Vivitar 500mm vs. Tamron 70-300 Lens Comparison

I LOVE taking pictures of the moon.  I wish I could take pictures of each planet.  I recently purchased a new camera and lenses and decided to try them out to see how well they take photos of the moon.
First, some information on each lens.

Vivitar 500mm f/8.0 Telephoto Lens (T Mount) (White)


This powerful Vivitar 500mm f/8.0 Telephoto Lens utilizes aluminum alloy construction, computer-designed all-glass optics and the latest optical multi-coating techniques to provide crisp, high-contrast, virtually flare-free images of distant subjects, even under adverse lighting conditions.
The aperture settings from f/8 - f/32 retain a full range of exposure / depth of field settings, TTL metering, aperture priority automatic and manual metering capabilities of your camera. For tripod/monopod use, the rotatable tripod mount is positioned to provide optimum balance, and rotates for quick and easy vertical format shooting.
The amazing power of this manual focus lens gives you the equivalent of looking through a pair of 10x power binoculars. This affordable 500mm telephoto is perfect for nature, sports and surveillance photography, and comes complete with a soft carrying case.
Key Features:
• Images magnified up to 10x
• Multi-coated all-glass elements
• Rotatable tripod mount
• Optimized for use with digital SLR cameras using a T-Mount Adapter
• Surprisingly lightweight and compact aluminum alloy body
• Versatile enough for use with wildlife, sports, nature and surveillance photography


Tamron Auto Focus 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Di LD Macro Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

Designed for optimum handling ease and portability, the Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di LD Macro 1:2 AF Lens is ideal for handheld shooting with full-frame and APS-C format SLRs. Its unsurpassed close-focusing ability makes it perfect for nature and portrait photography. Picture takers eager to bring distant sports or wildlife subjects closer, as well as bringing tiny, close range subjects into clear focus will appreciate the standout macro function, available at focal lengths between 180 and 300mm, with a maximum magnification ratio of 1:2 (one half life-size).

 

Review

Vivitar 500mm

Pros:
  • Good focal length.
  • Cheap, inexpensive
Cons:
  • Manual Focus (camera does not auto focus)
  • Pictures are not as clear due to manual focus
  • needs a t-mount adapter in order to fit onto camera (purchased seperately)

Tamron 70-300mm

Pros:
  • Good focal length, but not as good as the Vivitar
  • Pretty inexpensive
  • Auto Focus (camera will automatically focus)
  • Pictures are a lot clearer than the Vivitar
Cons:
  • focal length is only up to 300mm
Here is a photo showing the difference in the two. Click on the picture to see a larger view.



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