Tamron AF 70-210mm f/2.8 SP LD

Nikon D3s and Tamron AF 70-210mm f/2.8 SP LD 67D at full telephoto. 12,800 ISO; 1/400th; f/4.5. This lens was in production from 1992 to 2003. It was designed with film in mind and the few reviews of it on the internet emphasise its robust construction whilst broadly saying it is optically good but not on the level of comparable lenses from the major manufacturers. Several reviewers mention its odd colour rendition but I've never noticed that. Generally, performance seems OK on 12 MP camera sensors.

Perhaps I am on the threshold of becoming a man of letters. This was shot at 210mm, 1/640th; f/5.6. This is the Tamron AF 70-210mm f/2.8 SP LD 67D lens made from 1992 until 2003, a pro spec lens which was presumably priced to compete with the comparable Nikon and Canon lenses (there was a Minolta version too). It relies on screw drive in the Nikon version for its AF. Given the time it was made, that AF was in its infancy, that it was designed to work with film: I think its performance is astounding. I bought it from a bloke on eBay. I had no knowledge of its abilities. I bid for it purely because it was cheap for a pro lens of this type, and I think I got a bargain, (eBay acquisitions do not always work out like this!)

Photographed with a Tamron AF 70-210mm f/2.8 SP LD lens on a Nikon D700. This lens was in production from 1992 to 2003. Aperture priority; 800 ISO; f/11; 1/250th; lens at 210mm.

Nikon D700 + Tamron AF 70-210mm f/2.8 SP LD lens made sometime between 1992 and 2003. ISO 3200; f/2.8; 1/1250; focal length 72mm.

Photographed near Lacock with a Tamron AF 70-210mm f/2.8 SP LD lens on a Nikon D700. This lens was in production from 1992 to 2003. Aperture priority; 800 ISO; f/8; 1/160th; lens at 160mm.

Photographed with a Tamron AF 70-210mm f/2.8 SP LD lens on a Nikon D700. This lens was in production from 1992 to 2003. Aperture priority; 800 ISO; f/11; 1/160th; lens at 70mm.

Photographed with a Tamron AF 70-210mm f/2.8 SP LD lens on a Nikon D700. This lens was in production from 1992 to 2003. Aperture priority; 800 ISO; f/8; 1/250th; lens at 95mm.

Photographed with a Tamron AF 70-210mm f/2.8 SP LD lens on a Nikon D700. This lens was in production from 1992 to 2003. Aperture priority; 800 ISO; f/11; 1/250th; lens at 100mm.

Photographed with a Tamron AF 70-210mm f/2.8 SP LD lens on a Nikon D700. This lens was in production from 1992 to 2003. Aperture priority; 800 ISO; f/11; 1/500th; lens at 135mm.

Photographed with a Tamron AF 70-210mm f/2.8 SP LD lens on a Nikon D700. This lens was in production from 1992 to 2003. Aperture priority; 800 ISO; f/8; 1/800th; lens at 160mm.

Photographed with a Tamron AF 70-210mm f/2.8 SP LD lens on a Nikon D700. This lens was in production from 1992 to 2003. Aperture priority; 800 ISO; f/11; 1/200th; lens at 70mm.

The camera bag is a Billingham 550 model. The Billingham 550 camera bag was introduced in 1983 as a reworking of the 1979 System 1 bag, the first soft camera bag manufactured in Britain. It has remained in continuous production. It is a bag much favoured by professional photographers. The bag is made of canvas and leather, and internally there is nylon covered padding. It is spacious enough to hold at least two camera bodies with a full load of lenses and other accessories. Doing that would, of course, be a mistake. You would end up with an over-stuffed bag which was too heavy to carry and too full to find what you wanted. The bag alone weighs over two and a half kilos. It’s a specialised, well-made and stylish piece of luggage. You can attach additional pockets at either end. I prefer to leave my pair at home. They make the bag look too long. One reason professional photographers like it is its internal height of 10 inches which allows tall lenses and hammerhead flashguns to be stowed upright. Another reason might be the fairly slim profile compared, for example, to a box-like Billingham 555, or indeed any of the Billingham five series which tend to hang from the shoulder four-square like wooden cabinets (and they’ll always do this if they’re filled to capacity). Many camera bags are built square and get in everybody’s way. The 550 will get in everybody’s way anyhow, despite not being square. It’s just generally big. Access is a bit awkward but in my experience that is a general criticism of Billingham bags and a concomitant of high standards of gear-protection. To carry it by hand you have to do up the straps which secure the cover to the bag, which is a nuisance. The only other criticism is the price. Mine is second-hand, with plenty of wear left in it, yet it cost more than many new bags. If you want a real fright, look up the cost of a new one. Don’t confuse it with the 555. Google ‘Billingham 550’. Be sure you’re sitting down when you do this. The camera is a Nikon D700 and the lens is a Tamron AF 70-210mm f/2.8 SP LD. This lens was in production from 1992 to 2003. The photograph was made using some quite cheap second-hand kit: an AF Zoom-Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.3-5.6G lens on a Nikon D50.

Wadworth's Brewery at Northgate, Devizes. The company is planning to move production to another site. Nikon D3s and Tamron AF 70-210mm f/2.8 SP LD lens which is an early version and was in production between 1992 and 2003. Used here at 210mm at f/5.6; shutter 1/640th; 400 ISO.

Nikon D700 + Tamron AF 70-210mm f/2.8 SP LD lens made sometime between 1992 and 2003. ISO 200; f/8; 1/500; focal length 160mm.

Photographed in the gardens of Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire, with a Nikon D50 and a Tamron AF 70-210mm f/2.8 SP LD lens. This lens was in production from 1992 to 2003.

East Somerset Railway, Cranmore. Nikon D2Xs + Tamron AF 70-210mm f/2.8 SP LD lens at 210mm. On a D2Xs the field of view using this focal length is over 300mm full frame equivalent. It has the effect of appearing to pack up the perspective. The people crossing the line in the far distance are a good deal further away than it appears.

Nikon D700 + Tamron AF 70-210mm f/2.8 SP LD lens.

Nikon D2Xs + Tamron AF 70-210mm f/2.8 SP LD lens.