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Tamron 55-90mm f/4 short zoom preset
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 20, 2017 7:59 pm    Post subject: Tamron 55-90mm f/4 short zoom preset Reply with quote

Even the blind squirrel occasionally finds an acorn . . . or have I wasted my money on a worthless pebble?

Anyway, I just saw a lens I've never seen before and bought it straightaway, paying perhaps far too high a price! I could not find other sales for this lens. Usually I eschew zooms. But I do have a soft spot for the short zooms. This lens just sort of struck a chord with me. It's difficult to describe exactly why I jumped. And just because a lens is unfamiliar to me does not mean it is special.

The lens is either YS or T mount. I would think T mount more likely given the manufacturer. It is from the mid to late 1960's, so about fifty years old. I went the extra money on the perception of good condition. We shall see on that one!

Anyway, here is my newest find. Please wish me luck. I'll need it.:

Click here to see on Ebay then click see original listing


Last edited by guardian on Mon Mar 20, 2017 8:19 pm; edited 2 times in total


PostPosted: Mon Mar 20, 2017 8:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

looks cool!


PostPosted: Mon Mar 20, 2017 8:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

What you have there is a rather rare lens!

The last one I don't have in my collection of early Tamron zooms.

I have been looking for eight-nine years.

I have no idea if its any good or not, but that doesn't really matter.
There are all sorts of OK zoom lenses for this FL range, but very few such pioneer lenses.

A collectors item.


PostPosted: Mon Mar 20, 2017 8:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sounds like a score for $35 then (if not for the oddball factor alone)! Like 1 small


PostPosted: Mon Mar 20, 2017 8:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

luisalegria wrote:
What you have there is a rather rare lens!

The last one I don't have in my collection of early Tamron zooms.

I have been looking for eight-nine years.

I have no idea if its any good or not, but that doesn't really matter.
There are all sorts of OK zoom lenses for this FL range, but very few such pioneer lenses.

A collectors item.


Luis

Thank you!

That means a lot, especially coming from you!

The lens actually hit simultaneously two of my personal triggers:

* Preset lens. I'm a sucker for preset lenses.
* Short zoom. I enjoy the short zooms, but they have become very expensive.

The collector aspect is also wonderful, but I'm not always the best judge of that aspect.

Well, bottom line, I'm pretty excited and feel very fortunate to have seen this.

Whoo Turtle


PostPosted: Mon Mar 20, 2017 9:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Congrats
Has to be a T-mount lens.
Picture and specs on http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.tamron.co.jp/data/old-lens/olm55_90.htm
I have never seen such old Tamron.


PostPosted: Mon Mar 20, 2017 10:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Minolfan wrote:
Congrats
Has to be a T-mount lens.
Picture and specs on http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.tamron.co.jp/data/old-lens/olm55_90.htm
I have never seen such old Tamron.


Thanks. And thank you for that great reference. I had not seen that before. Sure enough, the lens is T mount, just as you said.


PostPosted: Mon Mar 20, 2017 10:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That one may just have some radioactive glass in it too! Very Happy


PostPosted: Tue Mar 21, 2017 12:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It seems like the seller didn't know what he had. I would have thought that an early lens like that would have sold for much more than that, congratulations Like 1 small


PostPosted: Tue Mar 21, 2017 6:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Congrats on that one! Nice catch!

Please do share your results coming from it, i think many here are very curious about what it can do.

Cheers, René!


PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2022 2:39 pm    Post subject: Just found one of these... Reply with quote

Good day folks.

I know this is an old post but I just found one of these rare lenses (Tamron 55-90mm f4 T-Mount) in an antiques shop. I did not realize that it was that rare when I picked it up to be sincere. I just thought it looked very nice and it was kind of an exotic zoom range and I enjoy playing with old M42 lenses since a couple years on my APS-C Fujifilm X-H1 body. I must admit it looks very nice when mounted on my body with K&F adapter.

I did not get the time to play with it much but it seems to be pretty sharp in the center and less in the corner at least at f4... as pretty much all lenses at full opening. The main "issue" with it I would say is the minimal focus distance of 1.5 meter... it is pretty far for what I think was designed to be a portrait lens...

The thing I like the most about this lens, apart from the fact that it is super rare and in outstanding condition as you can see... is the iris. Look at the close-up pic of the aperture blades... perfect circle! Wow!

But this said, I will continue to play with it for a while and then decide if I keep it or sell it on eBay later on. I just added an alert on eBay to see if any of these come by in the next few months and how much the sell for.

If you have some special requests on the tests you would like to do if you had that lens, I can probably do that for you.

This said, I only have an APS-C sensor rigth now... but I might come across a Sony full frame sooner or later (I buy and sell camera gear on eBay for a living) and I have an M42 adapter in hands for Sony so I will be able to see how it performs with a full frame sensor too.

Here are some pictures of the lens itself... I only saw brochure pictures on google in my search. Enjoy!
#1


#2


#3


#4


#5


#6


#7


#8


Last edited by fullphoto on Fri Apr 15, 2022 9:33 pm; edited 3 times in total


PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2022 2:41 pm    Post subject: Re: Just found one of these... Reply with quote

fullphoto wrote:
Good day folks.

I know this is an old post but I just found one of these rare lenses (Tamron 55-90mm f4 T-Mount) in an antiques shop. I did not realize that it was that rare when I picked it up to be sincere. I just thought it looked very nice and it was kind of an exotic zoom range and I enjoy playing with old M42 lenses since a couple years on my APS-C Fujifilm X-H1 body. I must admit it looks very nice when mounted on my body with K&F adapter.

I did not get the time to play with it much but it seems to be pretty sharp in the center and less in the corner at least at f4... as pretty much all lenses at full opening. The main "issue" with it I would say is the minimal focus distance of 1.5 meter... it is pretty far for what I think was designed to be a portrait lens... but I have an 11mm extension tube if I really need to get closer.

The thing I like the most about this lens, apart from the fact that it is super rare and in outstanding condition as you can see... is the iris. Look at the close-up pic of the aperture blades... perfect circle! Wow!

But this said, I will continue to play with it for a while and then decide if I keep it or sell it on eBay later on. I just added an alert on eBay to see if any of these come by in the next few months and how much the sell for.

If you have some special requests on the tests you would like to do if you had that lens, I can probably do that for you.

This said, I only have an APS-C sensor rigth now... but I might come across a Sony full frame sooner or later (I buy and sell camera gear on eBay for a living) and I have an M42 adapter in hands for Sony so I will be able to see how it performs with a full frame sensor too.

Here are some pictures of the lens itself... I only saw brochure pictures on google in my search. Enjoy!


#1


#2


#3


#4


#5


#6


#7


#8


Spam protection, pics should upload now


PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2022 2:42 pm    Post subject: Re: Just found one of these... Reply with quote



PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2022 2:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I can’t think of a more useless focal range but at the same time it’s more desirable because of that Smile. And a sexy looking lens!


PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2022 2:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I agree it is a useless range for full frame. But on APS-C it turns into a 82.5mm to 135mm... fine for most portraits.


PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2022 3:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

fullphoto wrote:
I agree it is a useless range for full frame. But on APS-C it turns into a 82.5mm to 135mm... fine for most portraits.


Good point.


PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2022 3:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I fail to see how a lens designed for 24 X 36mm is going to be useless on full frame.
Providing the aperture is constant, if not a little slow, it maybe an excellent idea.
This from a guy with enough primes in that range to crowd up the daily carry bag....
It's been done before, with varying degrees of success (I'm thinking nikon 43-86 which was not that great)

-D.S.


PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2022 4:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Doc Sharptail wrote:
I fail to see how a lens designed for 24 X 36mm is going to be useless on full frame.


These days a normal lens (or a short tele lens) with a limited performance wide open and a fastest aperture of 1:4 looks a bit outdated. If I use something in the 50mm range I would expect very good FF performance at f4 or f5.6. And something in the short tele range should be equally good at f4 or preferably at f2 ... f2.8.

I have a few of those normal-to-short-tele zooms, among them two "falvours" of the Nikkor you mentioned, but also the Mamiya CS 3.5/45-90mm and the Konica UC Hexanon AR 3.5/35-100mm. The Hexanon, at least wide open, has a limited performance throughout its entire focal range; the Mamiya is pretty good at 45mm, a little less so at 65mm and as "bad" as the Konica at f=90mm.

The second computation of the Nikkor 3.5/43-86mm is roughly comparable to the Konica AR 3.5/45-100mm (but inferior to the Mamiya). The first computation of the Nikkor 3.5/43-86mm however is really bad ... Nevertheless it's a historically important lens since it was the first zoom sold in large quantities!

S


PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2022 4:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think this zoom was designed in a focal range where it was easier to maintain image quality over the entire range. It is much harder to make a 28-70 than it is a 55-95mm zoom.


PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2022 4:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

caspert79 wrote:
I can’t think of a more useless focal range but at the same time it’s more desirable because of that Smile. And a sexy looking lens!


Bearing in mind this appears to be literally a first generation 35mm film zoom (started appearing around 1964), and a third party one at that, it's totally forgiveable, and even more interesting they went for an f/4 aperture.

The optical design is interesting:





Even more so because it appears on the box of this Hanimex 135mm, for some reason:



Topaz 2x upscale, remove blur at 77:



PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2022 5:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

[quote="stevemark"]
Doc Sharptail wrote:


These days a normal lens (or a short tele lens) with a limited performance wide open and a fastest aperture of 1:4 looks a bit outdated.

S


I must be seriously out-dated. I still think the nikkor S.C. 50 f1.4 and the "H" 50 f2 are the cat's meow, and may explain the slightly fullish daily carry bag Shocked Laughing Mr. Green

Edit- I see it now- f4 and not f1.4 Embarassed

-D.S.


PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2022 7:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

eggplant wrote:

The optical design is interesting:


Indeed! I would assume a three group zoom construction, similar to the Nikkor Auto 3.5/43-86mm, but with only seven (insetad of nine) lenses:
https://imaging.nikon.com/history/story/0004/index.htm

S


PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2022 2:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

stevemark wrote:
eggplant wrote:

The optical design is interesting:


Indeed! I would assume a three group zoom construction, similar to the Nikkor Auto 3.5/43-86mm, but with only seven (insetad of nine) lenses:
https://imaging.nikon.com/history/story/0004/index.htm

S

May be they share the ideas when designing these zooms. Wink

"Release date :: 1964"