Preorder: Tamron SP 85mm f/1.8 Di VC USD

[Luds34]

In fairness the Canon 85mm f/1.8 is a heck of a steal. A lot of lens for your dollar there. With that said, this probably isn't a bad price on the new Tamron, however I was hoping for pricing similar to their recent 35mm and 45mm which I believe are cheaper. I was hoping for something like $550.

Will be interesting to see if this price comes down a bit or how well it sells. I'll be keeping my eye on this lens, am eager to see some reviews and first hand experiences with this lens. My gut tells me the IQ will be stunning.

Tamron's biggest challenge is people's perception of f/1.8. That has been established as the "bargain prime" aperture, despite it not being a whole lot different than f/1.4 in most practical applications.

The lens itself will be, I suspect, quite incredible. Sigma has gotten a lot of attention of the amazing resolution of their ART lenses, but the new Tamron primes are actually offering similar resolution (perhaps better when field curvature is considered), image stabilization, weather sealing, and all of this in smaller, lighter packaging. But the perception of that f/1.8 aperture is tough to overcome. They are actually in virgin territory by putting stabilization in primes with apertures this wide, and the MTF charts for this lens are looking, well, incredible. I look forward to putting this one through its paces, to be sure.

The Tap-in will be arriving basically concurrently with this lens...or just a little after the new 90 VC Macro hits the shelves.

Very valid point on the sort of spec sheet, marketing side of this lens being "only" an f/1.8 lens and how that may affect potential buyers. I agree with you, especially at this telephoto focal length, the difference is going to be negligible. So many other factors of the shot will determine the background bokeh, like having a close enough distance to subject, a lot of separation between subject and background, what objects, patterns, lights are in the background, etc. In fact, I'd argue that if one is shooting a tight enough shot (say head shot for example), f/1.4 is going to be too narrow a DOF anyway leading one to stopping down to f/2, f/2.8, f/4 etc. Once in a while I can handle that dreamy shot where only the eyes are in focus, but generally speaking that should be the rare artistic exception while the norm is having the whole face in focus with the ears, hair, and such at least mostly in focus.

In short, I won't be turned off by the f/1.8 aperture. I have too many great shots at 85mm at f/2 on crop to know f/1.8 on full frame will be plenty good enough for this guy.

I look forward to seeing your review when you get your hands on this lens and to a lesser degree what you have to say about the new tap in device. Of course, like the Sigma dock, I think I'm mostly interested in just having the ability to be able to update firmware.

 

[TWI by Dustin Abbott]

For those interested, I now have a video review of the new Tamron 90mm Macro VC live here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_NGP3A0PII