Tamrons Sonnar - 200/2.8

luisalegria · Expire: 2018-01-18

I have been looking for this thing for almost two years, ever since I saw it in Captain Jack's Exakta page.

Its a rather rare early Tamron, the model 360 200mm f/2.8. This one was sold under the Spectra Coligon brand, Spectra being a US distributors brand, later renamed Aetna, and Coligon was a trademark they often used.

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.tamron.co.jp/data/old-lens/olm200f2_8.htm

OK, whats interesting about it ? Other than being very large and heavy, of course. Well, it looks like it is what one would expect - its a copy of the famous Zeiss Olympia Sonnar, the original version. Five elements in three groups, one big one in front, what looks like three very thick cemented elements in one group in the middle, and a single element in the back.

Tamron (Taisei Kogaku) made three very ambitious lenses in 1960, the 1.2/58, 2.8/200 and a 5.6/400, Tamron models 340, 360 and 380, all issued with the original T-mount - these may indeed have been the very first T-mount lenses. Why did Tamron do this ? I can only assume they wanted recognition and to make a splash in the market. Whats also interesting is that all three of these lenses are quite rare. It looks like Tamron sold few of them, or didn't sell them for very long. Perhaps they were too ambitious, and a small upstart Japanese third-party lens maker couldn't really compete in such markets. Too expensive to make ? Performance was disappointing ? Who knows.

This one came with all the original accessories, case (in poor shape), hood, lens cap, original lovely brass Exakta T-mount (maybe itself collectible ?) and rear filter tray that takes Series V. Its the same tray used in the 5.6/400 model 340, that I also have. I don't know if this lens requires a filter in the back, so I put a Series V UV in there just in case. Its a good idea to have such a rear filter, the front filter thread is I think an odd size, maybe 85mm.

So whats it like ? Well as one would expect this thing is very heavy and awkward, probably as much as a real Zeiss Olympia Sonnar. The spec says its 1.5Kg, 3.3 lb, and I can believe it.

Minimum focus is 10ft/3m, which is a bit long for a 200mm even at the time. The huge barrel gives it a very long and slow focus; the advantage though is it can be very precise. The preset mechanism is just a huge version of the usual Japanese two-ring system. The hood reverses over the barrel and the lens cap screws on to the back of the hood, an odd but effective system. The tripod mount has the same rather awkward ring release as the 400mm model 340, that is prone to jamming.

Performance - well, the reason to have such a thing at all is to use it at f/2.8, as I have plenty of 200mm f/4's, all of them much smaller and lighter. So I shot everything (so far) at f/2.8. Wide open this is a reasonably sharp lens in my opinion, doing better than many 135's at that aperture. It suffers from some CA and there is some blue fringing around the usual white areas. It may also suffer from some lack of contrast. The bokeh looks very nice. Whether it competes with Zeiss is not for me to say as I have never tried a Sonnar. So let me know what you think.

Not much time this week for taking pictures, and it may be a while before I get to the zoo or someplace fun. Maybe I will come up with some portraits soon. All at f/2.8, some flower shots with an extension tube.

The bird -

Crop -

martinsmith99 · Expire: 2013-11-18

There is some CA going on there (in the bird's eye), but nevertheless it looks fantastic espcially the shot with the person on the grass. It also looks very cool on your camera! Cool

Was the UV filter in place when you took these samples?

luisalegria · Expire: 2018-01-18

Yes, the UV filter was in place.

I'm looking for a Series V neutral-density filter to permit wide open shooting in bright light. Its hard to find a good shot that will work at noon in California as my camera only goes to ISO 200 and 1/4000 sec.

Olivier · Expire: 2015-08-06

Wow !!!

It looks wonderful and seems to shoot so !
Did you have a lot of waste during your test shooting ?

The bird is incredibly neat !

Congrats for this catch, Luis. Cool

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

Lovely lens and great pictures.
This must be of the same series? Or am I wrong in my assumptions?

http://www.tradera.com/Pentax-M42-Tamron-200-3-5-auktion_100636069

/Jan

luisalegria · Expire: 2018-01-18

Hi Jan,

Yes it is. I have the 3.5/200 also, and I like it very much.