"Right out of the box I was impressed. Many reviews I had read said it felt lightweight or had a plastic feel compared to the Nikkor 105mm. I don't know about that but it feels great to me. While this may not be as heavy as the Nikkor it felt right and looked good straight away. I have always used Nikon lenses (other than a Sigma 10-20mm I have, another great lens) so I do think twice about anything other than Nikkors. I am not disappointed with this Tamron. It is pin sharp, feels nice in the hand on the camera (D300) and the manual focus slide control works smoothly. For macro you do need manual focus. A review I read somewhere said it was slow to focus and sounded noisy. Can't agree. Maybe it is not as fast as the Nikkor (I have not tested the Nikkor) but this lens focuses fast enough at longer ranges. No different to other lenses I use in term of speed in focusing, that I can notice. And I don't find it noisy. And what a deal with $90 off thru April. I am critical about my lenses and would not have a poor quality lens in my bag. Makes a nice portrait lens. Don't hesitate - get it now. "

    "This is my first macro lens, and I am very pleased with it. It is well-made, light, and the optics are tack-sharp. My intention is to do macro nature photography (insects, spiders,...), and so far it has been a pleasure to use. Before buying it, I read in many user forums that the minimum focusing distance of a 90mm macro lens such as this one (12 inches) is too close for photographing skittish subjects such as butterflies. I could have moved up to a 150mm macro lens, which would add 3 inches to the distance, but at the cost of a much narrower depth of field, as well as a heavier lens requiring a tripod. I opted for the Tamron 90mm, after seeing some excellent insect photographs online. But one word of caution: the minimum 12 inch distance is measured from the focal plane at the back of the camera (as is always the case when measuring focal distances). When the lens is fully extended, you might have about 3 or 4 inches between the front of the lens and the subject (and that's without a lens hood). Hence this is definitely a close distance for skittish insects! Nevertheless, this is part of doing business with a macro lens... short focusing distances, and extremely narrow fields of view. Because you'll usually want to step the lens down as far as possible, you will either need fast-moving subjects in full sunlight, or you'll need to use an external flash. Unfortunately, the built-in pop-up flash of digital SLR's will cause a shadow through the middle of the picture at short macro-length distances.

In any case, this is a great macro lens for a novice or pro. "

    "This is truly an excellent macro lens. I've been able to take 1:1 photos of insects and get excellent sharpness, good colors nice bokeh (learned this from photo forums... ). So image quality from this lens is excellent. I'm also happy with it as an all around lens - portraits, landscape (stitched).

That said, there are some minor nitpicks :
Plastic build - not a big issue as it helps with weight, but still - plastic IS plastic. Feel is different.
Focusing - you have to employ good techniques (i.e. tripod), otherwise you'll end up with lens hunting a lot since the focus area moves if it is handheld and you miss your subject. The focus lock does help.
Focus speed I think can be improved - it's fast, but wouldn't hurt to be fastER.
Short working distance - I can use a bit more, but looks like this will be a job for a 180mm macro.

Overall, with good technique this is a great lens. "

    "I am not a professional but an avid amateur enthusiast, this lens is really unbelievable. This is the first non-Nikon lens I have bought and I have been using it for about 14 months.

It is lightweight and sharp end to end, it does a very good job on macrophotography. It tends to hunt a bit when set to full focus, but that can be expected because of the large focal range.

For portraits and very tight close-ups I absolutely love this lens. The image quality and sharpness is out of this world. The design of the focus ring makes it very easy to switch between manual and auto focus, which is probably one of the better design features of this lens.

It feels a little cheap because of the polymer construction but it is inexpensive and very lightweight so it makes it easy to walk around with.

I tested before buying. I used the nikkor 105mm macro and the Sigma 105, the nikkor has a better feel construction wise (for 3x the price) but I could not tell a difference in performance. I felt this lens performed much better than the Sigma 105mm.

I own 5 lenses this is one that I always carry with me and when you get it, it will always be in your camera bag. "

    "Like many folks, I read the near legendary level ratings on this lens and finally took the leap as I would be able to compare it side by side with a Nikon 105 2.8. I bought the lens from KEH.com for just 329.00, second hand but in like new condition. This is the DI model which is supposed to be optimized for digital. Some people who have the older version claim there is little or no difference between them.

Sharpness:
The Tamron 90 will give you incredible sharpness. I believe it's my sharpest lens easily a match for my 1700 dollar 70-200 VR at 90mm. It's sharper than the Nikon 105 2.8

Color:
Simply faultless. Again, this lens is astounding in color rendition. Skin tones are fantastic.

Bokeh:
Again, this lens rivals my more expensive zoom, though I slightly prefer the bokeh on the 70-200. The Tamron is far superior to the Nikon 105 Micro for out of focus rendering.

Handling:
The lens hood is a bit awkward to get on and off. The auto/manual mode is a push-pull slide color. It works, but it's easy to slip it into either mode by accident. The focus limit switch is a dial, which is odd. Manual focus is excellent on this lens. The lens is mostly plastic and doesn't feel as solid as the Nikon 105, but I hear no stories of the Tamron falling apart either.

Overall:
The Tamron beats Nikon's entry in every area, except build. The Tamron is sharper and has better bokeh. As a portrait lens it does a very good job, though ultimate sharpness is not always desired in model work or even candids. A lot depend on your style. There are certainly lenses like the Nikon 85mm 1.4 which will probably be more flattering to a face. For macro work the Tamron makes no excuses. It focuses down 1:1 nicely and my macro shots have been impressive from the start. Keep in mind that the Tamron 90 is only a 2.8 when shooting objects around 10 feet or further away. Otherwise expect apertures in the 3+ range. This is probably the best macro lens available in the 90-150mm range. I've yet to see any portrait shots from the new Nikon 105mm VR than are it's equal. I give this lens my highest rating.
Capt RB "