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Tamron SP 17/3.5 v Canon 18-55/3.5-5.6 v Sony 18-70/3.5-5.6
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 6:38 pm
Post subject: Tamron SP 17/3.5 v Canon 18-55/3.5-5.6 v Sony 18-70/3.5-5.6
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Post
Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 6:38 pm
Post subject: Tamron SP 17/3.5 v Canon 18-55/3.5-5.6 v Sony 18-70/3.5-5.6
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OK guys, here it is. I've pitched my 17mm Tammy SP up against two popular kit lenses @ 18mm. Please note, before we go any further, my Tammy has a focusing issue - it focuses well beyond infinity. Having played around beforehand with it, I know infinity is about 1.5m on the barrel. This may skew the results a bit and explain previous performance issues.

Here are the results (please excuse the dirt on my 30D's sensor).

Setup 1: Canon 30D with Tamron SP 17/3.5 and Canon 18-55/3.5-5.6 kit lens (II) @ 18mm

Setup 2: Sony a200 with Sony 18-70/3.5-5.6 kit lens @ 18mm

Test 1a: Full image downsized from RAW @ f5.6:

Canon



Tamron SP



Sony



Test 1b: 100% crop at the centre:

Canon



Tamron SP



Sony



Test 1c: 100% crop at the left:

Canon



Tamron SP



Sony



Test 1d: 100% crop at the right:

Canon



Tamron SP



Sony



-----------------

Test 2a: Full image downsized from RAW @ f11:

Canon



Tamron SP



Sony



Test 2b: 100% crop at the centre:

Canon



Tamron SP



Sony



Test 2c: 100% crop at the left:

Canon



Tamron SP



Sony



Test 2d: 100% crop at the right:

Canon



Tamron SP



Sony



Test 3: Full image downsized from RAW @ f11 and 60% unsharp mask:

Canon



Tamron SP



Sony



Any thoughts?


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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 6:48 pm
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 6:48 pm
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I may be bias, but I prefer the Canon shots mainly. The Sony is not bad showing good saturation & sharpness; I'm unimpressed with the Tamron but this maybe the focus issue.

It's a shame as it's a lens I had shrorlisted, but if it can't beat the Canon kit lens (which isn't very good) then it's money saved.

Nice blob on the sensor by the way. Laughing Looks like the one I keep cleaning off of mine.


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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 6:50 pm
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 6:50 pm
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The sony seems to be have a rather blueish rendering, isn't it ?


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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 6:53 pm
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 6:53 pm
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Yes, the Sony looks cold and the Tamron looks warm.


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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 6:53 pm
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 6:53 pm
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CarbonR wrote:
The sony seems to be have a rather blueish rendering, isn't it ?


Yep, camera was set to auto white balance as well. Odd! I guess the benefit of digital is that all these things can be sorted in software if necessary.

I'm going to do another test later in the week once I've verified the infinity focusing distance (although I shot all the Tammy shots at varying focusing distances to be sure).


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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 6:55 pm
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 6:55 pm
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martinsmith99 wrote:
Nice blob on the sensor by the way. Laughing Looks like the one I keep cleaning off of mine.


Maybe they're breeding Laughing


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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 6:58 pm
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 6:58 pm
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My winner is Canon Embarassed


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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 7:07 pm
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 7:07 pm
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Attila wrote:
My winner is Canon Embarassed


Mine is the Tamron because I use it with my Spotmatic Razz


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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 7:10 pm
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 7:10 pm
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CarbonR wrote:
Attila wrote:
My winner is Canon Embarassed


Mine is the Tamron because I use it with my Spotmatic Razz


Razz I have Tamron SP 17mm too I kept because compatible with my all 35mm cameras.


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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 7:27 pm
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 7:27 pm
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Shrek thank you. Your test is already on the Greek forum.


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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 7:29 pm
Post subject: Tamron vs others
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 7:29 pm
Post subject: Tamron vs others
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Shrek -
I think that's a Tamron with some ailments - if it's going back past infinity I reckon either it's been dismantled and put back together incorrectly or it was substandard from the factory. It may not be the best superwide, but it should be doing better than a kit lens - good as they are these days.

Soon after I got my Pentax 18-55 I put it on my P30n and shot some Fuji 100 colour neg with it , juist to see what happened. Of course it won't fully cover 24x36 at the wide end but was interesting to see how sharp the negs were in the centre of the field. It's not bad at all, but it's not really any better than my cheap 20mm Cosina. The point is that the Pentax 18-55 is reckoned to be a good lens of its type and the Cosina isn't exactly known for its earth shattering qualities while the Tamron, I know from past experience, is a sharper lens than the Cosina. Which is a long way of saying your Tamron is almost certainly untypical and needing either surgery or the last rites (i.e. eBay). Whoops, should I have said that? Shocked


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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 8:07 pm
Post subject: Re: Tamron vs others
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 8:07 pm
Post subject: Re: Tamron vs others
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scsambrook wrote:
Shrek -
I think that's a Tamron with some ailments - if it's going back past infinity I reckon either it's been dismantled and put back together incorrectly or it was substandard from the factory. It may not be the best superwide, but it should be doing better than a kit lens - good as they are these days.

Soon after I got my Pentax 18-55 I put it on my P30n and shot some Fuji 100 colour neg with it , juist to see what happened. Of course it won't fully cover 24x36 at the wide end but was interesting to see how sharp the negs were in the centre of the field. It's not bad at all, but it's not really any better than my cheap 20mm Cosina. The point is that the Pentax 18-55 is reckoned to be a good lens of its type and the Cosina isn't exactly known for its earth shattering qualities while the Tamron, I know from past experience, is a sharper lens than the Cosina. Which is a long way of saying your Tamron is almost certainly untypical and needing either surgery or the last rites (i.e. eBay). Whoops, should I have said that? Shocked


Hi mate

It would be very interesting to compare your copy with that of your Pentax 18-55mm as a comparison. It already sounds like my copy's a dog, so perhaps that could raise the Tammie's profile back up again and consign my copy to the ebay spares or repairs bin once and for all?

Thanks


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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 9:49 pm
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 9:49 pm
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Attila wrote:
My winner is Canon Embarassed


Exactly my impression, Attila.


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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 10:23 pm
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 10:23 pm
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such big changes in lighting angle between shots makes this terribly difficult to judge with any accuracy; given that, using center crops I have to go opposite the concensus so far and say I think the Tammy walks all over the other two lenses! The color is more true-to-life, and the definition is outstanding.

Getting the Tamron focus scale to be accurate quite possibly will expose the IQ differences even more...is this the Tamron with or without built-in filters?


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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 10:31 pm
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 10:31 pm
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Yep, this is the earlier version with the filters.


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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 10:56 pm
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 10:56 pm
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I am probably way out of line - Shrek thanks for the comparisons. Personally I was underwhelmed by all of them Embarassed Embarassed



patrickh


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Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 1:34 pm
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Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 1:34 pm
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There is a big fan club for the Tamron 17 in Greece. Very Happy

A greek member [www.dpgr.gr] made a comment, the comparison on a crop body between a dedicated crop lens [Canon 18-55] and a full frame designed [sp 17] is not fair. The test is wrong for him and he believes that the lens [problem with infinity] was hit hard in the past.

Fanatic sp 17 club.... Cool
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