Tair 3S vs Tamron 31a

magpi · Joined: 02 Dec 2014 Posts: 28 Location: Tynemouth, UK

So, I recently (spontaneously) bought a Tamron 31a 200-500 monster. Having gotten a Tair 3S as a Christmas gift, I decided to compare the two just for fun Smile

Firstly, size; after getting my hands on the Tair it was almost hard to imagine a bigger lens...but the Tamron really is a monster, coming in at about a kilogram heavier too.

In terms of handling, the Tair is...well, a Tair. The focus wheel on the photosniper version takes some getting used to, I struggle with it compared to the more conventional Tamron's focus ring. The weight difference isn't actually too bad (both weigh a ton) but the Tamron is surprisingly difficult to balance; I have mine mounted on a very long plate to offset the front-heaviness.

Anyway, on to image quality! Just for a quick comparison, I shot both at 300mm - below are 100% centre crops (given I'm currently shooting on MFT, edge crops seemed a little pointless Smile

) I'm not quite sure what went wrong with the Tair at 5.6 - possibly a little floor vibration affecting the shot.

Pancolart · Expire: 2013-11-18

Sorry Magp, i cannot buy your comparison Smile

. I know Tair well enough to know its abilities. And they are not shown here.

Ramon · Joined: 01 May 2007 Posts: 71 Location: Kent, UK

Well the Tamron looks pretty good but I certainly think you need to re-shoot the Tair test, to my eyes there seems to be some inconsistencies that don't look right in that sequence of pictures. Perhaps a better subject might help because it is difficult to determine exactly which part you were focussed on.

magpi · Joined: 02 Dec 2014 Posts: 28 Location: Tynemouth, UK

Haha I do think I need more practice with the Tair, the focus wheel frustrates me quite a bit! Sometime when the light's a bit more consistent I'll try setting up a test chart and repeating the test a little more scientifically Smile

philslizzy · Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 4748 Location: Cheshire, England

The focus wheel is awkward using it on its own but if using it with the sniper it feels more natural. It would be interesting to see the whole image so we have an idea of the size of the crop.

Gerald · Joined: 25 Mar 2014 Posts: 1196 Location: Brazil

Lloydy · Expire: 2022-01-01

The Tamron certainly looks sharp, very impressive. But I agree that your Tair pictures aren't representative of what it can do. A bloody big tripod is your friend with lenses of that size. Wink

SXR_Mark · Joined: 12 Jun 2010 Posts: 506 Location: England

I have both these lenses and I have test chart results for both though they were taken at different times. I would say they are quite similar in performance at f5.6, with the TAIR being just lightly better. At f8, it would be hard to choose between them. The Tamron does perform well at 300mm, but I found performance drops quickly above 400mm. There is a thread on this forum with my results.

I notice the TAIR shots posted here lack contrast. A good hood is essential on both lenses. The Tamron has a sliding hood, so I guess that was used. Did you use a hood on the TAIR? I also use 4/3 and so can use a deeper hood than would be allowed on 35mm and that is very well worthwhile. I use a hood with total depth of about 15cm on the TAIR (actually two hoods stacked together). The Tamron in particular can suffer from veiling flare if the front of the lens gets a hint of the sun. I made a cardboard tube to fit over the built in hood that adds at least 10cm to the hood depth and it made quite a difference.

Getting reliable test results with long lenses like this (especially on 4/3 with 2x crop factor) demands a really good support. I use a very solid tripod designed for video.

Mark