New TAMRON SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD A011 - Tests.

Photobug

Last I heard was late April. My local camera dealer manager is still waiting on confirmation of shipment of the Nikon mount. They have received and sold all their Canon mount Tamron 150-600mm lens.

michael66

Great news. Thanks for the share Photobug!

Is there any new information regarding when the Nikon mounts will start shipping? I haven't received any new updates on my pre-order for a few weeks now and I am getting anxious.

I went to the first stop ( Berger Bros. ) of the Tamron road show on Sunday in Sysosset, LI ( NY ) and asked several of the employees the same question. There is NO date at all. At least none that Japan has sent their way. There never was a date, just some time in the future and any other date to the contrary is speculation, rumor or worse, a lie. One employee did indicate that as long as the Canon mount is selling so well, they will continue to crank out that mount. They can't switch back and forth. Final note, from two of the employees; Dealers should NOT be collecting any funds for pre-orders. They are not being charged; you should not be charged. And if you decide you no longer want it, you should not be held to the purchase; the dealer is not.

Coastalconn

I think they are taking too long. I'm teetering on the edge of cancelling my pre-order. Dec 23rd was a long time ago and I have seen very few images that lead me to believe IQ will be close to my Sigma 120-300 with the 2x on.

jjb930

Thanks for the friendly advice Michael66. My pre-order has not been charged; however, my intent was to mean that I am anxious to get the lens because this time of year is ideal for nice shots in my region (.....well now and fall).

It is very frustrating that no release date is final yet. There are very few comparable options at this price point for Nikon, but Canon has the 100-400 (if buying used). I understand why Tamron wants to keep pumping out the Canon mounts if they are selling like hot cakes, but I am sure Nikon versions will sell just as well. There seems to be quite a lot of anticipation for the Nikon lens online.

I'll let you know if I hear anything from my pre-order in the next few weeks.

PB_PM

Honestly if you aren't making money from your shots, don't worry about it. Be patient and wait, they will come eventually.

Photobug

Honestly if you aren't making money from your shots, don't worry about it. Be patient and wait, they will come eventually.

+1 Well said.

Ironheart

And if you are making money you should worry? Gee that always helps

Photobug

Next Friday the Tamron representative will be at the local camera store and according to the newspaper ad, he will have the 150-600mm lens. Now it did not say if it had the Canon or Nikon mount. So I am going to ask the question abut the availability of the Nikon mount version and of course, will post his response. This is the same representative that told me last October about the new lens coming in December.

jjb930

I was at my local store today (located in Canada) and inquired about my pre-order. The staff told me that they don't expect the lens to arrive until June. They said they were in contact with Tamron the past week and that April is definitely not happening (and probably May as well)... hence June.

Raja

I saw a video by Matt Granger in Youtube with a demo piece using Nikon camera. Does this mean a Nikon mount is coming soon?

ben_dmb

I think he was using a Canon 1D X.

Raja

I am not sure if he had a converter or something, but this video shows him with a Nikon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSvmpP_7goQ

Raja

Going thru the reviews of the Canon mount, the quality and cost factors seem to be very good for enthusiasts. I hope to see a Nikon mount announced soon. Also, I hope to see some good comparison reviews between this one and the Sigma 150-500/ Bigma 50-500. I have been thinking about the Sigma 150-500, but now I feel that I should wait and see the comparisons and decide. The extra 100mm of Tamron is very enticing.

cowleystjames

Wex photographic are taking pre orders for the Nikon mount and have been told by their Tamron rep that they'll have limited stock supplied to them by May 12th.
Can't imagine the rep would state a date if it wasn't cast in stone.

Hans

According to the Tamron site:
The Nikon mount is to be released on April 30 in Japan and overseas launches will be mid May.
http://www.tamron.co.jp/en/news/release_2014/0424.html

Raja

Wex photographic are taking pre orders for the Nikon mount and have been told by their Tamron rep that they'll have limited stock supplied to them by May 12th.
Can't imagine the rep would state a date if it wasn't cast in stone.

According to the Tamron site:
The Nikon mount is to be released on April 30 in Japan and overseas launches will be mid May.
http://www.tamron.co.jp/en/news/release_2014/0424.html

Thank you both for this info.

If this lens is used with the DX Camera, will there be any appearance difference in the final output other than the cropped size picture filling the full frame of the photo?

jjb930

Thanks for the great news Cowley & Hans!

Photobug

Just logged on and saw the news that Nikon mount starts shipping on April 30th.

I promised that I would update my earlier post from talking to the Tamron sales representative today.

I had a long conversation with the Tamron representative for this area and learned the following. FYI, I have known the representative for two years and everything he has told me has been true. He was the one that told me about the big announcement in December and that it was not a minor tweak to the 200-500mm model.

Here is my summary from our discussion:
++They were notified this week that shipments would start May 15th for the Nikon mount. I would go with Peter's April 30th date since his sources maybe higher up the organization.
++Tamron Sales understated the volume for Canon and Nikon mounts for this lens. Orders are running 50% higher than they forecaster. They are working on adding another manufacturing line.
++When they switch from Canon to Nikon mounts, they will not have filled the orders for the Canon lens mount.
++They expect to be in back order mode for Canon and Nikon mounts for some time.
++He and his boss anticipate the Nikon version will be in back order for at least 60 days. The demand keep growing.
++The salesman did not have a Canon or Nikon 150-600mm to show people today. He is at a 14 hour camera show at two of the local camera dealer stores (in two days).
++They are not sure when they switch to Sony or Canon that they will have filled the pipeline and all the current orders.
++The official order date for the Nikon mount was the middle of January and no orders were received before that date.
++The representatives are still amazed at the $1,069 USD price. They expected it to be closer to $1,500.
++Earlier this week this lens recent an award and the press release was Wednesday. You can find it on the Tamron web site.

We moved on to other lens and he shared the following.
1) The new 28-300mm full frame lens will be shipping soon. It has built in motor, heavy duty construction, and lots of weather proof sealing. Price is over $1,000.
2) The new 16-300mm APS (DX) lens is coming late summer and the demand is expected to be very high. People are gong to be surprised with the price.

That is all I know from Tamron. What I will tell you is that their were 20+ people in line to sell their camera gear to the two KEH representatives. The word I got was they had bought used Tamron 200-500 lenses, and several Leica, and Nikon SLR's plus Nikon D300's and a D300S in the first three hours. While in the store I saw some old rangefinder camera and foldouts from the 40's and 50's and tons of Canon and Nikon DSLR's.

Cheers and have a great day.

PB_PM

++They were notified this week that shipments would start May 15th for the Nikon mount. I would go with Peter's April 30th date since his sources maybe higher up the organization.

That could simply be a difference between the time Tamron ships the lens from the factory, to general availability in stores. Sounds about right for that to be the case.

Photobug

Great point. That would be sufficient time for in-transit from the factory to store.

Feel sorry for those waiting to touch and feel the lens before ordering. They could be looking at 90 days.

Coastalconn

Almost 6 moths to the date and mine will arrive tomorrow! Can't wait to test it out and see if it was worth the wait!

Photobug

Please post pictures on PAD @Coastakconn. Looking forward to seeing and hearing your comments here.

TriShooter

@Costalconn

I saw your PAD post with the new lens today. Read the ID number on the hawk's leg and ordered one for myself. ^:)^

Coastalconn

So I will say that the Tamron is an incredible value. Obviously it does not compete with my Sigma 120-300 F2.8 in the IQ department and it won't match any of the exotics. I do however feel that it easily beats the 150-500 OS that I have. I have only shot with it one morning so far. To me it seems very well built. Af is reasonably fast and very quiet. One thing I noticed that no one else has mentioned is that it almost seems to muffle the shutter sound which results in a very stealthy combo with the D7100. Besides snobby places like DPR, this lens is clearly a winner and the obvious choice for a budget wildlife lens. I felt like it tracked BIF pretty well in contrasty scenes. If there wasn't too much contrast it didn't, but that can be expected of any lens in this category and it's more of a light hitting the AF sensor. The 120-300 will track in lower light obviously but it costs 3x more and has 2 more stops of light hitting the AF sensor. All the pictures I uploaded to flickr originally, I intentionally processed very little and added no additional sharpening(other than default) intentionally so people could view "rawish" files. The one on pad today was more of my normal processing and it shows the lens has great potential.

Photobug

@Coastalconn Thanks for the great summary of your initial impressions of the new Tamron lens. Now you have me thinking of buying one.