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Tamron's test 27A (SP 28-80), 01A (SP 35-80), 17A (35-70)
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 2:47 pm    Post subject: Tamron's test 27A (SP 28-80), 01A (SP 35-80), 17A (35-70) Reply with quote

Hi,

Some time ago I bought Tamron 17A 35-70mm/3.5 and I loved it. Found out that SP model 01A 35-80/2.8-3.8 should be even better and I bought it as well. Accidentally I bought Tamron SP 27A 28-80/3.5-4.2 as well (20£ for 17A, 16£ for 01A and 17£ for 27A incl. shipping). So when after all of them arrived I decided to try to compare them.

It's not a fancy test, but show lens sharpness and softness in normal conditions. All photos were made using Canon EOS 600d, JPGs out of box with Landscape picture style set and WB to Cloudy. Every photo was focused on the central part of the image. I was not using tripod, so there are some shifts between photos. Because there are different shortest and longest focal lengths different part of the image will be showed in Corners section. Because it was cloudy day I decided to go for auto ISO, and shutter not slower than 1/250th, so wide-open are usually on ISO 100, f/5.6 on ISO 200 and f/8 usually ISO 400-800 depending from set.

Every set will be as follows from the left: Tamron SP 27A, Tamron SP 01A, Tamron 17A (if not stated otherwised)

1st Part:

Here's the whole photo, and followed by the 100% crops of the central part of the image:



Every lens at it's shortest focal range:

Wide-open (different order: 27A at f/3.5, 01A at f/2.8, 01A at f/3.5, 17A at f/3.5):


Closed to f/4:


Closed to f/5.6:


Every lens at it's longest focal length:

Wide-open:


Stopped one click from wide-open (f/4.5 for 27A, and f/4 for 01A and 17A):


Closed to f/5.6:




2nd Part:
It's close focus test, not the closest possible, but about 40-50cm

Whole image:


Every lens set to ~35mm. Those are 100% from the centre part of the image:

At f/4:


Whole image:


Every lens set to longest focal length. Those are 100% from the centre part of the image:

At f/4.5




3rd Part:
This is more or less straight wall and I was about 10-15m from it, shooting perpendicular to it.

Whole image:


Every lens at its' shortest focal. Those are 100% from the center part of the image:

Wide-open (different order - 27A at f/3.5, 01A at f/2.8, 01A at f/3.5, 17A at f/3.5):


Closed to f/5.6:


Closed to f/8:


Every lens at its' shortest focal. Those are 100% from the right upper corner of the image:

Wide-open (different order - 27A at f/3.5, 01A at f/2.8, 01A at f/3.5, 17A at f/3.5):


Closed to f/5.6:


Closed to f/8:



Every lens at ~50mm. Those are 100% from the center part of the image:

Wide-open (different order - 27A at f/3.5, 01A at f/2.8, 01A at f/3.5, 17A at f/3.5):


Closed to f/5.6:


Closed to f/8:


Every lens at ~50mm. Those are 100% from the right upper corner of the image:

Wide-open (different order - 27A at f/3.5, 01A at f/2.8, 01A at f/3.5, 17A at f/3.5):


Closed to f/5.6:


Closed to f/8:



Every lens at its' longest focal. Those are 100% from the center part of the image:

Wide-open:


Closed to f/5.6:


Closed to f/8:


Every lens at its' longest focal. Those are 100% from the right upper corner of the image:

Wide-open:


Closed to f/5.6:


Closed to f/8:


PostPosted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 2:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My conclusions are simple:

- Tamron SP 01A 35-80/2.8-3.8 is the best, however f/2.8 is quite hazy
- Tamron 17A 35-70/3.5 is not that much away from 01A, it's sharp from wide-open, little stopped it's sharp across whole APS-C frame, need to be stopped more at its' longest focal length.
- Tamron SP 27A 28-80/3.5-4.2 is pretty good in the centre at 28-40mm, but pretty lousy everywhere else. 50+mm is terrible in the center until heavily stopped, corners are bad across the whole focal length.

If I have to choose between Tamron SP 01A and Tamron 17A I would choose SP, however it's just a little bit better than 17A and 17A is smaller, joyful to use and generally cheaper (not in my case though).


PostPosted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 3:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Interesting test -- had wondered how the 17A (which I have) compared to the others.
It seems close enough to the best to justify staying with the 17A.


PostPosted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 5:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Super test, thank you! This fits with my previous results i.e. the cheap 35-70/3.5 is incredible value for money Shocked

The 28-80mm SP is soft at large aperture but has lovely colours whilst the 35-80mm SP is in a league of its own.


PostPosted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 6:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Edited

Last edited by bernhardas on Tue May 03, 2016 10:23 am; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 7:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank you guys for kind words.
I get a lot of knowledge and saw a lot of wonderful photos on this forum, so this is my small way to give something from myself.

Norland and Graham: I couldn't agree with you more. 17A is great value for money and I was having real fun shooting with it. Every single meeting with friends or quick journey made with this lens results with a couple of very nice photos. Now it will find new home with my friend Smile as I am gathering money for my first AF lens (Tamron SP 17-50/2.Cool (I hope I will not be excluded from forum Laughing )

Graham: I must use 28-80 a little more as I am intrigued by what you said about colours Smile. What's more, my 27A is in excellent condition, with smooth zoom and focus ring which gives wonderful feel (+ I have the original case)

bernhardas:
Quote:
I have to admit however, that for the last couple of concrete wall pictures I nearly lost the will to live Very Happy

Mission accomplished then Very Happy. You made my day Bern Smile .


Cheers
Mateusz


PostPosted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 7:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great review!

Although I don't own a 17A. My own testing bearing out the same results as you have described here between 01A and 27A. 35-80 is a splendid lens and with a 01F 2X T/C, an extremely competent macro lens as well.

Kudos to Tamron on designing such an versatile lens.


PostPosted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 7:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ahh... Few weeks ago I missed auction with 01F in exc. condition that was sold for 20zł (about 4£) and I was quite angry at myself Wink.


PostPosted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 8:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I like my 17A, it's a good lens. But I don't use it as much as the Minolta Rokkor 35-70 / 3.5 Macro - which I believe to be the king of 35-70's. I also have a Vivitar 35-70 / 3.5 manual focus and Pentax and Minolta AF lenses. And I've said before that I think this was a very popular second purchase lens for people who bought SLR's back in the day, and it was a very competitive sector of the lens market, so the manufacturers made sure they were damn good lenses. That way the customer came back and bought the 70-210.
Tamron made a very good lens with the 17A, but the competition was fierce.
I used mine a few days ago, I enjoyed it and got some good results from it.


PostPosted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 8:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lloydy wrote:
I like my 17A, it's a good lens. But I don't use it as much as the Minolta Rokkor 35-70 / 3.5 Macro - which I believe to be the king of 35-70's. I also have a Vivitar 35-70 / 3.5 manual focus and Pentax and Minolta AF lenses. And I've said before that I think this was a very popular second purchase lens for people who bought SLR's back in the day, and it was a very competitive sector of the lens market, so the manufacturers made sure they were damn good lenses. That way the customer came back and bought the 70-210.
Tamron made a very good lens with the 17A, but the competition was fierce.
I used mine a few days ago, I enjoyed it and got some good results from it.


And you told my tale. Smile I bought an OM2s with the 50mm lens, felt some ennui, and my wife, God bless her, told me to go back and get the lens I really wanted. I wanted the 01A. It served as my main/only lens for ever; I did eventually buy an 85/2 to take pics of our daughter's performances. But that was much much later.

I did a quick compare with the Rokkor mentioned, and the Rokkor seemed to be the better lens. However, as far as distortion at 35mm etc the two were like peas in a pod.

Thank you for such a well done compare, these things get quickly out of control and have all sorts of intrusions. And that is some interesting concrete you found Very Happy


PostPosted: Mon Feb 15, 2016 11:27 pm    Post subject: Very nice comparison ! Reply with quote

Thanks for this comparison ! Very helpful.

On my side, i tested the older QZ35M Adaptall 1 today. Loved it...but VERY glowy until f4. It ruins the f2.8.
I will sell it, and buy a 01A. I prefer it to 27A, mainly due to macro.

I like those "walk" lenses on M43 : i get 70-160mm equ. (enough for portrait, far away landscape...) With a real 2.8/3.5 AND macro down to 1:2.5 on 01A, it is really a do it all lens outdoor.

And my Pana native 20/1.7 for low light. And Pana 12-32 for large landscape...and Oly 40-150 for AF/animals...and... Wink


PostPosted: Mon Feb 15, 2016 11:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the comparison. The only one of these that I have or have ever had is the 01A. I was recently gifted a mint copy of this lens along with the 01F 2X T/C. I haven't even used it yet, but I definitely will now!


PostPosted: Tue Feb 16, 2016 1:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I had my 35-70 17A in my pocket today, but I didn't use it. Not because I don't like it, I was just enjoying a Zeiss Planar on my Sony, and if I have only got one lens in a particular mount, like the Planar in QBM mount, I use the little Tamron with the matching Adaptall mount.


PostPosted: Tue Feb 16, 2016 10:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for a great comparo!
The only lens of the trio I have is the 01A, tried one after recommendation from a forum member.
My eyes told me it's good, but nice to see how well it stacks up.


PostPosted: Tue Feb 16, 2016 10:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Any opinions on the 09a 35-70mm f3.5 f4.5 ?


PostPosted: Tue Feb 16, 2016 2:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Excalibur wrote:
Any opinions on the 09a 35-70mm f3.5 f4.5 ?


My impressions of the 09A are that it is very similar to the 17A in character and IQ. I don't think tamron changed it particularly optically when they made it constant f.

Great test Mateusz I concur with all your conclusions. 01A is the best at the longer focal lengths and also for closest (macro) focus, where I have seen results that compete well with eg 52B; 17A is good all round and runs 01A close, often indistinguishably close - it's "01A-lite; 27A is good, even very good, at the wide end but disappoints as the focal length increases, however it does have good and natural colours - 01A and 17A are "warm".


PostPosted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 8:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You've concluded it very well Marcus, I could only add that my 01A is simply fantastic to use. Every time I take it out, I'm always happy with the results, no matter digital or film. I liked 17A very much and I like your description as 01A-light Smile, it's spot on. 17A had something that I miss in 01A a bit - simply incredible colour rendition, it's hard to describe and impossible to measure, but it really was fantastic in that area. Don't get me wrong, 01A renders colours great as well, but 17A was a bit better Smile.
As for 27A I didn't like it very much and it was pretty disappointing despite that I loved the focal length range. May be that I had a worse example of the 27A, but since I bought Vivitar Series 1 28-90/2.8-3.5 to cover that range I didn't consider trying other example of 27A.

It's nice to see someone reading and commenting on my post, especially as it was one of the firsts I committed on this forum Smile. I really do hope, it was useful for someone.


PostPosted: Thu Nov 21, 2019 10:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have bought a bunch of Tamron zooms and I am still learning them.
It appears to me that 27A suffers from spherical aberration wide open which you could use for portrait.
However my copy stopped down one stop and a half is tack sharp on all the range. And I like the lack of distortion.


PostPosted: Thu Nov 21, 2019 6:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

awhile back i sort of accidentally bought the 01A (was included in a bundle with the SP 54B 300mm i bought on purpose) and hadn't given it much thought as I don't usually shoot with manual zooms due to IBIS issues on the A7ii, but in light of this am definitely going to take it out on a trip this weekend... thanks for bumping this thread.


PostPosted: Sat Nov 23, 2019 1:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

A few years ago, I bought an 01A because of all the rave reviews it got here at the forum, but honestly I haven't used it much. About the same time I bought a 27A, hoping it might be the Tamron equivalent to my Vivitar S1 28-90. I haven't used it much, either. I've owned the Vivitar S1 off and on for over 35 years and I still find that its performance is unequaled for its focal range. I do believe that the 35-80 will give it a good run for the money within its focal range, however -- and these photos and others I've seen taken with the 35-80 would seem to bear this out.

The 27A in these tests is disappointing. But I can't help but wonder if it might not be a good copy of this lens. Reason I say this is because of the Modern Photography test shown at Adaptall-2.com:

http://adaptall-2.com/lenses/27A.html

As you can plainly see, its performance is well above average. I guess I need to dust mine off and put it through some tests of my own, see how it fairs up against the 01A and the Vivitar.


PostPosted: Sat Nov 23, 2019 9:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here are some from my 27A
#1


#2


#3


#4

#5


PostPosted: Sat Nov 23, 2019 11:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

uddhava wrote:
Here are some from my 27A


Nice samples!
Like 1 Like 1


PostPosted: Sun Nov 24, 2019 10:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very nice Uddhava. Have you noted glow wide open and at what settings the lens becomes sharp? I think I have a good copy but need to close 1 stop and a half for perfect sharpness.

All that quest results from my experiences with Minolta Md 28 85. I was desperatly looking for a lens sharp to the corners in that range and the Minolta is fine two stops closed if you take into account field curvature that is huge. I am fine with that if the lens is homogeneous but my two copies needed to focus at different distances in the corners which I didn't like.

So my move towards Tamron having red the adaptall 2 site. I have been lucky since my copy of the 27A reacts the same way on all corners which is a sign for me of a copy conforming the specs. However there is glow wide open which is why I wonder if I could find the perfect copy without glow.

Sorry for the long explanation.


PostPosted: Sun Nov 24, 2019 5:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

cooltouch wrote:
The 27A in these tests is disappointing. But I can't help but wonder if it might not be a good copy of this lens. Reason I say this is because of the Modern Photography test shown at Adaptall-2.com:

http://adaptall-2.com/lenses/27A.html

As you can plainly see, its performance is well above average.
I actually own 2 copies of the 27A,
with both providing excellent results.
I like the color rendition and sharpness, though I don't use them wide open.


PostPosted: Sun Nov 24, 2019 7:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

lumens pixel wrote:
Very nice Uddhava. Have you noted glow wide open and at what settings the lens becomes sharp? I think I have a good copy but need to close 1 stop and a half for perfect sharpness.

All that quest results from my experiences with Minolta Md 28 85. I was desperatly looking for a lens sharp to the corners in that range and the Minolta is fine two stops closed if you take into account field curvature that is huge. I am fine with that if the lens is homogeneous but my two copies needed to focus at different distances in the corners which I didn't like.

So my move towards Tamron having red the adaptall 2 site. I have been lucky since my copy of the 27A reacts the same way on all corners which is a sign for me of a copy conforming the specs. However there is glow wide open which is why I wonder if I could find the perfect copy without glow.

Sorry for the long explanation.


I remember that my lens is soft wide open, I will have to look at some photos to see if there is a glow.
I do like my lens though and use it especially when traveling. I also have the Minolta MD 28-85mm and have taken
it traveling also.