Tamron SP 90mm f/2.5 vs. Tokina AT-X 90mm f/2.5 Comparison

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

This should be an interesting test. Fellow forum member Hinnerker has just posted a test he conducted, comparing his Tokina AT-X 90mm f/2.5 against a couple of other well-known aftermarket macro lenses. There was at least one well-respected aftermarket macro that wasn't included, however: the Tamron SP 90mm f/2.5. We decided it would be nice to conduct tests comparing these two lenses. But since I don't have the Tokina and Hinnerker doesn't have the Tamron, we've decided to try an intercontinental test of sorts -- using a 10 Euro note. I'll lead off.

First, a bit about my tests, so Hinnerker and everybody else will know what my end of the comparison is all about. My camera is a Canon XS (1000D), a 10mp APS-C DSLR. I mounted the Tamron 90mm to the XS using an Adaptall-2 Nikon mount on the lens and a Nikon to EOS adapter on the camera.

I did not use artificial light. I mounted my XS to a Canon Copy Stand 4, and carried the outfit outdoors and took the photos in open shade during mid-day hours. Except for the coin. I wanted light reflecting off the coin. I used an incandescent light source, then corrected the images' white balance in Canon's DPP software.

The XS shoots images that are 3888x2592 pixels in size, maximum resolution. My XS's in camera sharpness setting is 7 and contrast is 0 (neutral). The 100% crops I show are 900x600 crops of the original images. The resized images of the original ones are 900x600 resizes shown for informational purposes only.

I shot pics of the subject at all apertures, but have posted images taken at apertures f/2.5, f/4, f/8, and f/16 only. If you would like to see one of the other pics I took, please ask and I'll post a copy here.

Here's the 10 Euro note I used for the photos:

The first set of images were based on the note occupying almost the camera's entire frame, or a 1:5 magnification level. The note was located almost exactly 2 feet (about 60 cm) from the sensor plane.

The first four sets of images are 100% crops of the center and corner of the 10 Euro note at 1:5 magnification.

@ f/2.5

@ f/4

@ f/8

@f/16

Next, I adjusted the 10 Euro note for the 1:2 shots. I found out after a few test images that the note was not laying flat enough, so I taped it down to the copy stand base. Here's a resized shot of the entire image:

These next four sets of images are 100% crops of the center and edge of the above image.

@ f/2.5

@ f/4

@ f/8

@ f/16

And finally, I selected a US quarter for the coin images. If Hinnerker wants to take shots of a coin also, I don't think it matters which one he chooses, as long as it's reasonably shiny.

Here's a resize of the image I took at 1:2 magnification:

@ f/2.5

@ f/4

@ f/8

@ f/16

Taking pics of shiny surfaces is an easy way to check a lens's more obvious chromatic aberrations. As you can see in the above images, the Tamron 90mm f/2.5 shows some obvious purple fringing at f/2.5. BY f/4 there is only a tiny amount remaining. And by f/8 it is gone.

I have found from the use of this lens that it is remarkably sharp wide open in the center, although somewhat soft on the corners. By f/8, this lens is amazingly sharp from edge to edge and CA is minimized. This lens's "sweet spot," I've found, is between f/5.6 and f/11. By f/16, some fall off in sharpness becomes evident. By f/22, it is still good, but by f/32, it is just "okay." All in all, however, I rate this Tamron 90mm as one of my two sharpest lenses -- it is on par with my Micro Nikkor 55mm f/3.5. Hmmm . . . I need to compare these two lenses someday soon.

hinnerker · Expire: 2015-08-09

Hi,

are this .jpg out of the cam or RAW?

Sharpness 7 is to harsh for such a test because of artefacts seeing in the shown pictures of the note and especially the coin..

I can only shot with a 5D MKII, its the only cam i have with liveView - Feature to nail the focus.. sorry.

Another problem is the holographic security section of the note itselfs..
the Zone/area ist destroyed

normally it looks like that.. crop to same size from FF.. so its not equal..

And the best part would be the hologram to show CA and so on..

But i will do my best in trying to this. Another problem is.. there is no quarter dollar in my bag.. only old Rubel from Russia.. Very Happy

Cheers
Henry

AhamB · Joined: 22 Jun 2008 Posts: 733 Location: Germany

Sharpness 7. Shocked

I've never always use 3 or 4 and 4 already gives visible halos in some cases... (on files from my 5Dmk1).

hinnerker · Expire: 2015-08-09

hinnerker · Expire: 2015-08-09

Ok, here are some results, showing parts of your setup and scale..

Sharpening 5 as a compromise between your 7 value.. and please keep in mind, that the following crops from the right down/lower corner of the note is made with the Tokina in Front of Fullframe Sensor !! Not on a APS-C cam !

@2.5, fully open

f4.0

f8

IMHO showing higher aperture values is not neccessary, because only the DOF will grow.. a good lens shows the maximum at f8.. and on a plan sujet like this note. there is no need to show f16 or f32.. this values are only for 3D objects.

Will do the coin shoots later..

Cheers
Henry

hinnerker · Expire: 2015-08-09

And here are two crop pics @2.5.

No live view feature on my 400D so i focussed with my Haoda split/prism Screen..

So far this notes shooting with different requirements..

for me, i would prefer the Tokina as a conclusion.. the edge to edge ratio for fullframe is better then in the shown Tamron shot wide open.

In the wide open shot your Tamron fails already on the down/lower right corner of an APS-C Sensor.. The Tokina give better results on a fullframe !!!!

Your Tamron on APS-C, sharpened 7

my Tokina on Fullframe.. sharpend 5

But i think, first of all, the conditions are to different to make such a comparison.

Let us define some exact conditions for that.

Cheers
Henry

BTW.. there are no small "TEN" marks on your note... Very Happy

Funny money?

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

Hey Henry. Interesting results. The "look" of your 400D's images seem to be closer to mine than your 5DII's. The 5DII's images look sort of smoother, I'd guess I'd say.

Tell you what I'll do -- I'll retake the test shots with my XS's sharpness cranked down to 3. I probably should have done this anyway, just didn't think of it until I'd already taken the shots. Then I'll post these new images. And perhaps I should post them separately in this thread, rather than just replace the existing ones, to show the difference. What do you think?

I posted f/16 pics mostly to show the sort of sharpness fall-off my lens is experiencing by that point. I agree, there's not much point in using it at that setting since the fall-off is quite noticeable.

djmike · Joined: 01 Apr 2009 Posts: 930 Location: Taiwan

Woops... I can not focus.... it's all $$ there. Shocked

Tamron SP rocks, IMO. Wink

Mike

AhamB · Joined: 22 Jun 2008 Posts: 733 Location: Germany

dimitrygo · Joined: 01 Apr 2009 Posts: 561

hinnerker · Expire: 2015-08-09

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

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

hinnerker · Expire: 2015-08-09

hinnerker · Expire: 2015-08-09

@cooltouch

Another question regarding the setup !

Do you use an Adapter with confirm chip in the shown sequence?

This gives darker images as without confirmation chip.. the metering works different if a resistor/chip is in the electrical contact loop!

If so, i first have to prepare my Tokina with an confirmation Chip on the new mount.

Cheers
Henry

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

No, I just have a plain adapter with no chip on mine. I just have to keep an eye on exposure and adjust the EV as required. Sometimes I may adjust brightness in DPP if I may have missed some on the EV. I think I may have had to do that on one or two of the above photos. Slight brightness adjustments to the raw images in DPP don't seem to affect the image quality.

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

hinnerker · Expire: 2015-08-09

Boomer Depp · Expire: 2011-12-04

Michael you could borrow a 5D II from a friend or if no friends have one, perhaps rent one for this test.

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

Hi Boomer,

I'm not hard-core enough to rent one. And I don't have any friends that I know of off-hand who own a 5DII. Now, acquaintences, that's a possibility. I hang out at a Texas-based photo forum and somebody I might know slightly here in Houston may be willing to let me use theirs.

I was hoping to reshoot today, but duty called. We had a major problem with our kitchen plumbing that happened last night. Today, I had to remove everything under the sink, and even cut away a section of wall below the sink, then cut away a section of pipe, and replace everything from the pipe to the sink. And I still had to snake the line out a few dozen feet. This old house has the worst plumbing of any house I've ever lived in. Total cost to me was only $65. If I would have called a plumber, it probably would have been $300 or more.

I'm tempted to think that I can spend all that "money I saved" on photo gear, but that's false economics, isn't it? Still, I did splurge a bit. I got lucky on a Goodwill auction just a few minutes ago, and picked up a Nikon FE for $52. Sorry if I outbid one of you folks. Don't really need an FE, but I've always liked them, and couldn't resist going for this one.

Boomer Depp · Expire: 2011-12-04

One of my favorite Nikons SLR's...in fact my daughter still uses one regularly.

Swappo · Joined: 02 Apr 2009 Posts: 327 Location: Sweden

Well... I might be figure this out soon.
I'm trying to get a Bokina in nikon mount in an upcoming trade.
And I already have the Tamron 90/2.5 (later version)...

So we'll se in a while. Smile

Hopefully I can get my camera back from repair soon so I can try it out then. Smile

hinnerker · Expire: 2015-08-09

Swappo · Joined: 02 Apr 2009 Posts: 327 Location: Sweden

AhamB · Joined: 22 Jun 2008 Posts: 733 Location: Germany