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Product Features and Technical Details

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Product Features and Technical Details

Product Features

Technical Details

• Focal length: 70-300mm
• Maximum aperture: f/4-5.6
• Lens construction: 13 elements in 9 groups
• Angle of view: 34 degrees @ 21 feet to 8 degrees @ 15 feet
• Diaphragm blades: 9
• Type of zooming: Rotation
• Minimum aperture: f/32
• Minimum focusing distance: 59 inches in normal setting; 37.4 inches in macro mode
• Macro magnification ratio: 1:7.4
• Filter diameter: 62mm
• Mount: Konica Minolta and Sony
• Dimensions: 3 inches in diameter and 4.6 inches long
• Weight: 15.3 ounces
• Warranty: 6 years parts and labor

• Excellent optical quality
• Very good macro capability
• Relatively lightweight for its class, but still generally solid build
• Low price

• Slow and noisy autofocus motor
• Somewhat clunky manual focus switchover mechanism
• Tendency towards slight misfocusing (at least in Canon mount)

Overall conclusion

The SP AF 70-200mm F2.8 Di LD (IF) Macro is certainly a very creditable effort by Tamron to produce a high quality, yet affordable fast telephoto zoom. Indeed if we look solely at the studio optical tests, it is a resounding success, as the technical quality of the images this lens can produce is superb throughout most of the range, matching or even outperforming the much more expensive Canon 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM. It’s slightly soft wide open in the middle of the zoom range (most visibly on the more demanding APS-C/DX sensor format), but stop down a little and the quality really starts to shine through. Resolution is excellent from corner to corner, chromatic aberration is generally very low, and vignetting about average for a lens of this class. The close minimum focus distance is very welcome, especially as image quality holds up pretty well, and the rendition of out-of-focus regions of the image is very pleasant; this may not be a substitute for a true macro lens, but it’s not bad at all. About the only flaws are the slightly high distortion on full frame (unlikely to be a problem for most typical uses of a telephoto zoom) and occasional severe flare issues with strong light sources just outside the frame (which tends to be a weak point of fast telezooms generally).

The big problem with this lens, however, lies in the focusing systems. The autofocus motor is relatively slow and noisy, which puts it at a major disadvantage compared to its ultrasonic motor-equipped competitors, simply because AF performance impacts strongly on many of the typical uses for a fast telezoom lens. The slow speed of the motor means focus tracking simply isn’t fast enough for sports or action, or even children running around playing; it’s also a distinct problem in low light or with low-contrast subjects, where the lens can take what feels like an eternity to achieve focus. This is compounded by the noise the motor makes, which could be a real problem in situations such as wedding or event photography for which the user wishes to remain unobtrusive; discrete it is not. Also the Tamron lacks a focus limiter switch, so has a tendency to hunt back and forwards through its entire range when it fails to lock focus first time. But perhaps the biggest problem we encountered was a tendency for the lens to mis-focus, seemingly at random and disturbingly frequently, such that F2.8 shots in particular were often not critically sharp (although it must be pointed out that this may be specific to either our test sample, or the Canon mount version).

However it’s not just the autofocus system which is an issue, and the manual focus isn’t perfect either. The use of the push-pull clutch on the focus ring to engage manual is a good idea in principle, but not perfectly implemented in practice; the action is remarkably noisy (in context, the click-clunk noises on switching between AF and M are substantially louder than the shutter release on any current DSLR, including the top-end professional models such as the Nikon D3 and Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III), and the focus ring has a bad habit of sticking in an intermediate position in which the gearing isn’t correctly engaged, and manual focus doesn’t work properly. Also, it’s not possible to use autofocus to pre-focus on a specific point then switch to manual, as the focus distance can often be thrown in the switchover. Finally, the manual focus ring is just a little too highly geared, with relatively short travel between infinity and the close focus of 0.95m, making critically accurate manual focus difficult to achieve (certainly outside of live view).

Now it must be acknowledged that we’ve only tested this lens in the Canon EF mount, and we can’t assume it will behave in exactly the same way on other mounts. We’d presume that the Nikon version shares the same AF motor system, so will likely be just as noisy and probably as slow, but may well not suffer from the accuracy problems we observed with Canon bodies. It’s also fair to say that the body-driven Pentax and Sony versions may behave rather better all round. Of course users of these two brands will then have to put up with the irritation of needing to select manual focus using both the body switch and the focus ring clutch, but that would be a small price to pay for the prospect of having these excellent optics benefit from a faster and more consistent autofocus system, especially on a body with built-in image stabilization. (Indeed on that point; it’s a pity Tamron couldn’t have incorporated the impressive stabilization system from their 28-300mm VC lens into the 70-200mm, at least for the Canon and Nikon mount versions.)

So ultimately what we have here is a flawed gem, a lens which fully capable of delivering excellent images, but also frustratingly capable of missing focus on that once-in-a-lifetime shot, either through mis-focus or simply being too slow. And this is a real pity, because the optical quality of this lens is genuinely superb. Now if you shoot mainly outdoors in bright light, the focus speed and noise issues probably won’t be a great problem (especially if you’re not trying to track fast moving subjects), in which case this lens could well be ideal. However if you shoot frequently in low light, need to track erratically moving subjects, or demand quiet operation, then the relatively unrefined autofocus will leave you frustrated. Also, whilst the mis-focusing issues we observed can certainly be mitigated by taking multiple shots if you have the time and opportunity, that’s simply not always possible. Because of these issues, the Tamron 70-200mm F2.8, despite its stellar optics, just fails to take our top award.

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Product Features and Technical Details

Conclusion – Pros

• Good detail at lowest sensitivities, competitive with best in class
• Reliable metering
• JPEG output makes good use of the sensor’s dynamic range
• Most seamless live view system of current DSLRs
• Probably the easiest DSLR to use for a compact camera user
• Super SteadyShot helps keep snaps sharp
• External ISO button
• Above-average ergonomics for its class
• Well-featured and usable software included
• Very good battery life
• Wireless flash capability
• Solid-feeling construction

Conclusion – Cons

• Soft JPEGs with poor low-contrast detail
• Smallest viewfinder to appear on an APS-C DSLR
• Screen obstructs use of viewfinder
• Image quality suffers above ISO 400 (from both noise and excessive noise reduction)
• Long exposure noise reduction turns hot pixels black
• Slower and less responsive than its contemporaries
• Poor continuous shooting rate
• Most convenient button on body given least useful function

Overall conclusion

Both the greatest compliment and greatest criticism you can level at the Alpha 350 is that it’s probably the most compact-camera-like DSLR we’ve ever reviewed. The secondary-sensor live view system is interesting: most modern DSLR designs are saddled with their film legacy and the A350 makes the strongest bid to step out of that shadow.

The provision of an exterior switch makes it clear that live view is a technique for using this camera, rather than simply an option, or mode that you might consider using. This subtle philosophical change is borne out in the rest of the camera’s design: the A350 behaves in a much more coherent manner when it’s in live view mode, rather than being held up to the eye – every button press brings up a new menu screen and draws your attention back to LCD.

This will make many compact camera users feel at home while the small, inaccessible viewfinder will alienate those familiar with using DSLRs. And to an extent, it’ll be their loss: the ability to seamlessly shoot overhead or down at waist level gives a degree of freedom that no other current DSLR is able to offer. And, at low sensitivity settings, you do get a camera that offers the easy composition simplicity of a compact camera with the focussing speed, shutter-button responsiveness and image quality of a DSLR.

Unfortunately, the A350 is a slow camera by modern standards. The continuous shooting speed is some way behind the models it will share retailer shelf space with, but the bigger problem is the general lag while waiting for the review image to appear after each shot. Waiting around for the camera to start displaying a shooting screen (either the status screen or the live view preview), further distances you from the shooting experience in a way that will be unfamiliar for DSLR users.

The biggest reservations we have about this camera, though, relate to its image quality. On paper and when shooting resolution charts, the A350 is an impressive performer but that prowess doesn’t always hold up when you step outside the studio. The default JPEG output from the A350 is distinctly soft (and this is exacerbated when coupled with the rather below-par 18-70 kit lens), though detail is being recorded and can be recovered if you’re willing to shoot in RAW and post-process. We also see the traditional trade-off between tightly-packed pixels and high-sensitivity performance, with the sensor producing a lot of noise and smearing it away to an extent we’re not used to seeing in cameras of this type.

It’s certainly a competitively-priced, well-specified camera and one that feels better-constructed than many of its rivals. It’s also one that smoothes down the learning curve while still offering a huge step up in all-round performance compared to compact cameras – and one that will satisfy a lot of buyers. Unfortunately, it can’t quite compete with the all-round performance the best modern DSLRs are capable of. Had the image quality been of the same standard as the leaders in its class, that would have been enough to award it our highest rating. As it stands, it’s a camera we feel too equivocal about to award more than a ‘Recommended.’

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While the introduction of the Radeon 4890 and GeForce GTX 275 may have stole the headlines for a few days last month, NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 285 still holds the title of the world’s fastest overall GPU.

Launched back in January, the GeForce GTX 285 is NVIDIA’s lower power, higher performance replacement for the GTX 280. Its 55-nm manufacturing process allows the chip to consume just 183W of peak power (versus 236W in GTX 280) despite its higher clock speeds. NVIDIA cranks the GPU up 46MHz to 648MHz, while the stream processors are clocked at 1,476MHz, an improvement of 180MHz. Finally, the board’s memory also gets a speed boost, running 135MHz higher than the GTX 280, with a final clock frequency of 1,242MHz (2,484MHz effective).

But as powerful a performer as the GeForce GTX 285 is, it isn’t quite perfect. One concession NVIDIA has made to the GTX 285 reference board design was removing one of the cooler’s copper heatpipes.

On one hand NVIDIA could argue that the heatpipe is no longer needed, as the 55-nm GT200b GPU runs cooler than its 65-nm predecessor, but on the other hand you could argue that it’s a cost-cutting move on NVIDIA’s part. Obviously NVIDIA’s been forced to sell GT200-class GPUs at prices substantially lower than they’d originally expected a year ago, and as a result this has affected their profit margins. By cutting down on the board’s cooling components, this does reduce the production cost of a board ever so slightly.

Bottom line: enthusiasts expecting 55-nm GTX 285 GPUs to run cooler will be disappointed, as 55-nm GTX 260 and GTX 285 cards with reference cooling we’ve tested have run even with, or 1-2 degrees hotter under load than comparable GTX 260 and GTX 280 boards.

However, all isn’t lost for gamers and hardware enthusiasts who would like the best attributes of both the GTX 280 (its beefier cooling) and the GTX 285 (its higher clocks). Some of NVIDIA’s board partners are beginning to step in with GeForce GTX 285 cards that deliver better than reference cooling solutions. The first graphics board manufacturer to introduce a GTX 285 with better cooling is MSI. In fact, their N285 GTX SuperPipe OC board ships with a very impressive cooling solution. We’re here today to see how it compares with the stock GeForce GTX 285 reference board. Let’s get started shall we?

SuperPipe Cooling

The first aspect you’ll no doubt notice about MSI’s N285 GTX SuperPipe OC is its dual fan cooling. The stock GTX 285 reference cooler ships with one blower-style fan.

With dual fans, excess noise is likely your first concern. Here we can report that while the card did generate slightly more noise at idle than the stock GTX 285 in our testing, overall our testbed PC still registered in at a quiet 46.5 decibels (this includes the stock Core i7 CPU cooler), a figure which is still a respectable number. At load the noise level only climbed two decibels. As you’ll see further on in our benchmarks, these noise figures are quite competitive with the stock GTX 285 cooler.

Thanks to the dual fan design MSI uses, air is spread more evenly across the board, with all the board-level components (memory modules, resistors, capacitors, etc) benefiting from the air supplied by the cooler. The key downside to this design however is that it doesn’t exhaust the hot air from the GPU outside your case. Some hot air will exhaust out the back vent located on the card’s backplate, but the majority of the air from the GPU is spread out the sides of the card’s dual-slot cooler, leaving most of the air inside your case. Fortunately, this is the only real weakness of the MSI card.

It doesn’t take a seasoned hardware enthusiast to spot the second major aspect of the N285 GTX SuperPipe OC: its heatpipes. MSI outfits the card with two ridiculously thick heatpipes that are literally thicker than any heatpipe we’ve ever seen applied to a graphics card. This is where the card gets its “SuperPipe” name.

More specifically, the heatpipes MSI uses are 8mm thick. In comparison, most conventional heatpipes are generally 5mm thick, so MSI’s heatpipes are nearly twice as thick as your typical heatpipe. MSI claims these heatpipes can transfer 90% more heat than the reference GTX 285 design; we’re not exactly sure we’re they’re getting this metric from, but their cooler is without a doubt more powerful than the NVIDIA reference design: MSI’s cooler not only has more heatpipes than the reference GTX 285, but they’re also thicker and quite long as well.

Running alongside the two SuperPipes are three additional heatpipes, providing a grand total of five heatpipes for card cooling.

While they’re not made from copper like the NVIDIA reference design, the heatpipes MSI employs do an excellent job of drawing heat off the GT200b GPU. Heat is then dispersed by an aluminum heatsink. To cool the memory modules, MOSFETs, and other power circuitry, two aluminum plates are used, one on each side of the GTX 285 board. These plates are then equipped with fins to further increase their surface area.

To finish the cooler off, MSI tops the heatsink/heatpipe apparatus with a brushed aluminum lid adorned with MSI branding.

In practice, MSI’s cooling system does an excellent job in action. Not only does it run cooler than the stock GTX 285 cooling unit, it does so while running at higher clock speeds and barely running louder.

Overclocked performance

The final ingredient MSI adds to their N285 GTX SuperPipe OC is factory overclocking. Out-of-the-box the card runs at 680MHz, an improvement of 32MHz over the stock GeForce GTX 285 reference clock speed. Unfortunately however the board’s stream processors run at the stock GTX 285 clock speed of 1476MHz.

The board’s memory does receive a slight bump in speed though. MSI dials in 1250MHz for the N285 GTX SuperPipe OC. This is 8MHz faster than the stock GTX 285 specifications call for.

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Product Features and Technical Details

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Product Features and Technical Details

Product Features

Technical Details

• Focal length: 55-200mm
• Maximum aperture: f/4-5.6
• Minimum aperture: f/22-32
• Zoom ratio: 3.6x
• Autofocus: Yes
• AF-S (Silent Wave Motor): Yes
• Compatible formats: DX, FX in DX crop mode
• Vibration reduction: Yes
• Distance information: Yes
• ED glass elements: Yes
• Super Integrated Coating: Yes
• Internal focusing: Yes
• Minimum focus distance: 3.6 feet
• Maximum angle of view: 8 degrees
• Lens construction: 15 elements in 11 groups
• Maximum reproduction ratio: 1:4.3
• Mount type: Nikon F-bayonet
• Filter type: Screw-on
• Filter size: 52mm
• Dimensions: 2.9 inches in diameter and 2.9 inches long
• Weight: 11.8 ounces
• Warranty: 1 year parts and labor
• In the box: Lens, snap-on front lens cap, rear lens cap, user’s manual

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Product Features and Technical Details

Product Features

Technical Details

• Color: Black
• Image sensor format: DX
• Image sensor type: CMOS
• Sensor size: 15.8 x 23.6mm
• Total pixels: 12.9 megapixels
• Effective pixels: 12.3 megapixels
• Image area (DX format): Large: 4288 x 2848; medium: 3216 x 2136; small: 2144 x 1424
• Top continuous shooting speed at full resolution: 4.5 frames per second
• Continuous shooting options: CH: up to 4.5 frames per second; CL: up to 4 frames per second
• LCD monitor size: 3 inches diagonal
• LCD monitor type: Super density
• Monitor resolution: 920,000 pixels
• Angle of view: 170-degree wide viewing angle
• Monitor adjustments: 7 brightness levels
• Shutter type: Electronically controlled, vertical-travel focal plane
• Slowest shutter speed: 30 seconds in steps of 1/3, 1/2, 1 EV
• Fastest shutter speed: 1/4000 second in steps of 1/3, 1/2, 1 EV
• Bulb shutter setting: Yes
• Lowest standard ISO sensitivity: 200 in steps of 1/3, 1/2, 1 EV
• Highest standard ISO sensitivity: 3200 in steps of 1/3, 1/2, 1 EV
• Lowest expanded ISO sensitivity: Lo-1 (ISO 100 equivalent)
• Highest expanded ISO sensitivity: Hi-1 (ISO 6400 equivalent)
• Expanded ISO sensitivity options: Lo-1 (ISO 100 equivalent) in steps of 1/3, 1/2, 1 EV; Hi-1 (ISO 6400 equivalent) in steps of 1/3, 1/2, 1 EV
• Storage media: SD, SDHC
• Storage system: JPEG: JPEG-baseline compliant, can be selected from size priority and optimal quality; AVI
• File system: Compliant with DCF 2.0, DPOF, Exif 2.21
• Exposure modes: Programmed auto (P) with flexible program, shutter priority auto (S), aperture priority auto (A), manual (M), auto
• Advanced scene modes: Portrait, landscape, close-up, sports, night portrait
• Exposure metering system: 420-pixel RGB sensor 3D Color Matrix Metering II, center weighted, spot
• Metering range: 1: 0 to 20 EV (matrix or center-weighted metering); 2: 2 to 20 EV (Spot metering, ISO 100 equivalent, f/1.4 lens)
• Exposure meter coupling: CPU
• Exposure compensation: +/-5 EV in increments of 1/3, 1/2, 1
• Exposure lock: Yes
• Exposure bracketing: Yes, 2 or 3 frames in steps of 1/3, 1/2, 2/3, 1, or 2 EV
• Shutter release modes: Single frame (S), continuous low speed (CL) at 1 to 4 frames per second, Live View (LV), self-timer, continuous high speed (CH) at 4.5 frames per second
• Movie modes: HD 1280 x 720 at 24 fps, VGA 640 x 424 at 24 fps, QVGA 320 x 216 at 24 fps
• White balance: Sun, shade, fluorescent, incandescent, flash, preset, fine tune by Kelvin color temperature setting, auto, auto (TTL white balance with 420-pixel RGB sensor), 7 manual modes with fine tuning
• White balance bracketing: Yes, 2 or 3 exposures in increments of 1, 2, or 3
• D-lighting bracketing: 2 exposures
• Playback functions: Full frame, zoom, slideshow, pictmotion, histogram, shooting data, highlight point display, auto image rotation, sound playback, D-movie playback, thumbnail (4, 9, 72 segments), calendar
• Interface: High-speed USB, NTSC, HDMI
• Lens mount: Nikon F bayonet mount
• Compatible lenses: DX AF Nikkor, D-G-type AF Nikkor, AF Nikkor, AL-P Nikkor, non-CPU AI Nikkor (supported functions may vary)
• Picture angle: 1.5
• Viewfinder frame coverage: Approximately 96 percent
• Viewfinder eyepoint: 19.5
• Reflex mirror: Quick-return type
• Viewfinder magnification: Approximately 0.94x
• Depth-of-field control: Yes
• Autofocus system: Nikon Multi-CAM 1000 autofocus module with TTL phase detection, 11 focus points (including 1 cross-type sensor) and AF-assist illuminator (range of approximately 0.5 to 3 meters)
• Focus modes: Single-servo AF (S), continuous-servo (C), manual (M) with electronic rangefinder, Live View autofocus (face priority, wide area, normal area)
• Focus lock: Yes
• Picture control: Standard, neutral, vivid, monochrome, 9 user-customizable settings, portrait, landscape
• In-camera image editing: Trim, D-lighting, color balance, image overlay, filter effects, monochrome, color balance, NEF (RAW) processing, quick retouch, straighten, distortion control
• Built-in flash: Yes
• External flash shoe: Yes
• Nikon Creative Lighting System compatibility: Yes
• Flash sync speed: Up to 1/200
• FP high-speed sync: Up to 1/4000
• Flash sync modes: Front-curtain sync (normal), slow sync, rear-curtain sync, red-eye reduction, red-eye reduction with slow sync
• Accessory shoe: Yes
• Self-timer: 2, 5, 10, 20 seconds
• World time setting: Yes
• Date, time, and daylight savings time settings: Yes
• Battery type: Rechargeable lithium-ion
• AC adapter: EH-5a
• Battery charger: MH-18a
• Image comment: Yes
• Battery life: 850 shots (CIPA)
• Tripod socket: 1/4-20
• Supplied software: Software Suite CD-ROM
• Supplied lens: AF-S DX Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR
• Focal length: 18 to 105mm
• Zoom ratio: 5.8x
• Maximum aperture: f/2.5 to f/5.6
• Minimum aperture: f/22 to f/38
• Autofocus: Yes
• AF-S (silent wave motor): Yes
• Compatible formats: DX, FX in DX crop mode
• Vibration reduction: Yes
• Distance information: Yes
• ED glass elements: Yes
• Super-integrated coating: Yes
• Aspherical elements: Yes, 1
• Manual/auto focus mode: Yes
• Minimum focus distance: 1.48 feet
• Maximum angle of view: 76 degrees
• Minimum angle of view: 15 degrees at 20 feet
• Lens elements: 15
• Lens groups: 11
• Maximum reproduction ratio: 1:5
• Mount type: Nikon F-Bayonet
• Filter type: 67mm screw on
• Lens attachment size: 67mm
• Lens dimensions: 3 inches in diameter, 3.5 inches long
• Camera width: 5.2 inches
• Camera height: 4.1 inches
• Camera depth: 3.0 inches
• Weight: 22 ounces (camera), 14.8 ounces (lens)
• Warranty: 1 year
• In the box: Camera, lens, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, quick charger, eyepiece cap, rubber eyecup, USB cable, AV cable, camera strap, LCD monitor cover, body cap, snap-on front lens cap, rear lens cap, Bayonet lens hood, flexible lens pouch, accessory shoe cover, software CD-ROM, user’s manual

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Product Features and Technical Details

Product Features

Technical Details

• Focal length: 55 to 250mm
• Maximum aperture: f/4 to f/5.6
• Construction: 12 elements in 10 groups
• Diagonal angle of view: 27 degrees (at 50 feet) to 6 degrees (at 15 feet)
• Focus adjustment: DC motor, gear-driven (front focusing design)
• Closest focusing distance: 3.6 feet
• Filter size: 58mm
• Dimensions: 2.8 inches in diameter and 4.3 inches long
• Weight: 13.8 ounces
• Warranty: 1 year

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Product Features and Technical Details

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Product Features and Technical Details