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Tamron Adaptall-2  (03B) 135mm F2.5 Review RSS Feed

Tamron Adaptall-2 (03B) 135mm F2.5

Sharpness 
 8.9
Aberrations 
 8.3
Bokeh 
 9.0
Handling 
 9.1
Value 
 9.5
Reviews Views Date of last review
14 80,124 Tue March 23, 2021
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Recommended By Average Price Average User Rating
100% of reviewers $48.25 8.85
Tamron Adaptall-2  (03B) 135mm F2.5
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Description:
"A lightweight telephoto which uses two thick convex front elements to make this lens very compact. Off-axis coma is minimized by using a high refractive index lens element. Overall, this is a moderately compact lens which provides good but not spectacular overall optical performance. - adaptall-2.com

Weight: 410 gr
Length: 79.5 mm
Filter Diameter: 58 mm
Min. Focus: 120 m
Max. Magnification: 1:7.0
Diagonal FOV: 18
Horizontal FOV:
Horizontal FOV on Digital:
Min. Aperture: f/32
Optical Construction: 4 elements 4 groups


Coatings BBAR Multi layer
Mount Type: Third-party (adapter required)
Price History:



Add Review of Tamron Adaptall-2  (03B) 135mm F2.5
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Sort Reviews by: Date | Author | Rating | Recommendation | Likes (Descending) Showing Reviews 1-14 of 14
New Member

Registered: March, 2021
Posts: 2
Review Date: March 23, 2021 Recommended | Price: None indicated | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Fast, cheap prime lens, sharp, very well built, compact
Cons: Noticeable CA wide open
Sharpness: 9    Aberrations: 7    Bokeh: 9    Handling: 10    Value: 9   

My father bought this lens new in the '80s and then he gave it to me along with other Adaptall lenses and a Canon AV-1.
I actually really like this lens, it's built like a tank (all metal construction), the handling and feel is excellent (as good as SMC-M lenses!). It's a bit heavy, but i don't think that's a real problem.
It has an integrated hood that does something... but it's really too short to be actually useful.

Performance is good. It's rather sharp even wide open and stopped down to f/4 it improves considerably.
While spherical aberration is very well controlled, cromatic aberration (in my copy at least) is quite noticeable both wide open and even stopped down a bit. Only at f/8 it gets better.
Bokeh is very pleasing and overall IQ is very good.
I would rate this lens a good 8.5 but with the lack of half points, I give this lens a 9.

I think that for the current price of this lens it's a bargain fast prime that is compatible with all camera manufacturers and offers above average (and sometimes really good) performance.

At f/2.5 close focus.



I believe the next one was taken at f/11

   
New Member

Registered: August, 2020
Posts: 1
Review Date: August 25, 2020 Recommended | Price: $30.00 | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: Extremely smooth focusing cost effective
Cons: Good light is needed for best focusing
Sharpness: 8    Aberrations: 8    Bokeh: 7    Handling: 7    Value: 10   

This lens has an exceptional quality feel to it and I don't feel that it is and lesser quality mechanically than my SP90 macro.
In terms of usability it has around twice as much focus throw around infinity as the SP90 and so is much easier to use for landscape images.The small amount of aberration is workable. The image below was taken at f4.5.

https://www.pentaxforums.com/gallery/photo-toadstool-59196/
   
New Member

Registered: June, 2018
Posts: 6
Review Date: August 28, 2018 Recommended | Price: None indicated | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Affordable, close focus, sharp, good bokeh, not so big for such brightness
Cons: None for the price
Sharpness: 9    Aberrations: 8    Bokeh: 9    Handling: 9    Value: 10    Camera Used: A7, Fuji   

This lens can be bought for less than 80$ and it is f/2,5 !


Tamron adaptall's build quality is excellent, everything is metal except the rubber focusing ring.
It focuses down to 1,2m, better than most of 135mm vintage lenses (usually abour 1,5m).


It's a sharp lens with good contrast, full usable wide open with only little chromatic aberration (easy to fix). Bokeh is nice and smooth.


The lens is easy to use, not a small one but less big and heavy than Tamron's 90mm f/2,5 adaptall macro.


Most 135mm are good... This one is in my opinion very good, and a perfect choice for a budget bright 135mm lens.
   
New Member

Registered: December, 2016
Posts: 22

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: February 24, 2017 Recommended | Price: $90.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: very bright, light & compact size, sharp, beautiful bokeh
Cons: some aberration visible, hard to focus properly, the adaptall mount sometimes stay in the camera when you remove the lense ( that's all adaptall lenses issue )
Sharpness: 9    Aberrations: 6    Bokeh: 10    Handling: 9    Value: 10    Camera Used: K-70   

Brightest lense in this price range with such long focal. It's typical portrait lense.
I keep it for low light conditions. It's sharp from the wide open then get even sharper ( and less CA ) at f4 or f/5.6 and stay like this - doesen't change much further.
Bokeh is beautiful i really like it.
It's well build - it's compact and light. Have his own visor - i don't quite like it ( because it will fold if you put it on something ), but still t's useful when you taking shoots.
The only issues I noticed it's aberrations ...well don't expect to much for such price.




f/2.5



f/4 f/5



f/5.6 f/8



f/11 f/16
   
New Member

Registered: May, 2015
Location: Setúbal (near Lisbon)
Posts: 5

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: October 31, 2016 Recommended | Price: $44.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: sharp @ f/4 and up
Cons: soft @ f/2.5
Sharpness: 10    Aberrations: 9    Bokeh: 10    Handling: 9    Value: 10    Camera Used: Pentax K-1   

I have several lenses for portrait, this one is my favorite.
I have a PK adapter. I'm thinking to buy a PKA adapter.


@ f/8 with polarizing filter - Pentax-K1 profile portrait/skin 2
   
Junior Member

Registered: August, 2016
Location: Cherkasy
Posts: 39
Review Date: August 30, 2016 Recommended | Price: None indicated | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Well built, sharp, useful mount
Cons: none
Sharpness: 9    Aberrations: 8    Bokeh: 8    Handling: 9    Value: 8    Camera Used: K-7   

Nice lens. Sharp wide open, nice colors, well built and can be easily used on many systems.

   
Pentaxian

Registered: April, 2011
Location: Lost in translation ...
Posts: 18,076

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: December 21, 2013 Recommended | Price: $50.00 | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: Build, size, close focus, hood ...
Cons: Hood won't stay in place ...
Sharpness: 8    Aberrations: 8    Bokeh: 8    Handling: 8    Value: 8   

Bonjour,

Just acquired this 03B and like what I have seen thus far ... only indoor test shots, since the outside weather is wet and cold ... will post samples later.

Giving a straight across "8" rating until more test and use can be done ...

Allez et salut, Jean le Green Frog

Here's a p0rn shot to see what the 03B looks like on the K-5 ...

   
New Member

Registered: February, 2012
Posts: 17
Review Date: October 9, 2013 Recommended | Price: $25.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: Fast, sharp wide open, sharper stopped down, good bokeh
Cons: Close focus nothing special, care needed for portraits?
Sharpness: 10    Aberrations: 10    Bokeh: 10    Handling: 9    Value: 10   

I bought one on e-Bay with a network of fine scratches on the front element. The image wasn't quite up with the CZJ Sonnar 135mm f3.5, but it is a stop faster. I have always wondered how much difference damage to the front element makes to the image, so I bought a second copy for the same price with clear glass.

The difference is dramatic. The second lens with clear glass more than matches the Sonnar, and it is still a stop faster.

Bokeh is lovely and smooth, I haven't noticed aberration, colours are rich.

The focusing is nicely damped, but in good light, I find it is easier to nail the focus with the Sonnar, presumably because the depth of field is greater.

As with the Sonnar, care is needed with portraits; pores and pimples can be rendered mercilessly.

It works well for live stage performances.

The Close Focus isn't that great; the 72B and the macro settings on the QZ-35M, the 52A and the CZ-38M are better.

Overall, highly recommended.
   
Veteran Member

Registered: January, 2011
Location: Minahasa, North Celebes (Sulawesi)
Posts: 586

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: July 24, 2013 Recommended | Price: $80.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: f2.5 maximum aperture, build, smallish
Cons: contrast lower than SMC's
Sharpness: 9    Aberrations: 9    Bokeh: 10    Handling: 10    Value: 10   

Good lens, probably the best 135 with f2.5 available at this price range, definitely better than Pentax Takumar (Bayonet) 135/2.5. When focus is right, this lens is sharp as it is, maybe a bit less contrasty, but it's sharp.








   
Junior Member

Registered: January, 2013
Location: Texas
Posts: 32
Review Date: February 8, 2013 Recommended | Price: None indicated | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: Look, build quality, price, focusing
Cons: Not sharp at all
Sharpness: 7    Aberrations: 9    Bokeh: 9    Handling: 10    Value: 10   

Beautiful lense, but it lacks contrast and resolution at full aperture, in the coners and at the center, and it doesn't improve a lot at smaller aperture.
Build quality and focusing are great.
   
Inactive Account

Registered: November, 2009
Location: Sofia
Posts: 3
Review Date: August 4, 2012 Recommended | Price: $60.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: well build,good colours,IQ,good contrast and sharpness
Cons: none
Sharpness: 10    Aberrations: 9    Bokeh: 9    Handling: 10    Value: 10   















   
New Member

Registered: April, 2011
Location: Dorset , UK
Posts: 6
Review Date: April 11, 2011 Recommended | Price: None indicated | Rating: 7 

 
Pros: well build,compact and good optically
Cons: needs stopping down

Done more test on this with a lens test chart.
This well build,small and bright lens needs stopping down to f5.6 and f8 for best optical quality.Doing that will give you very sharp images !
At f2.5 and f4 I found some strong green colour fringing and sharpness is not good.In outdoor shooting I found f4 ok,but its better at f5.6.Don`t use f16 or f22 though as its soft like almost all lenses.:ugh:
Sharpness/optically at f5.6/f8 = 8
build = 8
overall,considering other much less usable f-stops = 6
   
New Member

Registered: January, 2007
Location: Portland Oregon USA
Posts: 7
Review Date: April 5, 2011 Recommended | Price: $7.00 | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: This lens has good colour, contrast and sharpness
Cons: Very few - works best with PKA adapter (hard to find)

This lens is fast (f2.5) and very well made, as are all the adaptall-2 lenses from Tamron. It is of metal construction, and works with either the PK or the harder to find (and pricey) PKA adapter that has the electrical contacts that allow open aperture metering and display the active F stop on the camera.

It's very sharp at the center, and as the Pentax DSLRs use the 'sweet spot' this means sharp across the board. I've also used it on various Pentax 35mm SLR cameras where it performs admirably. The focus ring is very wide and very grippy - so many lenses designed for digital cameras have a horrible thin manual focus ring, whereas this is meaty enough to be positive, and has an excellent 'throw'

I have 14 Adaptall and Adaptall-2 Tamrons, and even though this is not one of their premium 'SP' range it is as good as anything else I have tried, equal to the Vivitar 135mm from Kiron, and I prefer it to the K mount and M series from Pentax themselves...

The close focus (about 3 ft or just a bit more) is very useful, and although not a true macro lens I often use it for flower pictures,. It also has a built-in lens hood.. yay! lol
   
Forum Member

Registered: September, 2010
Location: PARIS
Posts: 67

2 users found this helpful
Review Date: January 21, 2011 Recommended | Price: None indicated | Rating: N/A 

 
Pros:
Cons:

Hello,

Here some pictures made with Tamron 2,5 135 mm on my K 20

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12697178@N03/sets/72157625829494098/

What do you think of it ?

Best regards
Add Review of Tamron Adaptall-2  (03B) 135mm F2.5



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