Tamron Launches SP 35mm f/1.8 Di VC USD & SP 45mm f/1.8 Di VC USD

ahsanford

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Aug 16, 2012
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Hjalmarg1 said:
adhocphotographer said:
intersting to see how it shapes up vs canon f/2 IS....
Difficult to beat.. the Canon f/2 IS is a great lens and price-wise are quite similar

Moving away from the Canon first party AF confidence/reliability for a fraction of a stop at the same price seems nuts to me.

Someone made an astro comment, and that's just about the only reason I'd consider the Tamron -- and we'd need to see that in reviews first.

- A
 
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StudentOfLight

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candyman said:
StudentOfLight said:
Here are my observations:
1) Tamron appears to be highlighting their weather-sealing attempts in the marketing of these lenses, a feature which the 35/2 IS does not offer.
2) The MTF curves also look promising, nothing that would appear to threaten the new 35L II, but they do look slightly better than the 35/2 IS (Although IRRC the 35/2 IS did slightly outperform the theoretic curves posted by Canon. So it might be close)
3) It has a 67mm front fiter vs the 35/2 IS which is only 58mm. Perhaps this will result in lower vignette and better peripheral bokeh shape #?
4) It has a massive warranty which is not offered for the 35/2 IS

It will be interesting to see real world tests and the inevitable comparisons.

Based on initial impressions Tamron has definitely thrown a compelling option into the mix, giving customers something to think about. I'm keenly waiting for real world tests of these two. I'm currently leaning more toward 35L II in terms of 35mm FL, but in terms of the "50mm" FL might well opt for the Tamron 45mm instead of waiting for Canon to release something.


The Canon 35 f/2 IS has a 67mm frontfilter
Apologies, I clearly pulled online info for the wrong lens. (I think it must have been the 28mm IS) Thanks for correcting me.

From the sample images (RAW and JPG) I've seen today the Tamron 35mm appears to only have a mild vignette about 1.2Ev by my estimation. I'm quite happy to live with that amount, which can help bring emphasis to a center-weighted composition without being too obvious. The 35 IS that according to Lenstip and Photozone reviews appears to be a little over 2Ev which would be very obvious to a trained eye. Another consideration is that raising peripheral exposure is not without side-effects, especially in the Canon ecosystem so I'd generally choose a lens with less vignette if available.
 
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ahsanford

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StudentOfLight said:
Apologies, I clearly pulled online info for the wrong lens. (I think it must have been the 28mm IS) Thanks for correcting me.

Yep. Both the 24mm & 28mm f/2.8 IS USM lenses are 58mm, and the 35mm f/2 IS USM comes in at 67mm.

I believe the original lower cost EF primes shared barrel / filter ring components in pairs: 24 and 28 were highly similar, 35 and 50 were highly similar, and 85 and 100 were highly similar, so here's hoping the 50mm f/nooneknows IS USM (that Canon is actively withholding from me) also has a 67mm ring.

- A
 
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StudentOfLight

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I was talking to a friend who shoots on the Nikon system and he's quite excited about these new Tamron lenses. Locally Nikon equipment is way overpriced:
35mm f/1.8 G - R11,000 (~$790) weight=305g
50mm f/1.4 G - R7,700 (~$560) weight=280g
85mm f/1.8 G - R8,500 (~$615) weight=350g

None of these Nikkor lenses are weather-sealed and all have a relatively high composition of plastic. So now Tamron is offering a few fast-apertured, optically-sound and image-stabilized lenses for similar pricing or less than these expensive and mechanically-weak lenses from Nikon. It looks like the Tamron lenses will slot quite nicely into the gap in the market where these overpriced Nikkor lenses have been sitting comfortable for too long.
 
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Feb 8, 2013
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Aaand Tamron drops the ball.

It's not pathetic, but it does go to show that not everyone is in the same league quite yet.

http://www.lenstip.com/454.1-Lens_review-Tamron_SP_45_mm_f_1.8_Di_VC_USD_Introduction.html

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=1004&Camera=453&Sample=0&FLI=0&API=1&LensComp=941&CameraComp=453&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=2
 
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9VIII said:
Aaand Tamron drops the ball.

It's not pathetic, but it does go to show that not everyone is in the same league quite yet.

http://www.lenstip.com/454.1-Lens_review-Tamron_SP_45_mm_f_1.8_Di_VC_USD_Introduction.html

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=1004&Camera=453&Sample=0&FLI=0&API=1&LensComp=941&CameraComp=453&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=2

Wow. You call that dropping the ball? Have you compared the EF 50mm f/1.4 at equivalent apertures?

How about the Tamron is also weather sealed, can magnify nearly twice as much, has better bokeh, and, oh yeah, actually focuses consistently? This is why chart testing rarely tells the whole story.

The LensTip review is good in many ways as it provides some empirical data on resolution, CA numbers, coma, and distortion, but it's clear that the strengths of the new Tamron completely escaped the reviewer. They hardly mention the class leading maximum magnification - although for me that is one of the most important features, period. I love using a 50mm lens for close focus shot and fine art, shallow DOF work.

It hardly mentions the very pro grade build/weather sealing (which includes internal seals all over the place and fluorine coating).

The resolution difference between the Tamron and Sigma is negligible, but being able to get consistently accurate focus isn't.
 
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