Tamron Z-500 vs. Tamron CZ-500 - Noted in passing

[guardian]

This is likely more obvious to others than it was for me. I was looking for a quick "tell" which would enable me, at a glance, to distinguish between these two somewhat similar lenses. Here it is:

On the older Z-500, the grip rings are (more or less) of the same height.

On the newer CZ-500, the rear grip ring is clearly not as high as the front grip ring.

You can see this here:

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.tamron.co.jp/data/old-lens/z500.htm

and here:

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.tamron.co.jp/data/old-lens/cz500.htm

Both of the subject lenses are Adaptall (but not Adaptall 2) lenses. Thus both have the somewhat unusual grip ring surfaces which characterize the entire Adaptall series.

[calvin83]

Look for the plastic DOF window too...