[goatsNdonkey]

This lens is rather known from its macro aplications, but I tried yesterday if it can be good at infinity wide - open at wide end (at 35/2.8). And the answer is yes, works OK for buildings, but it is very hard to focus precisely via the viewfinder (close to impossible for me). I plan to (try) make my own permanent infinity mark for this FL.

But I was wondering - has someone tried this lens/setting for stars/starscapes (it is not possible for me to try during next week).

Your post reminded me that I tried an exposure with the 13A with wide open aperture, at its widest focal length (24mm), and with the focus ring cranked over to infinity. It was a bit surprising to me at the time that the focus confirm on my K10D was flashing and beeping almost anywhere I pointed the lens above the nearby line of corn plants. While the distant treeline and the almost hazy mixture of cloud and windblown contrails are hardly the astronomical subjects you are considering for the 01A, it makes me wonder about the 13A's potential for that subject matter.

[goatsNdonkey]

A few more examples shot with the 13A 24-48mm. These are all between f6.3 and f8, shot with my K10D using the Green mode. Shot as jpegs, these have a bit of pp, mostly straightening, slight exposure adjustment, and/or fine-tuning of highlight brightness.







Location -- Downtown Lewistown, Illinois.

[marcusBMG]

No doubt the 13A is sharp stopped down, its most distinctive characteristic, I have found, is its high contrast.

[goatsNdonkey]

No doubt the 13A is sharp stopped down, its most distinctive characteristic, I have found, is its high contrast.

Interesting observation. I hadn't noticed the contrast until this recent shoot on a very brightly sunlit and clear late morning. When I got the lens, back in about February, I got very low contrast over-exposed looking shots from the low winter sunlight coming in the front of the lens. Now I have a hood on it and I try not to aim it in the direction of the sun.

It's not an especially common Adaptall-2. When I got it, 24mm was the widest-angle lens I could put on my crop sensor K10D. I do want to try the lens out on a full-frame film body soon, however, to see what it can really do at the wide end.

[marcusBMG]

I got very low contrast over-exposed looking shots from the low winter sunlight coming in the front of the lens. Now I have a hood on it and I try not to aim it in the direction of the sun. It's not an especially common Adaptall-2.

The 13A definitely can suffer from flare. See the 13A review page for hood options (often doesn't have a filter thread and the petalled front end is a problem if it does). I posted a pic with my 13A in this thread a year or more ago that very much illustrates the contrast; taken on a dull cloudy day but the "punch" is self-evident.

[Piotrek K]

I decided to test my two fastish Adaptall-2 zooms with some cheap 2x TC's hoping to get 420/500 mm setup which could be used on bright days.

These lenses are:

• 46A - 70-210mm F/3.8-4,
• and 104A - 75-250mm F/3.8-4.5.

I tested them with 3 2x teleconverters:

• 01F Adatpall-2 SP 2X Tele-Converter,
• Vivitar 70 - 150 2x Matched Multiplier (M-series funcionallity - no aperture contacts),
• Vivitar Series 1 2*MC4 AF TC (current AF and autoexposure TC).

Of course such a equipment makes a sense with live view or mirrorless camera mostly. In my test I always made 4 photos, focusing with heavily magnifed live - view and selected the best one for comparisons.

First I checked all lenses and TC's wide open. For all of them results are quite OK, at least. However AD2 SP TC seems to be little worse compared to both contenders. In this part I liked pictures from 46A lens and Vivitar Series 1 teleconverter at most. On 104A both Vivitar TCs seems to give very simmilar results; however I observewd that "70-150 matched" one offers little bit more magnification!

Then I checked both lenses wide open and setting f 5.6 on the lens with Vivitar Series 1 MC4 TC and I'm quite pleased with the results. Especially stopped down they seem to be better compared to the cheap legacy 400/500 mm offerings.

Finally I would say I plan to use 46A with Series 1 teleconverter which makes very compact and light setup with my K-r or some mirrorless camera and monopod. 104 A can offer more reach with Vivitar "matched: TC, but being useful reather with tripod and tripod mount put on the TC.

And two images to prove all the long text above: 100% crops from Samsung mirrorless having the same sensor as Pentax K-7 (14,6 MP), OOC JPEGs - which are far from being great at this camera, no sharpening of the crops; f5.6 set on both lenses, beanbag support, ISO 200, windy weather, circa 80 - 100 m.



46A on Vivitar Series 1 2*MC4 AF TC (420 mm)



104 A on Vivitar Series 1 2*MC4 AF TC (500 mm)

For me this means also that both lenses are very good resolution - wise! Especially 46A is really good in resolution and contrast - also with the TCS.
P.S I just examined my "subject" - looking from a few meters - there is hardly any texture/detail on the fabric and you can see some strap of another fabric below the inscription so, no it is not fault of the lens. There is a lot of traffic there, so the fabric is not very clean.

[goatsNdonkey]

The 13A definitely can suffer from flare. See the 13A review page for hood options (often doesn't have a filter thread and the petalled front end is a problem if it does). I posted a pic with my 13A in this thread a year or more ago that very much illustrates the contrast; taken on a dull cloudy day but the "punch" is self-evident.

Thanks for referring me back to the reviews. I know I read them before I bought the lens, but I haven't revisited them until now.

As for the hood issue, I bought one of those Canon hoods some people substitute for the virtually unobtainable original Tamron one, and I didn't like it. True it will go on something like the original must have done, but it sits cock-eyed, so the petals aren't aligned properly. Maybe that won't cause vignetting on cropped sensor, but it certainly could in on full-frame. The same with trying to use those (approx. 58mm diameter) ribs on the inside of the petaled front lens rim to attach an adapter for a hood; if the lens rim has to be petaled to avoid vignetting on full-frame, how can one put anything on the front that is narrower than the rim and forward of it and not expect trouble. I modified a little plastic hood I had lying around. If I squeeze the sides of it a bit, if will slip over and behind the widest dogs on the front rim. This hood is loose enough that I can get my original cap on the lens without taking the hood off. It was what I was using for those most recent shots posted. When I try the lens (soon) with a film body, I'll test to see if my hood gives me vignetting. If it does, I'll have to pop the hood off.

Not many reviews of the lens. I need to put reviewing it on my to-do list.

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Last edited by goatsNdonkey; 09-08-2017 at 07:41 AM.

[goatsNdonkey]

13A at f22:



Low water in the Spoon River, Bernadotte, Illinois.

OOC Jpeg. K10D.

[Uponnothing]

I've had around 10 copies of the 13a, and I've even managed to track down around 4 or 5 copies of the original hood - including one copy with original box and leather case. The original hood does accept filters (72mm) and adds a fair bit of bulk to such a compact lens - but it does look awesome.

I have one remaining copy of lens and hood now, sold on to my brother. I am tempted to take it out again now I have a full frame Sony A7ii.

[goatsNdonkey]

I've had around 10 copies of the 13a, and I've even managed to track down around 4 or 5 copies of the original hood - including one copy with original box and leather case. The original hood does accept filters (72mm) and adds a fair bit of bulk to such a compact lens - but it does look awesome.

I have one remaining copy of lens and hood now, sold on to my brother. I am tempted to take it out again now I have a full frame Sony A7ii.

My last time out with the 13A, I tried to get flare, pointing it into bright light, and couldn't get any! So I guess something about the low winter sun and light glinting off of the dry winter landscape gave me trouble in my first test shots months ago. Perhaps I was having some adaptall-2 mount issues, too. If so, I'm not having them now. Now, after the pictures I shot with it the last couple of weeks, I'm much more impressed with the lens and happier that I managed to snarf one up (and at a good price), as they are more uncommon than a lot of other adaptall-2 lenses. If it had better close-up capabilities, I can imagine leaving it on my camera for much longer uninterrupted stretches.

[Simen1]

Whats the logic behind the Tamron product codes "13A"?

[marcusBMG]

Whats the logic behind the Tamron product codes "13A"?

Nothing really - just model numbers.

Tamron Adaptall-2 lenses | Adaptall-2.com

[paulh]

I got my first Adaptall-2 lens (02B) earlier this year but have not used it much yet. Taken using the P/K adapter on *ist D:

[cg57]

A few shots with the Tamron 28mm 1:25 02B and Adaptall 2 mount

[paulh]

Nice, Cindy. I really like my copy of the 02B as well. I wasn't impressed with the stock Tamron hood (not deep enough), so I tried a generic metal screw-in hood. Later I realized the hood is a bit too narrow (straight like a tunnel) and caused the left side of my images to appear soft. It happened on this shot and I ended up cropping the extreme left side to remove the soft area. Back to the stock hood for now!