70-200 F2.8 Lens for Sony A57

[Johnnyd]

My main camera for photos is my Nikon D7100. I'm happy with the Nikon D7100 for photos however for taking videos, its autofocus system is not suited for run and gun type video.

I purchased an A57 for Video since it has better autofocus in video mode than the Nikon D7100. I've also been using the Sony A57 for still photos more and more these days as I usually take it along for casual shooting where I need to take a combination of video and still shots. No point taking 2 cameras along.

I have a Nikon 70-200 F2.8 VRII lens for my D7100 and was thinking of getting a 70-200 F2.8 for the Sony A57. I have spotted a previous version of the Tamron 70-200 F2.8 without VC in mint condition for about $500 which I think is a bargain for a 70-200 lens. Given that the Sony body has built in Image stabilisation, will the previous non VC version of the lens perform well on the Sony Body? I've also read that the older version of the Tamron 70-200 F2.8 non VC version has slower auto focus. I would probably use my Nikon D7100 and Nikon 70-200 F2.8 VRII combination for sport photography or anything needing faster auto focus however, I would still need the Tamron/Sony combination to have autofocus speed that is acceptable for normal photography and for Video.

[Boo53]

I have the older model of the Tamron 70-200 f2.8 and its a very sharp lens. I've used it for basketball football and cricket and had no problems with the focus keeping up.

[arthurking83]

I've also got the older model non VC type for my Nikons too.
I've never had any issues with focusing when using the lens normally, but take note that on my Nikon cameras, the lens doesn't focus(at all) in live view mode!
That is, the lens moves all the elements as if it's trying to focus, but it just won't acquire any point of focus, and just reels in and out in an endless loop.

I've only ever heard of one other person with the same problem on a Nikon body, but nothing else from either Nikon or other camera body models.
So I'm not sure if this is an isolated issue or something no one else does.
I don't tend to use this lens all that much in Liveview mode, and if I do, I generally manually focus in Lv mode anyhow. It's just something I noticed in the course of using the lens.

I haven't used the lens much for any fast paced action, but of the two times that come easily to mind(a triathlon and my kids taekwondo tournament) the slow AF issue that people always comment about never stopped me from getting a photo in focus! The slow AF issue is generally restricted to focusing from near->far, or vice versa .. but once the lens is roughly pre focused at a close point to where the subject is, it focuses fast enough to get your shot in focus.

And the lens is quite sharp .. still holding up well on the D800E .... a camera well known for showing up lens inadequacies, and more accurately bad technique! :D