• Tamron
• Kenko-Tokina

Olympus press release.

Thanks to Tamron My Photo Exhibits, you can organize your pictures in what looks a lot like visiting a public exhibition.

This may be a little awkward to use. But it gives a different context for your best pictures. You may want to try it.

Sony E-mount lenses

Here is very good news for the Sony customers. But it’s even better when we read the list of names that Sony immediately provided: Lens manufacturers having already expressed their interest in designing lenses for the E-mount:

• Zeiss, traditional ally of Sony around the A-mount of Alpha SLR cameras.
• Tamron, old friend of the orange house, and partner back in the Minolta times.
• Cosina, owner of the very elitist Voigtländer brand.
• Sigma, manufacturer of the broadest range of compatible lenses.

Assuredly, this type of talks is usually very discreet. Here, Sony decided to strike our imaginations in one big marketing blow, demonstrating their clear intent to develop the NEX range of hybrid mirror-less cameras in the best conditions for a long life. The message has been received loud and clear.

Tamron around the world:

• http://www.tamron.com
• http://www.tamron.fr
• http://www.tamron-usa.com
• http://www.tamron.co.uk/
• http://www.tamron.pl/
• http://www.tamron.de

To celebrate their 60th anniversary, Tamron is giving away 60 (sixty!) Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD zoom lenses, one each day from September 1st.

Register at http://www.tamron-usa.com.

Press Release

Tamron’s Great 60th Anniversary 60-Day Lens Giveaway: Sign Up For Tamron E-News And Be In It To Win It!

A Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD to Be Given Away Each Day For The Next 60 Days Along With Four Other Prizes

September 1, 2010, Commack, NY— To celebrate the company’s 60 years of optical innovation and excellence, Tamron USA has announced an unprecedented promotional program designed to reward the legions of photo enthusiasts and loyal Tamron fans residing in the USA who have helped to make Tamron a world leader in precision optics for digital imaging. For the next 60 days—from September 1st to October 30th 2010—anyone[1] that’s signed up to receive Tamron news by e-mail will automatically be entered to win one of the 60 sensational new 60th Anniversary Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD zoom lenses or 4 other exciting prizes that will be given away each day. No purchase is necessary, and it only takes a few minutes to sign up at http://www.tamron-usa.com today!

The Prize Lens: An Optical Milestone That’s In Your Reach!
Released in conjunction with Tamron’s 60th Anniversary, the Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD zoom lens is a superb new extended-range telephoto zoom that covers both full-frame (24x36mm) and APS-C digital as well as 35mm film formats. Designed to exceed established performance parameters, it delivers outstanding definition, contrast, and color fidelity over its entire range by leveraging the full array of Tamron’s Advanced Imaging technologies including premium quality Low Dispersion LD and XLD Glass for superior imaging performance at all focal lengths; new USD motor (Ultrasonic Silent Drive) for quiet, fast autofocus speed and enhanced AF accuracy; and built-in stabilization (VC) system to minimize the effects of handheld camera shake

The Tamron SP 70-300 Di VC USD delivers an incredible 109-465mm equivalent range on APS-C-format cameras and provides macro focusing down to an impressive 1:4. Elegantly styled and surprisingly compact for its range, it sets a new class standard and lets you capture the world in breathtaking detail. Truly a prize lens, it’s available in Canon, Nikon, and Sony mounts (the latter without VC).

Daily Prizes In The Great Tamron 60th Anniversary Giveaway
SP 70-300mm Di VC USD telephoto Zoom Lens ($449 value)
18-250mm Di II All-In-One Zoom Lens ($499 value)
Limited Edition 60th Anniversary T-Shirt ($15 value— sizes XL and XXL only)
Certificate For $60 Off Any Tamron Lens Purchased At An Authorized Tamron Dealer
1 Year Subscription To The Magazine Of Your Choice: Digital Photo, Outdoor Photographer, Pop Photo, Shutterbug ($24 value)

Five winners will be randomly drawn each day at 4PM EST from September 1 to October 30, 2010 from all eligible Tamron E-News opt-in subscriber entries to win one of the five prizes listed above. Prizes will be drawn in the order listed. For complete details and to sign up to enter Tamron’s 60th Anniversary 60-Day Lens Giveaway, please go to http://www.tamron-usa.com.

Tamron has a long and fascinating history as an innovative maker of remarkable optics. Be sure to check out our illustrious 60-year history when you visit our website.

About Tamron
Tamron is a leading manufacturer of photographic lenses. Among its many optical and mechanical innovations since the founding of the company in 1950, Tamron’s development of mass-produced hybrid aspherical elements paved the way for today’s compact high ratio zoom lenses when, in 1992, this technology was incorporated into the groundbreaking 28-200mm. Tamron continues to lead in this category with the award-winning 18-270mm — featuring an unprecedented 15X zoom range—and featuring Tamron’s proprietary Vibration Compensation (VC) system. Tamron has garnered international acclaim for its lenses.

1 Must be a resident of the USA to qualify.

photo credit: davidgsteadman

When buying a photo camera, we often research in order to decide if this is the best camera, if its features will be goo enough, but will it be robust enough? Will it be useful or necessary to purchase a warranty contract extension? Will it fail very soon?

When somebody asks me these questions (and it happens quite often since I consider myself some kind of photography expert), I am usually without good answers; Nobody really speaks about this dirty little secret: Reliability of photo cameras is a taboo issue. In most cases, talking only happens for very extreme situations (I will not mention any pro camera events in the past few years). But on a daily basis, will my camera follow me everywhere? will it survive the bad treatment I will apply? Or will it fail at the sight of the first cloud (of dust or rain)? Preferably just a couple of days after the end of the warranty period?

photo credit: Orin Zebest

So, I decided to collect more than the usual information to try and answer these questions with more than: Entry-level cameras are too cheap to be robust, are less protected than pro cameras; And, mechanics fail more than electronics.

And, I found a few interesting articles with adequate documentation. Of course, they are the rightful product of the business of some shops repairing or renting equipment and accepting to share their data with us.

And I found interesting data. For example, there is nearly no information on photo cameras, or camera bodies. But SquareTrade published rather detailed report about the repairs they did in the recent years (though mostly on point-n-shoot cameras) with some frightfully clear conclusions, like:

• More than 10% of the cameras failed before 2 years
• The statistical projection tells that there are/will-be more than 15% failure within 3 years
• Accidents are a major cause for failure: 40% of cameras were broken in such a way; We are rougher than our cameras!
• The more expensive, the more robust
• For SLR cameras, Canon and Nikon go hand-in-hand

And to think that the failure rate of major brands is around 4% within two years for a camera whose price is nearing 1000€…

But, look at the graph below:

Reliability of cameras between $300 and $500, by manufacturer

I would like to believe that you can extend these figures out of point-n-shoots and into the SLR market, but my own professional experience with quality and reliability management (in the automotive world, if you want to know) tells me that we should not even try.

On the opposite, I found additional data about interchangeable lenses to plug into our SLR cameras. Two studies from LensPlay and LensRentals bring some more light to the issue.

From LensPlay, hundreds of lenses and users have been analyzed: among the voluntary answers provided for Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Minolta/Sony, Tamron, Tokina and Sigma, only Minolta/Sony produced less than 200 answers (a pretty nice representation of the market).

LensRental gives us a finer status because they go down to a model-by-model level. So, it’s no longer necessary to compare brands, but you can get a good idea of which glass piece is more fragile or more sturdy than others, forgetting about the good (or bad) fames.

We also appreciate a lot some of the additional comments like:

• The super tele prime lenses (300mm f/2.8, 400mm f/2.8, 500mm f/4, 600mm f/4) from either Canon or Nikon are among the more reliable lenses (their simplicity is probably a good reason for such a score).
• The Sigma 120-400mm & 150-500mm had a 45% repair rate (as long as they were included in the LensRentals catalog of products).
• The Canon 50mm f/1.2 and Sigma 100-300mm are well under 10% (which is considered a good level in LensRentals)

Of course, these raw figures must be taken with a grain of salt: Rentals are often more mis-handled than bought parts, but the relative results are quite certainly representative of the underlying reality. And for example, the Canon 100-400mm seems to have an unfair bad fame about the reliability of its stabilization mechanism.

All in all, many reasons to treat your photo hardware with some care…

Sources:

• PetaPixel
• LensPlay
• LensRentals

Tamron - Lens Comparison Tool (based on focal length)

But you can also find a similar tool at Olympus (and it takes into account the specificities of 4/3 sensor format, of course): Perfect Lens finder.

Olympus Perfect Lens Finder

Sony lens - 'Hiding' by Scoobay

I recommend reading a nice little post titled “All lens tests are wrong” that concludes that the only good test for a lens is to use it during a full year.

Not wrong, but I still recommend to also check my list of web sites with photo lens reviews.

Sony 70-400mm

Lovers of Sony digital SLR cameras (Alpha 700 et Alpha 900, in particular) were awaiting eagerly to see Chasseur d’Images magazine testing fully the most recent additions to the Sony lens range. So, they will be delighted to discover in the March 2009 issue that the Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 Apo G SSM scores 5 stars on the Alpha 900 as well as the all-new and superb Sony 70-400mm f/4-5.6 Apo G SSM on the Alpha 700. This grey lens even gets the flattering comments of “nice surprise” (“belle surprise“) and of “bargain to get” (“coup à réaliser“). On the Alpha 900, about sharpness, CdI tells “this is certainly the best lens in its category” (“c’est assurément le meilleur de sa catgorie“).

Also tested on the Alpha 700 and Alpha 900 are the Sony 16-35mm f/2.8 ZA T* SSM and the Sony 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G SSM. No score is below 4 stars!

Fifteen other lenses from Canon (on a EOS 5D MkII), Nikon, Olympus and Tamron are tested in detail by Chasseur d’Images. 5 stars are also attributed to the Canon EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM, to the Olympus Zuiko Digital 9-18mm f/4-5.6 and the Olympus Zuiko Digital 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5 ED II.