First day out with the Tamron SP 150-600mm VC G2 lens

Yesterday was my first spin out with Tamron USA’s updated G2 version of the acclaimed 150-600mm super telephoto lens. Though I purchased the optional Tap-in Console for lens updating and fine tuning, I did not have time to initialize the device yet. Hence, I unboxed the new birding lens, mounted it on my compact yet powerful Canon SL2 digital rebel, and took a drive to a nearby nature area, Great Swamp NWR.

Interestingly, I do not recall photographing a Gull of any sort before at the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in the past. I have been doing bird photography there for years… go figure. Anyhow this handsome Ring-billed Gull was photographed from my car yesterday. I shut off the engine to take the shot (too many vibrations and who needs the extra CO2 emissions anyhow). In the caption for the photograph I have included specific camera settings.

Tamron SP 150-600mm VC G2 Birding Photography

Ring-billed Gull photographed with the Tamron SP 150-600mm VC G2 super telephoto lens + Canon SL2. 600mm, 1/640 f/6.3 ISO 200. Great Swamp NWR in New Jersey.

Below is a 100% crop from the above image.

100% crop of Ring-billed Gull Photograph. Tamron SP 150-600mm VC G2 + Canon SL2

Here is a Flickr link to view the full sized original 24 megapixel image of the Ring-billed Gull.

I find the results to be very good for keeping the aperture wide-open at F/6.3. I find that most lenses get sharper when stopped down a couple of stops. We might even see a bit more fine detail if I had taken this Gull image at F/8.0 versus F/6.3. Below is a look at the G2 lens, I shot this in my home studio.