8.4/10 average of 5 review(s) Build Quality 6.8/10 Image Quality 8.8/10

9 out of 10 points and recommended by norcalphotographer (6 reviews) and Great focal length range, sharp images, decent af performance. big heavy lens, not AFS, no longer being made so take care of them if you have one! This is an excellent portrait or party lens due to its fast aperture and excellent focal range.



It is a bit heavy but not anything I'd really complain about handling. I've heard of issues with the barrel extending due to gravity although I haven't experienced it in my unit (my best friend though has).



That said, I'd recommend it without reservation to any photographer who wants to shoot in moderately close quarters and moderately low lighting.



It's just really too bad that Tamron nor any of the other lens vendors offered an updated equivalent.

9 out of 10 points and recommended by wesfoto (5 reviews) and Great Images, Fast, good zoom range Heavy, Heavy, Heavy This is one HUGE hunk of glass! But, what do you expect for a 105mm f/2.8 Full Frame lens? Its both long (when extended) and wide. It is also quite heavy. It does focus slowly, which is more the norm for something this big and heavy (exactly how fast and strong do you expect your camera's focusing motor to be be?) If you're looking for a high quality, fast lens, this is a great choice. If you're looking for a "walk around" lens, look elsewhere, this thing is closer to a bowling ball than a feather.

8 out of 10 points and recommended by cjbowlsby (17 reviews) and Bright, BEAUTIFUL BOKEH, Sharp sharp sharp, zoom range SIZE, speed of focus I really like this lens.



First of all, it produces GORGEOUS pictures. Remarkable really. Almost all of the focal lengths you'd ever want for portraits. It's bright and clear with beautiful bokeh. It's a bit soft wide open on the wide end, but from 40mm on, it's really exceptional for an off-brand 2.8. When it's stopped down to 4.0, is fantastically sharp.



The autofocus is quite slow, I'll admit, especially in low light on thelong end. But it doesn't really hunt. It knows what it's focusing for, and gets there with determination and really startling accuracy.



On the down side, it's huge and ugly. I dislike the texturing (or more appropriately, lack thereof) on the zoom and focus rings. It feels slippery and cheap. The huge front element makes me very nervous. I haven't found a lens hood for it, but a high quality UV filter is an adaquate second choice.



But at half the price of the canon 24-105 2.8L IS, with a usable extra stop, it really is a bargain.



Highly recomended if you can accept the slow autofocus (and can find one... it's discontinued)

8 out of 10 points and recommended by mbunge (10 reviews) and very useful focal length barrel extends a long ways, too much plastic This was my first lens when I upgraded to a Nikon F100. I did so because the focal length covered a gap between my 20mm and my 80-200 zoom. I have no complaints about its image quality; I always got good shots. When zooming to 105mm, the barrel will extend several inches. After using it for five years, I was a little concerned about the "play" in the lens when it was fully extended. Also, the lens would sometimes extend on its own when I was carrying the camera on my shoulder. The autofocus is slower than Nikon's silent wave lenses--and much noisier.



Because of my durability concerns and the tendency of the lens to extend itself, I ended up buying a 28-70 Nikon zoom to replace it.