On The Road Again with Tamron

Presented by Andre Costantini

Tamron is one of the largest lens manufacturers.  They brand their own lenses as well as many other companies. We were blessed to have Andre Costantini, a professional photographer who works with Tamron. He travelled to from New York to visit the LPA, along with Greg Becker (gbecker@aol.com), who is the Tamron sales representative for the Southern California and Las Vegas area.

The workshop presented on May 25 at 6:00 pm was before 35-40 LPA folks and ran about 1-1/2 hours long.  Andre demonstrated both the technical and artistic uses of lenses and other photography principles.  A demo table was set up, with lenses available to try out and ask questions. 

Tamron has five grouping of lens: All-in-One Zoom, Ultra-Wide-Angle Zoom, Fast Zoom Lens, Telephoto Zoom, and Macro lens. Each lens is manufactured for Nikon and Canon and other cameras.

Andre described the markings and technology for each of the lens types. The “Di” is for the large full frame sensor and “Di II” for the small sensor cameras. VC stands for Vibration Compensation. Tamron lens has three positions VC for, active, passive and off. When shooting on tripod, the VC can actually cause shake (all VC lens not just Tamron’s), so he recommends turning it off when mounted on tripod. The VC can “give you” up to 3-4 additional stops of stabilized motion.  As a rule of thumb, your minimum shutter speed should be 1/focal length.  So instead of shooting 1/250 at 300mm, you could shoot at 1/50 at 300mm and still get a sharp image. Tamron has PZD and USD markings as their motor types on their lens. Auto Focus (AF)/Manual Focus (MF) clutch mechanism allows the photographer to take focusing control without moving the camera off eye. Tamron also makes extension tubes (allows for greater macro capability) and tele-converters to extend the zoom factor. All of their lenses have a six year warranty.

Andre demonstrated all five types and different focal lens. When traveling, he recommends carrying at least two lenses… one that zooms over a wide range, like the 18-270mm F/3.5-6.3 Di-II VC PZD and a fast lens like the 70-200mm  F/2.8 DI.

We were given a list of things to take notes on:

• Using Your Zoom:  Fast aperture zooms are ideal
• Changing Color:  Sometimes bright colors detract from portraits; play with your white balance setting
• Move Your Subject:  For portraits, move your subject into open shade where you have soft light.  Catch light in the eyes is important as it makes a “connection”
• Composition:  If trying to make composite photos, use photos taken with similar lens focal lengths
• Location:  Visit the same place/location at different times of year/ day
• Angle of View:  Try front light/ back light. Move around! Work it.
• When to Shoot:  Twilight, when the light is balanced is always nice.  The best camera is the one you have with you when the photo op occurs.   

Tamron gave all members a “goodie” bag, which included $25 bonus rebate (if purchased from a dealer in Southern California) and rebate on certain lenses from $25 thru $150 if purchased before July 31, 2011. A Tamron lens catalog and spec sheet was provided, along with a flier on Tamron’s Camera Club Photography Contest 2011.  A thick protective Velcro camera/lens wrap was also in the goodie bag.  All in attendance received a ticket for a chance to win 1 of 5 books – National Geographic’s Ultimate Guide to Travel Photography.  Five LPA attendees went home with a new photography book.

Tamron has their Tamron Learning Center (http://www.tamron-usa.com/lenses/learning_center/default-new.asp) and blog called Angle of View (http://tamrontechstips.typepad.com/)  If interested in “stacking” photos (to get a greater depth of field, or to stack time exposures like star trails) check out Mikes Notes available at the blog site.

Andre’s website is at http://www.catskillsworkshops.com/

Article by Douglas Wade & Sue Craft