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While shooting in the high seas off the European coastline and tailing models in Barcelona's super-hot shopping district, Ezequiel De La Rosa needed a couple of multifaceted zoom lenses to capture all the glitz and the glamour. Tamron's 28-300 XR Di and 18-200 XR Di II lenses helped add just the right amount of spark to his already-electric portfolio. |
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| AF28-300mm
F/3.5-6.3 XR Di by Jennifer Gidman Zumpano |
AF18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 XR Di II | ||||
When New York photographer Ezequiel De La Rosa was commissioned for a
magazine assignment abroad that involved an afternoon on a luxury yacht,
little did he anticipate the oceanic antics that greeted him onboard.
"This was part of a story I was doing in Barcelona, and it was a wild
day," he recalls. "Because the sea wasn't calm, there were models
getting sick and I had to keep stopping the shoot." |
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One thing that didn't stop performing, however, was the fast-focusing
capabilities of the Tamron 28-300mm XR Di lens De la Rosa relied on
(along with the new 18-200mm XR Di II lens, which he also used quite a
bit on his Iberian adventure). "Everyone knows there's quite a bit of
motion on a boat, but I had absolutely no trouble focusing. How these
two lenses captured everything was amazing. The pictures I got on the
boat [such as the pinstriped gent above, shot at 42mm, f/11, 1/125th of
a second] were incredibly sharp." |
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Part of the reason for this attention to detail can be attributed to
Tamron's Di designation, which is given to lenses that incorporate
"internal surface coatings" (multiple-layer coatings on cemented
surfaces of plural elements), as well as new multiple-layer coating
technology on ordinary elements to minimize reflections and to reduce
image aberrations. Both the 28-300mm and the 18-200 also incorporate XR
(Extra Refractive Index) glass, which "bends" light more effectively
than normal or lower refractive index glass. This digital optimization,
combined with the implementation of XR glass, results in higher
resolution, minimal ghosting and flare, reduced light fall-off, and a
significant reduction in chromatic aberrations. |
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Such high quality is critical for a photographer such as De La Rosa, a
Manhattan-based photographer who regularly switches up from in-studio
fashion and beauty shots to on-location captures in tropical getaways.
Add in the celebrity, advertising, corporate, and editorial work that
rounds out his comprehensive portfolio, and you'll see why De La Rosa
requires a powerful zoom that can take on any high-profile assignment.
Both the 28-300 and the 18-200 fit the bill. |
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De La Rosa has witnessed the XR and Di differentiation in the innovative
28-300mm lens, as well as in the new 18-200. "I can definitely see the
difference with the XR glass," he says. "The contrast and sharpness at
different focal lengths is excellent. And there are virtually no
chromatic aberrations at any zoom level, which can sometimes be an issue
with long zooms." |
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| Accurate color reproduction is a requisite for
De la Rosa's close-up fashion and beauty work, and the 28-300 always
comes through. "For one
fashion shoot we were doing, of a beautiful girl modeling a
ring, the day actually started getting really cloudy, dark, and cold,"
he says. "I brought along my Dynalite portable pack and added a little
bit of fill. I didn't want it to be overbearing. The lens really came
through-just look at the skin tonalities!" |
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Visibility on the Move |
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With major corporate commissions (Bill Blass, Revlon, and Neiman Marcus,
to name a few); celebrity clients such as Uma Thurman, Brooke Shields,
and Kiefer Sutherland; and magazine assignments from the likes of Teen
People, Cosmo Girl, and Harper's Bazaar, De La Rosa needs a lens that
can take on any job at any time. Whether he's capturing a glamorous
pose, an intimate beauty headshot, or an on-location nautical shoot, the
Tamron 28-300mm XR Di does the trick. "Versatility is the main selling
point for me," he explains. "It's an incredible lens, with a vast range
of f-stops. I can use it for a variety of applications without ever
having to change lenses." |
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The versatility of both lenses especially shines through when De La Rosa
is on location. This all-in-one aptitude allows De La Rosa to
concentrate on his creativity instead of getting bogged down with
equipment switch-ups-resulting in invaluable time- and money-savings, as
well as salvaging the aesthetics of the scene. "Not having to change my
lens while I'm shooting is key for a couple of reasons," he says. "On a
recent shoot, there were times when the light was in and out all day. It
wasn't perfect weather. If I changed my lens, I would have risked not
having the right light anymore." |
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Which leads to the 28-300's ability to take on any lighting scenario
with little transition. "One of the things about most of my work is that
I'm constantly working in a different mode; I don't always have the same
light," he says. "For one model I shot of a guy modeling a watch, I
brought along my Dynalite portable pack, used their ringlight, and found
the lens worked just as good with artificial light as with natural
light. It wasn't the brightest room I was shooting in, and shooting both
manually and on auto, I was really impressed with the results." |
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The same applied to a high-end shot of a woman clutching a bright-red
Hermes handbag and a designer watch worth its weight in diamonds. "I
shot this in the shade, with a big gold reflector," he says. "That watch
is worth like $60,000 or $70,000, and I wanted to make it look good."
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His trip to Barcelona also illustrated the appeal of the 28-300's and
18-200's light weight. "I was shooting a shopping guide for a magazine,
basically what's hot in Barcelona, where to go shopping," he says. "I
was there with all my equipment and I had no assistant. I had to take
care of everything. I liked that the lenses were light. I do a lot of
traveling, and it's nice not to be weighed down by your equipment." |
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The 28-300 Di lens and the 18-200mm Di II lens are able to retain their
compact size thanks to Tamron's patented XR technology. By reducing the
total length of the optical configuration, a smaller lens diameter is
achieved while maintaining the same aperture values as previous lenses.
"These lenses are so light, it's fantastic," De La Rosa says. "Sometimes
you'll be at a shoot and you'll pick up a lens and think, 'Oh no, this
is going to kill me if I have to shoot all day with this.' Not so with
the 28-300, or with the 18-200. They're so easy to hold, it's not even
an issue." |
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In-studio sessions can also
benefit from the 28-300's all-around efficiency. "In the studio,
the 28-300 is a multipurpose lens," De
La
Rosa says. "It can drastically transform from one focal length to
the
other end of the spectrum. Once again, this is advantageous when it
comes to lighting-if the light has to be in a certain position and you
have to crop your image in a particular way, the 28-300m and the 18-200
for that matter, allow you to do so effortlessly." |
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| For more information on De La Rosa's work, go to www.ezequieldelarosa.com. | |||||
Tip Box Trying Out Telephoto Close-ups are cake with the 28-300. Use the lens with an APS-C-size digital camera to magnify your subject further, creating a greater telephoto effect. "It's great that I can be doing a full-length image with the 28-300 and then zoom in for a beauty shot," says De la Rosa. |
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