Site Supporter Registered: January, 2016 Location: central Iowa Posts: 969 | | Review Date: January 1, 2017 | Recommended | Price: $25.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | Outstanding sharpness at f/11 or above; interesting flare if processed in HDR | | Cons: | Very soft at f3.5; mediocre at f/8; long MFD. | |
I have the non-macro version. Bought it from an online auction site because I was intrigued by the unusual focal length. Used this lens for a PF "Single In" challenge during the month of December 2016. Flickr album here: https://flic.kr/s/aHskMk3yPq
- The lens handles reasonably well, despite its length (about 110mm, or 4-1/2") and minimum focusing distance (1.5m - THAT bothered me for a while). My copy focused smoothly, although the helicoid turns about 190 degrees, and that feels like a long throw when you're in the zone. Items popped into focus without much issue, and the long throw made fine adjustments easy.
- No complaints with color rendition, although things felt a bit cold and flat straight out of camera - I can't pinpoint it any more than that. I usually punched the vibrance, saturation and clarity settings up a tad in Lightroom pretty much as a general practice.
- from f/3.5 to f/8, the lens shows its "Hyde" side - very soft wide open, with paintery, glowy bokeh. I found this really frustrating, but in retrospect it did result in some interesting rendering, if you're looking for that kind of thing:
 Bison in the grass by pollys belvin, on Flickr
at f/4.5, things got a bit better, but still glowy and soft. This shot made Explore for a few hours, so I can't complain:
 Waiting on the elevator by pollys belvin, on Flickr
f/8 was - ugh - just mediocre. Average sharpness, and by then most of the glowy bokeh had disappeared. At that point, I was ready to give up.
But at f/11 and above - rather abruptly, and shockingly - the "Jekyll" side of the lens took hold: impressive sharpness and rendering - rivaling some of the best vintage lenses I've used:
 Self portrait, 1 of 2 by pollys belvin, on Flickr
 Diner umbrellas by pollys belvin, on Flickr
That sharpness held, more or less, all the way up to f/22, but f/11 and f/13 were the sweet spots.
The other thing I discovered - and ended up loving - was the flare, which began showing up if the sun was, say 20-30 degrees off to the side. It wasn't pretty, necessarily, by itself - but when I threw it into HDR Efex Pro 2 and began to play, i ended up with some stuff I really liked.
 Power lines and flare, Altoona, IA by pollys belvin, on Flickr
 flare and glow by pollys belvin, on Flickr
I may pull this lens out, from time to time, just to do this.
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New Member Registered: February, 2012 Posts: 17 | | Review Date: March 19, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $15.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | Compact. Fast for the price. Very well made. Has M/A switch. | | Cons: | Not very sharp wide open. Weighs as much as a modern 70-300 zoom! | |
The Tamron website suggests that this lens was sold from 1978 to 1980, so it was introduced before the Adaptall-2 range. My copy came in an e-Bay lot that was described as having sat in a desk in a school for decades. It shows no signs of the wear and tear it might have been expected to pick up over 35 years. It is built like a tank. It is compact, but with its mount it weighs as much as my Sigma 70-300.
Unlike my Adaptall-2 70-210 model 52A, the maximum aperture seems to be conservatively stated at the 70 mm end. This lens is appreciably faster than the 52A over the entire focal range they have in common, and may be as fast as f 3.2 at 70 mm, from comparisons of open aperture exposure speeds chosen for other lenses.
Images don't look soft, and they sharpen up if I stop the lens down, but wide-open the Sigma 70-300 DG is better (but slower, of course; f4 versus f3.5 or better).
The macro mode is better thought of as 'Close Focus'; without it, you are stuck metres away. With it, you can get the sliding lens hood within a few centimetres of the target. The bokeh is good.
Compared with the (slightly newer) Pentax M 75-150 f 4:
- It is longer and heavier
- It is faster
- It isn't quite as sharp wide open (close though)
- It suffers less from chromatic aberration
- It has the close focus ability
- I prefer the bokeh (not that I don't like the Pentax bokeh).
Having the M/A switch gives you an alternative to the 'Green Button' should you wish; a definite plus.
To sum up, it seems nice, but dated.
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