Tamron 90/2.5 SP "52BB"

[grainy]

Just made a 'sharp audit' for my lenses on hand and this lens outperformed all others. The colour isn't my cup of tea but it's simply sharp...

Wide open f/2.5:

#1


#2


Full res at f/8
https://goo.gl/photos/XLLf3zd4hphRzPcu9

[Attila]

Great lens, I did love mine.

[WNG555]

The Tamron SP 52BB is one of the sharpest lenses in my collection. The BBAR does render a bit differently. But I happen to find it appealing.

[RAART]

Taken with Pentax K-3

[guardian]

Adaptall-2 website is saying this lens can resolve 69 lines/mm at the center at both f/8 and f/11.

http://www.adaptall-2.com/lenses/52B.html

Other resolution numbers are also pretty terrific.

I don't own a 52BB, but the 52B was one of the first MF lenses I ever bought, a very nice copy having cost me US$10 back circa 2005. And for that same US$10 the seller also threw in a very nice Tamron 01F tele-converter!

[Note: US$10 in 2005 translates to about US$12.33 now in 2016, with inflation. That's still not a fortune.]

I really do not know for certain whether the 52B is as good a lens as the 52BB, which is what the website indicates. But this I can report with metaphysical certitude:

I could surely have used a far larger helping of prescience back in 2005. If only I had known back then about MF lenses what I know now!!

[cooltouch]

I have the 52B (same optical formula), and it is one of the two sharpest lenses in my collection. The other is a 55mm f//2.8 Micro-Nikkor AIs.

Here's a 100% crop of a rosebud taken with the Tamron 90 and a 10.1mp Canon XS (1000D) DSLR:

[RAART]