Tamron 60mm Macro Lens – Macro Lens Review

The Tamron SP AF 60mm F/2 Di II LD[IF] Macro 1:1 lens is available for purchase. What's in a name, anyway? I mean what are all those letters - are they important? 

Here's the breakdown: 

• SP = High performance specifications (I know, pretty vague)
• AF = auto focus
• F/2 = the widest aperture is F/2.0
• Di II = made for digital SLR cameras only (can't be used on a film camera)
• LD = Low Dispersion glass
• IF = Internal focusing

Those letters cover a wide range of technical stuff. Are they important? Absolutely. 

The features available in the Tamron 60mm Macro lens are what make it a fantastic lens. 

The only letters missing that would make this a better lens are VC and USD. Those are the indicators for Vibration Compensation (anti-shake) and Ultrasonic Silent Drive (fast focus). But if you add those two elements, you would essentially price this lens out of the ballpark for its intended users. 

Intended user? It is only good for use on APC-C cameras... I know, more letters. But APS-C cameras are those digital SLR cameras with a modified sensor that is less than "full frame". These are cameras like the Digital Rebels in the Canon line and the D5000 and D90 in the Nikon line. 

The really good part about being for APS-C cameras is that now those cameras have a really GREAT macro lens available to them. 

Two things stand out about the Tamron 60mm Macro lens. 

1. Super quality images. All reviewers agreed that the image quality was beyond their expectations. Just a short aside here - prime lenses, that is those lenses with only one focal length, tend to produce the very best image quality, typically much better than zoom lenses.
2. Amazing Depth of Field. The plane of focus, being a macro lens, was narrow enough, even at the smaller apertures to produce a nice blurring, or bokeh, effect. This blurring, or bokeh, tends to accentuate the focus on the main subject. It is highly desirable in the photographic community.

This statement by the manufacturer is significant: The Tamron 60mm Macro lens is the only lens in the World that can boast an F/2.0 aperture at that focal length. The closest competitor has as its largest aperture F/2.8. 

This lens is not just for close up photography, although it is very good in that category. It is a very fine portrait lens, as well. Many photographers us a 50mm lens for portraits, but this one performed admirably for taking sharp portraits. 

Are there any negatives? 

Yes, there is one that has been brought up in most reviews. The lens has auto focus with a manual override. That means that you can use the camera to get the focus automatically, but if you feel that you can tweak the focus manually to get it sharper, you can do that. The complaint is that the reviewing photographers had trouble with this feature, because the lens tended to try to revert back to auto focus. 

This is not an uncommon problem with macro photo lenses. Because you are so close to the subject, and the plane of focus is so narrow, it is sometimes difficult for the auto focus feature to get a tack-sharp focus. With the Tamron 60mm Macro lens, the testers agreed that they were able to master this problem, but it was somewhat of a negative in their evaluation. 

All in all this is a really great lens for entry level to mid level digital slr cameras. It gives photographers a super starting place for close up photography without having to mortgage their first-born.