I bought a Nikon n65 SLR for a photography class?

& it came with Tamron AF 28-80mm F/3.5-5.6 lense. I know nothing about cameras & when i got home i read that tamron lenses are horrible. Is this true? Will i be able to take nice pictures? I really want a good grade in this class!

Okay, it's a dirt cheap lens, but users don't hate it too much. Click on "reviews" here:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/...rical.html

If you'd like a great lens that "only costs ten times as much, look at the Nikon 24-85:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/..._Zoom.html

Tamron DOES make some very nice lenses, so don't slam the company name. This would be good: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/...XR_Di.html

The "ultimate" in the same focal range is the Nikon 24-70:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/..._2_8G.html

If you get that one, at least you won't be able to blame the lens for bad photos.

It won't cut it on digital but on film, working with 4x6 prints in the hands of a beginner it will be fine.

I haven't had personal experience with this lens but not all Tamron lenses are horrible. In fact, my partner has taken really great photos with a $199.00 Tamron lens f/4 - 5.6 70mm - 300mm

Before you get discouraged there's one way to find out - take some pictures. Your good grade won't necessarily be the result of the equipment you have but how you're using it, choosing your subject, creating the mood and understanding a bit about photography.

You mention you know nothing about cameras so, if nothing else, this could be a helpful experience for you. If you can go and visit a trusted camera retailer. Take your camera and lens and ask them to tell you what's good and what's not so good about the lens. If you read or hear, yes it's horrible, that's not telling you anything. You need to know why and yet it could still be a good lens for your current skill level.

Just as everyone prefers specific camera brands the same is true with lenses. Even if it turns out you don't like this one it doesn't mean that all Tamron lenses are horrible. In comparison, you could purchase a $5, 000.00 lens but it won't instantly make you a brilliant photographer if you don't yet understand much about photography.

I would not call Tamron lenses "horrible". There may be some models that are bad, but that applies even to brand name lenses (like nikon or canon for example).

I know because I own budget brand name lenses as well as third party lenses (similar to Tamron).

A Tamron lens will not prevent you from getting a good grade (unless you teacher doesn't know anything about photography). That will only happen if you don't take the time to learn good picture-taking skills.

I have a nikon N65 and a cheapo quantaray lens (these are considered worst quality than Tamrons). My pictures turn out fine. Maybe not as good as if I had used a high quality nikon lens, but they certainly aren't much worse than my budget canon lenses.

So I wouldn't worry about it. If I can get nice pictures from my quantaray lens, I'm sure you can get them from your Tamron lens.