Tamron Adaptamatic 300/5.6 - my last Adaptamatic ?

luisalegria · Expire: 2018-01-18

I got this lens from very kind member Jieffe, all the way from Belgium !

Here it is on member Voytek's Ricoh TLS -

It is of course the Tamron model 670au -

http://www.adaptall-2.com/lenses/670Au.html

This may complete my collection of Adaptamatics, as the remaining items are either rare or quite expensive.

Like all the Adaptamatic tele primes, it is a very simple thing, with a rotating front barrel. In that way it is something of a throwback compared to some of the T-mount Tamrons. Like all the Adaptamatics, it is a very nicely made and superbly finished piece. Unlike the other Adaptamatics, this one has the virtue of being much lighter than one would expect; for a 300mm automatic lens, this one is not a hardship to carry.

It is very pleasant to use, as it is one of those lenses that snaps into focus for me and everything works beautifully. It focuses quite close for a 300mm prime, 7ft/2.5m. Performance is perfectly good wide open, and as sharp as my sensor can detect stopped down to f/8. There is some color fringing at f/5.6, though little to no flare and good contrast.

I have been unable to do it justice I'm afraid, as I've had little opportunity to get away lately. I will get it to the zoo the first weekend I can to give it a good try.

An odd bird to find by the docks - a Western Grebe

The bird - not perfectly focused at, f/5.6

crop -

casualcollector · Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2009 2:04 pm Post subject:

Luis,

Kudos on kompleting your kollection! You've changed my opinion of the Adapt-a-matics. I had some experience with the 200/3.5 in my teenage years. The simple helical with revolving front element would "self focus". If I had it racked out to close focus and tilted the camera back, the lens would wind itself back to infinity. Very smoothly, I might add! It gave me the feeling of being cheaply made, but you've demonstrated that Taisei put the effort into the glass.

There's always the urge to collect the little variations, isn't there?

Bill

Jieffe · Joined: 04 Nov 2007 Posts: 754 Location: Belgium

Nice to see the good results of the lens ...

I find the Adaptamatic line more stylish than the following Adaptall series.

ManualFocus-G · Expire: 2014-11-24

Oooh I can't wait til we get some proper sunshine! Then I can take mine out, instead of having it sat on my desk staring at me with a sad expression on it's lens like face Sad

GrahamNR17 · Expire: 2012-09-06

Impressive! It's great to see such results from old lenses Very Happy

Kriengsak · Joined: 22 Dec 2008 Posts: 17 Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE

Can't wait to see your next test

Please be gentle with animal in the zoo, your lens is razor sharp, . Laughing

luisalegria · Expire: 2018-01-18

Hi Bill,

Yes, this one does "creep", because the helical is in really good shape, very light with nice damping. They used good grease on these !

Not a big deal for me the way I use it, but it could be a problem if you have it on a tripod for a fixed subject, like pre-focused in a press box. It would have been so easy to put in a focus lock !

I'm not big on variations. I will look out for the big score on a bargain Adaptamatic 21, 24 or 105.

Kriengsak · Joined: 22 Dec 2008 Posts: 17 Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE

I just got my first AdaptaMatic, 5.6/300 if I recognize it correctly.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200306577617

When I saw your sample yesterday, I decided to find one for birding.
Coincidentally, I just bought AdaptaMatic - Nikon adapter few days ago without knowledge of AdaptaMatic series but just because it is cheap to combine with the first item from same seller.

Hope my copy is as good as yours.