NikonGear'23
Gear Talk => Lens Talk => Topic started by: stenrasmussen on June 27, 2016, 11:17:17
-
Just started exploring this lens as a potential purchase.
Initial impression:
- great build quality, metal, weather sealed
- slightly heavy at 706g (Nikkor 85/1.8G 388g)
- super fast AF drive (the Nikkor is a slug in comparison)
- VC is very effective and relatively silent
- more to follow
-
this is an awesome lens. i tested this at CP+ :o :o :o
-
Sten, looking forward to your impressions. It is heavier but is it cheaper than the Nikon 85/1.8?
-
Sten, looking forward to your impressions. It is heavier but is it cheaper than the Nikon 85/1.8?
It is 60% dearer than the Nikkor 1.8 but that is offset by the betterness of it :D
One of the drawbacks with fast portrait lenses like these is focus shift when stopping down. It is not too severe but something to be aware of.
Here are a couple of comparative shots @ f/1.8 showing how the Tamron is better corrected for LoCA. (I've added a color boosted version to emphasize the effect. Notice how the Nikkor samples show a green halo on the shoulder and a magenta tint on the head cloth of the statue).
Also note how the Tamron's focal length is slightly longer.
-
With the VC (VR in Nikon term) and less LoCA, and more advanced "E" type aperture, Tamron seems to be worth the extra money.
I also like the sculpture. Nefertiti?
-
With the VC (VR in Nikon term) and less LoCA, and more advanced "E" type aperture, Tamron seems to be worth the extra money.
I also like the sculpture. Nefertiti?
I agree with you Akira. The sculpture (which is supposed to be a king) is a custom job by a local artist here in Stavanger. Looks a bit like Nefertiti but have no clue whether the artist is influenced by the Egyptian royals.
Here is the full image with the queen to the left (Tamron version).
Also included is a comparison demonstrated on the Spyder LENSCAL tool, this time shot with the D500 (colors boosted to show the issues).
-
Sten, thanks for the details of the sculpture.
You may also want to try to shoot chrome coated metal surface reflecting strong lights to see if the lenses are resistant to the purple fringing, as shown in the review of AF-S 85/1.8G at photozone.de:
http://www.photozone.de/nikon_ff/717-nikkorafs8518ff?start=1
-
That's on my list Akira. Bokeh, fringing, blur circles, real portraits, landscape proximal/distal/lateral sharpness, flare (when the sun decide to get out), etc...
-
Although there seems to be little interest in this lens I'll keep posting my impressions.
Bokeh: Tamron still in the lead as shown in the f/1.8 and f/5.6 examples below.
Night shots: Both lenses provides nice blur circles with just a slightly pronounced outer rim. No onion ring effect from molded aspheric here. Point light source stars - the Tamron produces pointy ones, the Nikkor fan shaped ones. I like the former.
Hight contrast scenes: The Tamron is virtually void of any purple fringing whereas the Nikkor struggles big time.
-
I'm reading these impressions with considerable interest, Sten ...
Seems the Tamron is a worthy challenger and alternative in this focal class.
-
Sten,
thanks for sharing.
Could you be so kind and check for AF accuracy for the outermost AF fields in the D500 ?
I'd be interested how Tamron is handling this issue we saw with the Sigma Art lens.
Given the different focal range the issue might be smaller, but still - i am just curious.
Many thanks,
Andy
-
Sten,
thanks for sharing.
Could you be so kind and check for AF accuracy for the outermost AF fields in the D500 ?
I'd be interested how Tamron is handling this issue we saw with the Sigma Art lens.
Given the different focal range the issue might be smaller, but still - i am just curious.
Many thanks,
Andy
So far the outer AF sensors seem to hit right on target. Apart from focus shift I am REALLY impressed with this lens. I will trade in my 85/1.8G tomorrow.
-
Thank you Sten. Good to know.
If you still have both lenses, you might be interested if the Tamron is also rather a "real" f2 than a f1.8, like the Nikkor. (Nikon Marketing seemed to be very progressive wrt to this value)
Just compare the exposure level at open aperture and a fixed exposure time. Take a good f1.4 lens, set it to f1.8 and use it for comparison as well.
enjoy your new lens,
Andy
-
Although there seems to be little interest in this lens I'll keep posting my impressions.
No reactions does not necessarily mean "no interest". I also experienced little feedback when posting about, say, the tamron 45/1.8, another lens worth trying (and even buying).
-
No reactions does not necessarily mean "no interest". I also experienced little feedback when posting about, say, the tamron 45/1.8, another lens worth trying (and even buying).
My interpretation is that Tamron is still hampered by yesteryears's lukewarm quality. A shame really as their recent years have yielded quite a number of really good lenses.
-
Thank you Sten. Good to know.
If you still have both lenses, you might be interested if the Tamron is also rather a "real" f2 than a f1.8, like the Nikkor. (Nikon Marketing seemed to be very progressive wrt to this value)
Just compare the exposure level at open aperture and a fixed exposure time. Take a good f1.4 lens, set it to f1.8 and use it for comparison as well.
enjoy your new lens,
Andy
I haven't measured this but can say that the Nikkor i "darker".
-
Thanks, Sten.
Then you have one more reason for your decision :)
enjoy and rgds,
Andy
-
Sten,
thanks for all the effort and posting.
Have been reading with interest from the beginning and will continiue to do so.
I consider an 85mm/1.8 being part of my wishlist but unsure which.
The Tamron seems to open up the game ...
-
Also note how the Tamron's focal length is slightly longer.
I expect both are close to 85mm at infinity and far distances, however both are IF or RF designs so the focal length reduces at close range. The Nikkor apparently has more focal length shortening than the Tamron. This is confirmed by the magnification at the near limit - both focus to 0.8m, and while the Nikkor gets to 1:8 ratio, the Tamron can crop more tightly to 1:7.2 ratio, due to the longer focal length. Another point in favour of the Tamron. (Personally I would prefer it to focus even closer and achieve magnifications like the 35 and 45mm models, but I guess that would take sales from their 90mm macro)
-
Bokeh: Tamron still in the lead as shown in the f/1.8 and f/5.6 examples below.
It's hard to believe both shots were taken at f/5.6, the amount of blurring on the background tree looks so different - looks at least a stop apart, even after considering the slightly different focal length.
Point light source stars - the Tamron produces pointy ones, the Nikkor fan shaped ones. I like the former.
That means the Tamron aperture must be circular only at wider apertures, when stopped down the blades only show straight edges around the opening, which gives more sharply defined diffraction stars. The Nikkor aperture opening must remain more rounded, even though it has fewer aperture blades (7 vs 9)
-
Sten, thanks for sharing further results.
As Roland pointed out, the difference of the focal length are surprisingly large, even being aware that many modern lenses shortenes their focal lengths when focused closer. So far as the pure optical performance is concerned, I would have to say that Tamron is the perfect winner.
-
Sten, thank you for your postings on both the Tamron 85mm and your Sigma 50-150mm. Much appreciated by many of us, even if some of us (such as me) have not bothered to always thank you for the testing and the write-ups.
It is heartening that both these manufacurers, and Tokina, are producing lenses that take it right up to the offerings from the "big two". All of these three offer AF. If MF is also considered, then Zeiss, CV, and others help sharpen the competition. Good for the consumer, even if somewhat challenging to match the offerings to ones needs. (And I won't even get into matching against ones "wants" ;D ;D ;D)
-
Here are both lenses stopped down to f/5. If anything the Tamron blades seem to form a rounder rounder opening due to its 9-blades but the intersection between the blades looks a little sharper.
-
Both lenses at infinity and at ca. 82cm focus distance:
-
Both lenses at infinity and at ca. 82cm focus distance:
At infinity both images line up perfectly on the left, the image take with the Nikkor shows just a little more on the right, so the focal length must be very slightly shorter, but there is hardly anything in it.
At close range the Nikkor sees 332mm side to side, which is about 1:9.2. The Tamron sees 300mm, which is about 1:8.3. If you continued to the close focus limit I can see how this would translate to 1:8 for the Nikkor and 1:7.2 for the Tamron, as specified by the manufacturers.
-
Here are both lenses stopped down to f/5. If anything the Tamron blades seem to form a rounder rounder opening due to its 9-blades but the intersection between the blades looks a little sharper.
I agree. Both openings also look very similar in size relative to fully open setting. That makes it even more surprising the two previous shots at f/5.6 show such different size blur circles in the background.
It may be changes in angle or lighting, but the coatings of the Tamron also look more transparent. Does that also translate to better contrast and resistance to flare? The Nikkor also has a bit of dust :)
-
<delete - double post>
-
Sten, yet another intriguing result!
According to JIS, Japan Industrial Standard, 5% of discrepancy in the indication of the focal length in the spec sheet is tolerated. So, the difference between the two lenses focused at infinity should be nothing to be particular about. But the difference in the closest range is rather surprising to me.
Also, I feel that the difference of the bokeh or the striped vase is larger than I would expected even considering the difference of the effective focal lengths of both lenses, which was also apparent in the images of the window posted in this thread previously.
-
Here's more proof to as why I like the Tammy better: King Bob with his bigger than human adult head shot at a distance of 1.9m (good head portrait shooting distance with FX). Look at 'em blurry ones to the left...
-
Outdoorsy, Df and Tammy at f/2.2. This is one sharp lens!
-
Really great job, Sten! Please do continue! Just do what you have to do, and so be it! Look, I have very little response here on every of my post, but hundreds and hundreds visitors! So people are really interesting and need that evaluations of every form and kind. For example - I did not get any word in response to my post to 16-35 vs. 18-35 topic. Not from the OP, what is not very polite. So what? About thousand visitors after my posting! I can't ignore that, so, I'll post! I do not need to come any further with your evaluation - I already like the Tam lens very much! Thank you! LZ
-
Another one interested here(even tho I may not always respond in kind).
One other question: can you check for transmission differences too. Is the Tamron abnormally slow(or faster) in T-stop compared to the Nikkor.
The main misgiving that's holding me back from the Tammy is the price.
Not the the price itself, more so the price relative to the Nikkor lens!
Traditionally, Tamrons have always had their major strength on the value for money side of the overall equation, so it's just my ingrained belief that they should always be cheaper, or if at the same price point then more features to go with that!
But not more expensive too!
ps. I love the idea of the dock too(but with caution on the Tammy)
I have the Sigma dock for the 150-600, and I like the way it can be tweaked to adjust focus speed/accuracy on an as needed basis. And that the Custom button on the side can be programmed to switch between two different tastes.
That's how I have the 150-600 setup. I have C1 to be fast(and inaccurate if need be), and C2 to be accurate and slightly slower(if need be).
I think it's the way all devices should be made in this day and age!
The other point I'm still unsure about with the Tammy's dock system is there is uncertainty as to whether focus can be tweaked to the user's preferred taste, or if it's simply for firmware updates only.
-
Thanks for your effort. Looks like a great lens (the tamron)