I was a fool!!!
First of all I am not been paid or sponsored in any way for what I am about to admit.
For those you do know me would know that I have been a professional photographer for 31 years, and will know that I was the first Premium Nikon Ambassador in South Africa and have been for 10 years until that arrangement came to an end in November 2017 year ago. An achievement and honor that I was very proud about and will always be grateful to Stefan and Nikon. I have no bad blood with Nikon or any of the people there so what I am about to say comes from my heart and from a very experienced photographer.
To the point… I always was under the impression that 3rd party lenses were for amateurs and shooters who could not afford the big names like Nikon and Canon. And boy was I so wrong. Remember with my Nikon Ambassadors agreement I was not allowed to use, speak or test any other brand but to be honest I was never happy with the Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 not version 1 or version 2. I bought 2 units of each version and still it was not tack sharp. I had sent it back and spend on one of the units R19 000 to have the barrel replaced and still it was not perfect. It was in fact bad on 2.8 on the edges….the center was sharp but the edges…..
So if you shot a full-length portrait the waist was sharp but the face was soft. After sending it back again Nikon was so kind to do adjustments free of charge but still it was not great.
I phoned Kevin Singer the owner of Singer photographics in South Africa and asked him to please send me the new Tamron 70-200 f2.8 G2 lens to test.
I tested the lens and boy was I blown away. I shot a wedding over the weekend with this Tamron lens, all at f2.8 and never will I look at a third party lens the way I did in the past.
My humble apologies to all shooters I looked down to because you did not use a native lens. This Tamron G2 lens is fantastic and I am in love with the images it produces. If you are in the market for a 70-200mm f2.8 lens you have my word on the fact that this lens is a winner. I have not used the version 3 of Nikon because I am not willing to pay that crazy money for a 70-200 so I can not comment on that lens but this Tamron blows the Nikon ver 1 & 2 out of the water.
Tamron you have my vote on a first class product. Kudos and well done!!!
Here are a few images from this lens.
Thank you Kevin Singer for letting me see the light. Kevin I have a feeling you are not getting back this lens.