal · 22 Jun 2015 at 20:34

Having seen the settings that can be tweaked when I had my 120-300mm F2.8 from Sigma, they do come at a cost (speed vs accuracy) if I remember rightly. The ability to choose your own limits for the focus limiting is nice and the custom modes are handy too since you can have different IS/limiting etc together.

As far as adjusting focusing using the software, It doesn't do anything you can't already do on your camera body unless you've got a fairly old/budget body. Yes the setting then applies to the lens so you don't need to adjust each body but then again the chances it needs the same adjustments to both are low.

2StepSteve · 22 Jun 2015 at 20:43

Phal said:
As far as adjusting focusing using the software, It doesn't do anything you can't already do on your camera body unless you've got a fairly old/budget body. Yes the setting then applies to the lens so you don't need to adjust each body but then again the chances it needs the same adjustments to both are low.

The software and the dock allow you to micro adjust at specific focal lengths and focus distances. The single setting of an on body micro adjustment isn't always spot on, you can end up chasing your tail around and around at different focal lengths and/or focus distances. I had this issue with my Sigma 35mm 1.8 but fixed it quite quickly with the dock.

Phal · 22 Jun 2015 at 21:49

2StepSteve said:
The software and the dock allow you to micro adjust at specific focal lengths and focus distances. The single setting of an on body micro adjustment isn't always spot on, you can end up chasing your tail around and around at different focal lengths and/or focus distances. I had this issue with my Sigma 35mm 1.8 but fixed it quite quickly with the dock.

Yeah it's a little more customisable but even the body microadjust lets you configure the minimum and maximum zooms separately (like at 200mm and 400mm on my 200-400).

I just couldn't be bothered to sit there and figure the adjustments necessary at each focal length available. I just ended up buying Focal and letting that do it's thing.

The my 7d2 body also recognises the 200-400 separate with the builtin extender so that can be adjusted separately.

I know the new sigma TCs now register properly in the dock you can micro adjust them with the lens.

crinkleshoes · 23 Jun 2015 at 07:48

I got the Sigma 150-600 Sport... it is noticeably heavy... but the build quality is exceptional and the image quality is better than both the Contemporary and Tamron... especially past 400mm.

The Canon has the best IQ of all of them.

The sport has better AF than the Cont. and Tamron, on-par with the Canon.

I went with the Sigma because I wanted the extra reach over the Canon and the Sport's IQ is close to the Canon IMO.

Hand holding the Sport is do-able... try one out?