Tamron 135mm f2.5 Adaptall 2 - any good?

tkbslc · Joined: 02 Jul 2009 Posts: 194 Location: Utah, USA

I just got outbid on a Tamron 135mm f2.5 adaptall 2 lens by like 50 cents! Dang last minute snipers Confused

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350262880510

Anyway, is this lens even good? I figured for $50 I would try it out since it is a relatively fast f2.5. Should I keep an eye out for another one?

luisalegria · Expire: 2018-01-18

I think the winner did you a favor - thats too much money for this lens, particularly with an OM Adaptall.

I have no idea if its good or not, but it should normally go for less than this, maybe $20-30.

tkbslc · Joined: 02 Jul 2009 Posts: 194 Location: Utah, USA

That's good to know, thanks.

I just sold my only 135mm (a Vivitar komine 135 2.8 ) because I was not satisfied with it until about f5.6. Are there any other budget 135's I should be looking for? I don't use 135 a lot, but I like to have it on hand.

luisalegria · Expire: 2018-01-18

You can get a Super Takumar 3.5/135 for about $30 if you look. If you want sharp results this will reliably deliver.

Personal 135 favorites at the moment are:

Old Tamron preset (Aetna and Soligor brands also) 135/2.8
Accura Supertel (Sankor) preset 135/2.8
Vivitar (Tokina) T4 135/2.8
Komura preset 135/2.8 - really fine this one
Komura preset 135/3.5

These can usually be found reasonably cheap. $20 limit.

Be warned though that I am not very picky.

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9097 Location: Houston, Texas

CarbonR · Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 7:28 am Post subject:

I have this Tamron 135/2.5, I only did some tests shots and it seems to be rather good at f/2.5, I plan to compare it against more than 10 other 135mm lenses (all the 4 Takumar, Beroflex 135/1.8, Takumar (bayonet) 135/2.5, Tair 135/2.8, some Nikkor lenses, and other 135mm), I expect some good results and an excellent quality/price ratio Wink

scsambrook · Expire: 2011-11-18

I have a 135/2.5 and like it. It's a trade-off in design which prioritises maximum speed over other qualities. It gets by with only four elements, so I guess there were limits to what the design could be expected to do, but I've always been happy with the results. And it's nicely made. Mine performs better than the 135/2.8 Vivitar which I have, although right now i can't recall who the maker was.

Prices are creeping up - good ones seem to be reaching �30 regularly, alhough they still go occasionally for under �20 on eBay UK.

Gus Helios · Joined: 10 Feb 2009 Posts: 144 Location: Cali

I got the vivi for $25us and the Tair for 65us... They are a lot of fun and I think fairly sharp wide open.

ManualFocus-G · Expire: 2014-11-24

The last few I've tracked have both sold for over �50.00 each, so there's obviously demand at the moment, hence I put one of mine up for sale! It's currently on �20.00 with a couple of days to go...

It's sharp for a 135mm which I guess is it's main selling point.

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

This is a nice fast lens, not worst than Takumar 135mm f2.5.

Wormhandler · Joined: 19 May 2008 Posts: 106 Location: Sweden

Here's a couple of samples:
All at F2.5 and without PP.

Sometimes good bokeh. Great sharpness.

100% sample of the above.

You get theese aberations though at 100%:

Put the sun in the picture and this is the result:

/Jan

KhanX · Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2009 8:54 am Post subject:

I used this lens with Canon 5D Mark II and found that it give me the superb pictures. Please with for tomorrow, I'll show you some pictures of my works with this lens. The file are in my office.

LucisPictor · Expire: 2013-12-03

I also have this lens and I must say that this is the 135mm that finds the way into my bag more often than any other 135mm lens I have.

attilio · Joined: 26 Apr 2017 Posts: 5

I bought this lens for 25 Eur and I am very happy with it: at f/2.5 it is very easy to focus even in scarce light conditions. Fully open at f/2.5 it is sharper than the comparable price vivitar f/2.8 I had before while being about half step faster. It also tolerates better incident light and in general returns more contrasty pictures. Here is a pictures where I used this lens to reach out for a singer a bit far away on the stage (GIMP was used for cropping and color correction). This lens became part of my set fog shooting gigs/tango.

#1

Focusthrow · Joined: 12 Sep 2017 Posts: 209

Abbazz · Joined: 23 Jun 2007 Posts: 1098 Location: Jakarta

I agree about the good quality of the Tamron Adaptall 135/2.5 lens. It's fast, quite good optically and very compact for a lens with an f/2.5 aperture (it's only 79.5mm long and accepts a 58mm filter). I also has a large focus ring which is adequately dampened, a reasonably close 1.20m minumum focus (compared to other 135mm lenses of the time) and a very useful built-in collapsible hood.

You can certainly find better lenses, or smaller ones, or faster ones, but it would be very difficult to find the same mix of features at this price level.

Cheers!

Abbazz