Review - Tamron 45mm f/1.8 Di VC USD

[TeT]

Unfortunately from personal experience Tamron (and Sigma) lenses have serious QC issues if made in China.
If Dustin got this lens direct from Tamron it could have been carefully selected for him.
Don't be deceived by a nice looking lens and if in doubt buy Canon assuming of course it is built in Japan.
Nevertheless thanks for this review Dustin.

I got mine 2nd hand off eBay from a seller in Alaska... It is perfect. I have already bought and sold a 35 (2nd hand as well, nikon mount oops had to buy and sell a camera to test it) it was perfect as well.

Test what you buy and send back what is rotten... all you can do.

 

[FramerMCB]

Unfortunately from personal experience Tamron (and Sigma) lenses have serious QC issues if made in China.
If Dustin got this lens direct from Tamron it could have been carefully selected for him.
Don't be deceived by a nice looking lens and if in doubt buy Canon assuming of course it is built in Japan.
Nevertheless thanks for this review Dustin.

If you look at either my full review or the build quality video you will find that Tamron really emphasizes that these lenses are both designed and built in Japan (its on the lens and hood about three times!)

BTW, none of the high end Tamron lenses are built anywhere but Japan. I've only seen consumer grade lenses built in China.

As for a cherry picked copy - if that's the case (and I doubt it is as my reviews have been corroborated by other reviews since), I sure hope my own personal copy I ordered is cherry picked too ;D

bravo Dustin! Great review(s) of both lenses. I read them first at your website before they were posted here. In fact, I began reading them before you had them completed...what you posted first. They look like a pair of beautiful lenses. And I'm seriously considering the 35mm version.

 

[TWI by Dustin Abbott]

Unfortunately from personal experience Tamron (and Sigma) lenses have serious QC issues if made in China.
If Dustin got this lens direct from Tamron it could have been carefully selected for him.
Don't be deceived by a nice looking lens and if in doubt buy Canon assuming of course it is built in Japan.
Nevertheless thanks for this review Dustin.

If you look at either my full review or the build quality video you will find that Tamron really emphasizes that these lenses are both designed and built in Japan (its on the lens and hood about three times!)

BTW, none of the high end Tamron lenses are built anywhere but Japan. I've only seen consumer grade lenses built in China.

As for a cherry picked copy - if that's the case (and I doubt it is as my reviews have been corroborated by other reviews since), I sure hope my own personal copy I ordered is cherry picked too ;D

bravo Dustin! Great review(s) of both lenses. I read them first at your website before they were posted here. In fact, I began reading them before you had them completed...what you posted first. They look like a pair of beautiful lenses. And I'm seriously considering the 35mm version.

Thanks! I just got work that my own 45mm is shipping to me tomorrow.

 

[TWI by Dustin Abbott]

By the way, Bryan Carnathan just released his review of the 45mm VC and actually gave it the most enthusiastic review I've EVER seen him give a Tamron.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Tamron-45mm-f-1.8-Di-VC-USD-Lens.aspx

Ironically he found the CA less objectionable than me. That surprised me, but its encouraging that perhaps it will bother me less when I shoot more with the lens.

P.S. Since I don't (yet) have a 5Ds body, I was glad to read that the image quality surpassed the increased scrutiny that the high resolution sensor provides.

 

[Random Orbits]

By the way, Bryan Carnathan just released his review of the 45mm VC and actually gave it the most enthusiastic review I've EVER seen him give a Tamron.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Tamron-45mm-f-1.8-Di-VC-USD-Lens.aspx

Ironically he found the CA less objectionable than me. That surprised me, but its encouraging that perhaps it will bother me less when I shoot more with the lens.

P.S. Since I don't (yet) have a 5Ds body, I was glad to read that the image quality surpassed the increased scrutiny that the high resolution sensor provides.

IQ looks good but the AF is potentially worrisome:

Center point AF accuracy has been very good for me most of the time, perhaps the best I've seen from a Tamron lens, but not always. Center AF point performance was notably not quite as accurate in low light levels and peripheral AF points have caused me more grief. Controlled testing and in the field use, including the capture of action sports in AI Servo AF mode, from both the EOS 1D X and the EOS 5Ds R, has shown that AF accuracy using peripheral AF points, including the vertically centered mid-right and mid-left AF points, has ranged between just OK and not so good. The peripheral AF points tended to focus behind the subject when mis-focusing occurred.

 

[TeT]

By the way, Bryan Carnathan just released his review of the 45mm VC and actually gave it the most enthusiastic review I've EVER seen him give a Tamron.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Tamron-45mm-f-1.8-Di-VC-USD-Lens.aspx

Ironically he found the CA less objectionable than me. That surprised me, but its encouraging that perhaps it will bother me less when I shoot more with the lens.

P.S. Since I don't (yet) have a 5Ds body, I was glad to read that the image quality surpassed the increased scrutiny that the high resolution sensor provides.

IQ looks good but the AF is potentially worrisome:

Center point AF accuracy has been very good for me most of the time, perhaps the best I've seen from a Tamron lens, but not always. Center AF point performance was notably not quite as accurate in low light levels and peripheral AF points have caused me more grief. Controlled testing and in the field use, including the capture of action sports in AI Servo AF mode, from both the EOS 1D X and the EOS 5Ds R, has shown that AF accuracy using peripheral AF points, including the vertically centered mid-right and mid-left AF points, has ranged between just OK and not so good. The peripheral AF points tended to focus behind the subject when mis-focusing occurred.

I have had a few misses in poor light with my 6D. have not had a true miss yet in quality lighting.... I mostly use center point... comparing it to my other lenses it might be a little slower in poor light, but not enough that I can be sure.

 

[mrsfotografie]

By the way, Bryan Carnathan just released his review of the 45mm VC and actually gave it the most enthusiastic review I've EVER seen him give a Tamron.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Tamron-45mm-f-1.8-Di-VC-USD-Lens.aspx

Ironically he found the CA less objectionable than me. That surprised me, but its encouraging that perhaps it will bother me less when I shoot more with the lens.

P.S. Since I don't (yet) have a 5Ds body, I was glad to read that the image quality surpassed the increased scrutiny that the high resolution sensor provides.

IQ looks good but the AF is potentially worrisome:

Center point AF accuracy has been very good for me most of the time, perhaps the best I've seen from a Tamron lens, but not always. Center AF point performance was notably not quite as accurate in low light levels and peripheral AF points have caused me more grief. Controlled testing and in the field use, including the capture of action sports in AI Servo AF mode, from both the EOS 1D X and the EOS 5Ds R, has shown that AF accuracy using peripheral AF points, including the vertically centered mid-right and mid-left AF points, has ranged between just OK and not so good. The peripheral AF points tended to focus behind the subject when mis-focusing occurred.

It is common for AF issues to occur with large aperture (third party) lenses so this is not surprising. I assume Canon corrects for this with in-lens electronics. For me it is a non-issue as the only time I use the peripheral AF points is when I use tracking mode AF.

Normally I focus and recompose, then re-meter as needed and take the shot. I couldn't be bothered selecting individual AF points as it doesn't fit with my shooting style.

 

[mrsfotografie]

By the way, Bryan Carnathan just released his review of the 45mm VC and actually gave it the most enthusiastic review I've EVER seen him give a Tamron.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Tamron-45mm-f-1.8-Di-VC-USD-Lens.aspx

Ironically he found the CA less objectionable than me. That surprised me, but its encouraging that perhaps it will bother me less when I shoot more with the lens.

P.S. Since I don't (yet) have a 5Ds body, I was glad to read that the image quality surpassed the increased scrutiny that the high resolution sensor provides.

Dustin, in your experience how much does the CA issue improve when the lens is stopped down? This is the only thing holding me back at the moment.

From what I can see by looking at the TDP test charts and your real-world samples, it's not really transverse (lateral) CA that can be an issue with this lens but rather the axial (longitudinal) kind...

I'm happy that Bryan did a review as well, it works well for me to get a good impression of a lens by considering his technically oriented reviews and compare them to yours which give a more 'real life' feeling. Based on that I've already gone ahead and purchased a lens or two

 

[GammyKnee]

IQ looks good but the AF is potentially worrisome:

I've seen another review noting consistently bad performance with the outer points on a 6D (which aren't cross type). One earlier buyer on dpreview also had trouble in this area BUT... he exchanged for a second copy which is apparently completely free of the issue. No reports so far of bad center point performance (that I've seen, and believe me I've done a lot of searching).

So basically I'm assuming that there are going to be some copies out there that give grief with non-center AF, and when I buy I'll go for a store with a good exchange policy.

 

[meywd]

Great review Dustin, the best feature is the short MFD, and of course the price, which makes this lens interesting, but I really hope Canon releases a new 50mm 1.2 or 1.4 L series lens on par with the 35mm f/1.4 II, as for IS, sorry ahsanford but I don't think it will come anytime soon.

 

[TWI by Dustin Abbott]

By the way, Bryan Carnathan just released his review of the 45mm VC and actually gave it the most enthusiastic review I've EVER seen him give a Tamron.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Tamron-45mm-f-1.8-Di-VC-USD-Lens.aspx

Ironically he found the CA less objectionable than me. That surprised me, but its encouraging that perhaps it will bother me less when I shoot more with the lens.

P.S. Since I don't (yet) have a 5Ds body, I was glad to read that the image quality surpassed the increased scrutiny that the high resolution sensor provides.

Dustin, in your experience how much does the CA issue improve when the lens is stopped down? This is the only thing holding me back at the moment.

From what I can see by looking at the TDP test charts and your real-world samples, it's not really transverse (lateral) CA that can be an issue with this lens but rather the axial (longitudinal) kind...

I'm happy that Bryan did a review as well, it works well for me to get a good impression of a lens by considering his technically oriented reviews and compare them to yours which give a more 'real life' feeling. Based on that I've already gone ahead and purchased a lens or two

It definitely clears up when stopped down. I have a stopped down version of the image I shared on the first page of this review and there is no visible CA. My Lightroom is busy outputting images for a client at the moment, but I'll output an example when its done and post it here.

 

[TWI by Dustin Abbott]

By the way, Bryan Carnathan just released his review of the 45mm VC and actually gave it the most enthusiastic review I've EVER seen him give a Tamron.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Tamron-45mm-f-1.8-Di-VC-USD-Lens.aspx

Ironically he found the CA less objectionable than me. That surprised me, but its encouraging that perhaps it will bother me less when I shoot more with the lens.

P.S. Since I don't (yet) have a 5Ds body, I was glad to read that the image quality surpassed the increased scrutiny that the high resolution sensor provides.

IQ looks good but the AF is potentially worrisome:

Center point AF accuracy has been very good for me most of the time, perhaps the best I've seen from a Tamron lens, but not always. Center AF point performance was notably not quite as accurate in low light levels and peripheral AF points have caused me more grief. Controlled testing and in the field use, including the capture of action sports in AI Servo AF mode, from both the EOS 1D X and the EOS 5Ds R, has shown that AF accuracy using peripheral AF points, including the vertically centered mid-right and mid-left AF points, has ranged between just OK and not so good. The peripheral AF points tended to focus behind the subject when mis-focusing occurred.

I interpreted this as some misses during AF Servo focus when in outer points. I personally found that I had slower focus in some situations with outer points on my 6D, but not many actual misses. I'll do more AF servo testing on my own copy of the lens, though this isn't typically a priority use for this kind of lens in my own shooting style. I recognize that others may be using this lens in a more general purpose way, however.

 

[TWI by Dustin Abbott]

By the way, Bryan Carnathan just released his review of the 45mm VC and actually gave it the most enthusiastic review I've EVER seen him give a Tamron.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Tamron-45mm-f-1.8-Di-VC-USD-Lens.aspx

Ironically he found the CA less objectionable than me. That surprised me, but its encouraging that perhaps it will bother me less when I shoot more with the lens.

P.S. Since I don't (yet) have a 5Ds body, I was glad to read that the image quality surpassed the increased scrutiny that the high resolution sensor provides.

Dustin, in your experience how much does the CA issue improve when the lens is stopped down? This is the only thing holding me back at the moment.

From what I can see by looking at the TDP test charts and your real-world samples, it's not really transverse (lateral) CA that can be an issue with this lens but rather the axial (longitudinal) kind...

I'm happy that Bryan did a review as well, it works well for me to get a good impression of a lens by considering his technically oriented reviews and compare them to yours which give a more 'real life' feeling. Based on that I've already gone ahead and purchased a lens or two

It definitely clears up when stopped down. I have a stopped down version of the image I shared on the first page of this review and there is no visible CA. My Lightroom is busy outputting images for a client at the moment, but I'll output an example when its done and post it here.

I found just the slightest trace at a pixel level on one branch, but not around the leaves. I'm attaching three images:
1) The photo (at f/4)
2) Crop of the "area of vulnerability"
3) Crop after a one click Lightroom correction.

Hopefully this will give you a clear look as to whether or not the CA is a serious issue for you.

 

[mrsfotografie]

By the way, Bryan Carnathan just released his review of the 45mm VC and actually gave it the most enthusiastic review I've EVER seen him give a Tamron.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Tamron-45mm-f-1.8-Di-VC-USD-Lens.aspx

Ironically he found the CA less objectionable than me. That surprised me, but its encouraging that perhaps it will bother me less when I shoot more with the lens.

P.S. Since I don't (yet) have a 5Ds body, I was glad to read that the image quality surpassed the increased scrutiny that the high resolution sensor provides.

Dustin, in your experience how much does the CA issue improve when the lens is stopped down? This is the only thing holding me back at the moment.

From what I can see by looking at the TDP test charts and your real-world samples, it's not really transverse (lateral) CA that can be an issue with this lens but rather the axial (longitudinal) kind...

I'm happy that Bryan did a review as well, it works well for me to get a good impression of a lens by considering his technically oriented reviews and compare them to yours which give a more 'real life' feeling. Based on that I've already gone ahead and purchased a lens or two

It definitely clears up when stopped down. I have a stopped down version of the image I shared on the first page of this review and there is no visible CA. My Lightroom is busy outputting images for a client at the moment, but I'll output an example when its done and post it here.

I found just the slightest trace at a pixel level on one branch, but not around the leaves. I'm attaching three images:
1) The photo (at f/4)
2) Crop of the "area of vulnerability"
3) Crop after a one click Lightroom correction.

Hopefully this will give you a clear look as to whether or not the CA is a serious issue for you.

Thanks Dustin

It looks a lot better now. Realistically I would stop down to about f/5.6 or so for a shot like this so CA should probably be even less and not be issue for me, possibly removing the need to correct in post all together. I do recognize that back-lit branches always present an unforgiving situation to any lens, and whether to correct or not depends on the severity of the aberration and end-use of the picture.

In any event it's good to see the purple CA easily corrected in post. I wonder how DPP will fare with that, given that by editing the exif data, it's possible to enable the lens aberration correction functionality in DPP for third-party lenses. I already got great results getting DPP to 'think' my Tamron 28-300 is actually a Canon 28-300. Of course the lens profiles aren't equal but it's easy to tweak the image using the sliders. For the 45mm I would like to try out the Canon 50mm f/1.8, F/1.4 or f/1.2 profiles to see which gives the best comparable correction results. Note that I do use Lightroom for my Sony raws but I have a strained affair with that software and prefer DPP for my Canon files because of editing speed and OEM in-camera function support.

FWIW Lightroom 6.2.1 does already include the Tamron 45mm lens correction profile. Have you tried that, yet? It may give better results than the fringe color selector method.

 

[TWI by Dustin Abbott]

By the way, Bryan Carnathan just released his review of the 45mm VC and actually gave it the most enthusiastic review I've EVER seen him give a Tamron.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Tamron-45mm-f-1.8-Di-VC-USD-Lens.aspx

Ironically he found the CA less objectionable than me. That surprised me, but its encouraging that perhaps it will bother me less when I shoot more with the lens.

P.S. Since I don't (yet) have a 5Ds body, I was glad to read that the image quality surpassed the increased scrutiny that the high resolution sensor provides.

Dustin, in your experience how much does the CA issue improve when the lens is stopped down? This is the only thing holding me back at the moment.

From what I can see by looking at the TDP test charts and your real-world samples, it's not really transverse (lateral) CA that can be an issue with this lens but rather the axial (longitudinal) kind...

I'm happy that Bryan did a review as well, it works well for me to get a good impression of a lens by considering his technically oriented reviews and compare them to yours which give a more 'real life' feeling. Based on that I've already gone ahead and purchased a lens or two

It definitely clears up when stopped down. I have a stopped down version of the image I shared on the first page of this review and there is no visible CA. My Lightroom is busy outputting images for a client at the moment, but I'll output an example when its done and post it here.

I found just the slightest trace at a pixel level on one branch, but not around the leaves. I'm attaching three images:
1) The photo (at f/4)
2) Crop of the "area of vulnerability"
3) Crop after a one click Lightroom correction.

Hopefully this will give you a clear look as to whether or not the CA is a serious issue for you.

Thanks Dustin

It looks a lot better now. Realistically I would stop down to about f/5.6 or so for a shot like this so CA should probably be even less and not be issue for me, possibly removing the need to correct in post all together. I do recognize that back-lit branches always present an unforgiving situation to any lens, and whether to correct or not depends on the severity of the aberration and end-use of the picture.

In any event it's good to see the purple CA easily corrected in post. I wonder how DPP will fare with that, given that by editing the exif data, it's possible to enable the lens aberration correction functionality in DPP for third-party lenses. I already got great results getting DPP to 'think' my Tamron 28-300 is actually a Canon 28-300. Of course the lens profiles aren't equal but it's easy to tweak the image using the sliders. For the 45mm I would like to try out the Canon 50mm f/1.8, F/1.4 or f/1.2 profiles to see which gives the best comparable correction results. Note that I do use Lightroom for my Sony raws but I have a strained affair with that software and prefer DPP for my Canon files because of editing speed and OEM in-camera function support.

FWIW Lightroom 6.2.1 does already include the Tamron 45mm lens correction profile. Have you tried that, yet? It may give better results than the fringe color selector method.

I actually find the profile a little overly aggressive. Not with CA, but with peripheral illumination and distortion. There's next to no distortion already, and the vignette is not bad, so it just seems to overdo things a hair for my taste. I find that on a number of images I have tried the profile and then unchecked it.

It's a bit similar to the Tamron 15-30 VC profile - just a bit too much.

 

[mrsfotografie]

By the way, Bryan Carnathan just released his review of the 45mm VC and actually gave it the most enthusiastic review I've EVER seen him give a Tamron.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Tamron-45mm-f-1.8-Di-VC-USD-Lens.aspx

Ironically he found the CA less objectionable than me. That surprised me, but its encouraging that perhaps it will bother me less when I shoot more with the lens.

P.S. Since I don't (yet) have a 5Ds body, I was glad to read that the image quality surpassed the increased scrutiny that the high resolution sensor provides.

Dustin, in your experience how much does the CA issue improve when the lens is stopped down? This is the only thing holding me back at the moment.

From what I can see by looking at the TDP test charts and your real-world samples, it's not really transverse (lateral) CA that can be an issue with this lens but rather the axial (longitudinal) kind...

I'm happy that Bryan did a review as well, it works well for me to get a good impression of a lens by considering his technically oriented reviews and compare them to yours which give a more 'real life' feeling. Based on that I've already gone ahead and purchased a lens or two

It definitely clears up when stopped down. I have a stopped down version of the image I shared on the first page of this review and there is no visible CA. My Lightroom is busy outputting images for a client at the moment, but I'll output an example when its done and post it here.

I found just the slightest trace at a pixel level on one branch, but not around the leaves. I'm attaching three images:
1) The photo (at f/4)
2) Crop of the "area of vulnerability"
3) Crop after a one click Lightroom correction.

Hopefully this will give you a clear look as to whether or not the CA is a serious issue for you.

Thanks Dustin

It looks a lot better now. Realistically I would stop down to about f/5.6 or so for a shot like this so CA should probably be even less and not be issue for me, possibly removing the need to correct in post all together. I do recognize that back-lit branches always present an unforgiving situation to any lens, and whether to correct or not depends on the severity of the aberration and end-use of the picture.

In any event it's good to see the purple CA easily corrected in post. I wonder how DPP will fare with that, given that by editing the exif data, it's possible to enable the lens aberration correction functionality in DPP for third-party lenses. I already got great results getting DPP to 'think' my Tamron 28-300 is actually a Canon 28-300. Of course the lens profiles aren't equal but it's easy to tweak the image using the sliders. For the 45mm I would like to try out the Canon 50mm f/1.8, F/1.4 or f/1.2 profiles to see which gives the best comparable correction results. Note that I do use Lightroom for my Sony raws but I have a strained affair with that software and prefer DPP for my Canon files because of editing speed and OEM in-camera function support.

FWIW Lightroom 6.2.1 does already include the Tamron 45mm lens correction profile. Have you tried that, yet? It may give better results than the fringe color selector method.

I actually find the profile a little overly aggressive. Not with CA, but with peripheral illumination and distortion. There's next to no distortion already, and the vignette is not bad, so it just seems to overdo things a hair for my taste. I find that on a number of images I have tried the profile and then unchecked it.

It's a bit similar to the Tamron 15-30 VC profile - just a bit too much.

Thank you Dustin. I find I leave most of my images uncorrected as well, save when distortion, vignetting or CA become disturbing because correcting for every 'flaw' makes the images too clinical. Besides, even with distortion present I find I often prefer to leave it in because that is what I saw through the viewfinder.

It is CA correction I use most often.

 

[Random Orbits]

IQ looks good but the AF is potentially worrisome:

I've seen another review noting consistently bad performance with the outer points on a 6D (which aren't cross type). One earlier buyer on dpreview also had trouble in this area BUT... he exchanged for a second copy which is apparently completely free of the issue. No reports so far of bad center point performance (that I've seen, and believe me I've done a lot of searching).

So basically I'm assuming that there are going to be some copies out there that give grief with non-center AF, and when I buy I'll go for a store with a good exchange policy.

Agreed, but I'm wondering if the AF performance is camera specific. The 1DX and 5DIII AF systems are more similar and, together, significantly different than the 6D. I previously had the 5DII and I only used the center point for fast lenses because the outer points were so poor. The 5DIII was revelatory; I could use fast glass with many of the AF points (cross points) which gave a lot more freedom in framing.

 

[GammyKnee]

Agreed, but I'm wondering if the AF performance is camera specific. The 1DX and 5DIII AF systems are more similar and, together, significantly different than the 6D. I previously had the 5DII and I only used the center point for fast lenses because the outer points were so poor. The 5DIII was revelatory; I could use fast glass with many of the AF points (cross points) which gave a lot more freedom in framing.

Good point. I'm just hoping that Bryan got a dodgy copy, which might not be the case. I'm pretty much center-point only with my 5DII but I very much want to be able to use all or most of the cross-types on my 5DIII.

Still, when UK stores (eventually) get a decent stock of the 45s I'll give them a go.

 

[searsie]

Sadly, after spending a week with this lens and trying really hard to love it I have sent it back to B&H. Loved the build, sharpness wide open, the VC but just could not deal with AF inconsistency. AFMA was only -1 but about every fourth or so shot missed badly. When it hit lovely lens but I wanted better than 60-70% keeper rate. Using 6D center point don't even go near the outer points. Could be copy variation and I may give the lens another whirl once it becomes more available locally here in Toronto so I can test the copy before I buy again. Damn I wish Canon would come up with something decent in this FL.

 

[GammyKnee]

Well I've just got the 45 from Wex here in the UK. I'll give it a little go this evening and over the next few days with my 5D II and III bodies and report back here in due course. Fingers crossed it's a good copy...