| Latest Review Posted | Tamron Adaptall (CW-24) 24mm F2.5
I've had a copy of this lens for many years, but not used it much since my screwmount days.
Optical Performance (APS-C)
Wide open at f/2.5 the CW-24 is distinctly soft and exhibits some purple fringing and very hazy low contrast. However, by f/4 the contrast and sharpness are much improved.
Centre sharpness peaks at f/8, and is still very good at f/16. Sharpness across the frame is OK - not stunning, but pretty good for a 1976 lens on APS-C. Some red fringing is present at the edges across the aperture range - at f/16 it is practically unnoticable, and easily corrected.
There is a slight, but noticeable amount of barrel distorsion, so either keep it away from straight lines, correct it afterwards or just go with it. It's not enough to be a real problem.
The lens does have multi-coated elements, but they're not up to modern standards, so it's best kept pointed away from direct sun. A hood is highly recommended.
Bokeh is not too bad. It can be quite smooth, but also exhibits a lot of ringing wide open. The five-bladed aperture doesn't help when stopped down, but as it's a wideange, it's not usually an issue.
Handling
The CW-24 is the older "Adaptall" (rather than Adaptall-2) type, so it doesn't meter with an open aperture on PKA, FD, etc. bodies - stopping down is required, which can make it awkward and slow to use on a modern APS-C DSLR.
It's a nice little slab of metal and glass. It feels good in the hand. The focus is quite smooth (Slightly stiff on m... |
