300mm f4.5 prime comparison; Nikon AI-S vs Tair 3 Grand Prix

ramcewan · Joined: 02 Mar 2012 Posts: 198 Location: New England, USA

So I now have three 300mm primes;

Tamron 300mm f5.6 CT-300 in m42
Nikon 300mm f4.5 AI-S
Tair 300mm f4.5 Brussels Grand Prix in m42 (1965)

I figured I should do a comparison as I probably need one maybe two at most (the CT-300 is soo light compared to the other two and was very inexpensive $33 so I like it for travel).

I set up a fake bird ornament on my bird feeder as the primary use of my 300mm prime is for shooting birds on the feeder. The lenses were tripod mounted, the camera set to shutter priority 1/500, stabilization was set to off, and a wired shutter release was employed.

The end result was that the Nikon and Tair were so close in quality that I can only give a slight edge in contrast to the Nikon and that edge could have been due to a slight difference in lighting based on the wind blowing the leaves.

The Tamron as I suspected was not in the same class, owing to it's smaller front element it just didn't gather the same amount of light as the big 72mm front element Nikon and Tair, at the same aperture it's images were a little washed out and lacking in contrast.

Since the Nikon and Tair were so close and the Tamron so far behind I am not even going to bother posting pictures, but if someone wants me to I will.

Just amazes me that the Tair built in 1965 was as good as the Nikon built 20 or more years later.

Now the only problem is I don't have anything upon which to base a decision. In weight the Nikon wins, in intrinsic mechanical beauty the Tair wins, in bokeh the Tair also wins, in size and ability to hand hold the Nikon wins...

Laughing

Excalibur · Expire: 2014-04-21

***Now the only problem is I don't have anything upon which to base a decision**

erm what about crops Question

ramcewan · Joined: 02 Mar 2012 Posts: 198 Location: New England, USA

ramcewan · Joined: 02 Mar 2012 Posts: 198 Location: New England, USA

here's two crops @ f8;

Nikon first, Tair second. I think the differences could be chalked up to the lighting being slightly different as is evidenced on the grid of the feeder. Or it could be user error in focus, either way the difference to my eye is so slight I cannot help but call it a tie.

p.s. here's the tamron at f8, clearly imho not in the same league, but given it's light weight it probably is going to be kept.

Excalibur · Expire: 2014-04-21

See what you mean it's difficult, but the Tamron is not too bad in comparison as they are crops. Just based on the three shots presented I would say the Tair has a slight edge and the Tamron would be third.

ramcewan · Joined: 02 Mar 2012 Posts: 198 Location: New England, USA

glasslover · Expire: 2013-10-19

Hi!

It's too bad you don't have the Tamron SP model 54B too. I have it and it's very good. It's a little better than my Tair-3s, but that's not a fair comparison because my Tair-3s has had some unfortunate internal lubricant motion onto glass surfaces, whereas my Tamron 54B is perfect. Here are a couple of local URLs about the 54B:

http://www.mflenses.com/tamron-sp-300mm-f56-54b-lens-review.html
http://forum.mflenses.com/tamron-300mm-f5-6-sp-54b-t5914.html

Cheers!

Himself · Expire: 2013-05-30

The Tamron SP 300/5.6 became rarer than hen`s teeth. Not that I want to buy one.
Now I`m waiting for a Nikon 300/4.5 ED to fit on my budget. I`m patient.

ramcewan · Joined: 02 Mar 2012 Posts: 198 Location: New England, USA

ramcewan · Joined: 02 Mar 2012 Posts: 198 Location: New England, USA

Lloydy · Expire: 2022-01-01

The Tair wins for me, the tail feathers with the Nikon are brighter - but all a an oversaturated maroon ( in my opinion ) the Tamron has darker shades - but they look like dirty smudges, and the Tair has, to me, the most natural looking feathers. The dark patches the Tamron shows might be there in the real feathers ? But the Tamron comes out worst because the dark patch looks like bad 'burning'

The Tair does lose a patch of green in the background bokeh, but unless you know it's actually there you're not going to miss it.

The Tair was one of the first MF lenses I ever bought, and although I don't use it very often I'm always impressed by it. And for the price I paid I can't imaging anything giving greater bang for the buck.

Just out of interest, how much are the other lenses worth on the used lens market ?

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

glasslover · Expire: 2013-10-19

Hi!

I find the Tamron SP Adaptall-II 300mm f5.6 model 54B lens quite light. Even though it's not small, it handles nicely on my gh2, unlike the Tair 3s, which is quite a large and heavy beast on the rather petite gh2. With a Nikon Adaptall-II mount attached, but without case or caps, the Tamron weighs in at 645g. That's not much for what it can do, and it even has a built-in hood. In comparison, the Tair 3s is twice as big and weighs 1570g, plus 80g for the critically-important "drain plunger" hood.

The Tair is a lovely and special novelty, and it definitely produces good images, though to my eye not appreciably better than the Tamron. My Tair also gives substantially lower contrast than the Tamron, which makes it harder to focus accurately. For me, the 2/3-stop advantage in light-gathering ability given by the f4.5 maximum aperture of the Tair is almost never worth the weight and size difference over the Tamron.

Cheers!

Lloydy · Expire: 2022-01-01

The Tair is definitely a lens for using on a tripod, then you put the NEX on the Tair, not the Tair on the NEX. Wink

Rolf · Expire: 2015-12-26

I would sell all the 3 lenses and go instead for the Nikkor 4.5/300mm IF ED version with tripod mount at the lens as well.

http://forum.mflenses.com/sparkassen-giro-2011-at-bochum-nikkor-4-5-300-ed-if-t41604,highlight,%2Bnikkor+%2B300.html

Wink

ramcewan · Joined: 02 Mar 2012 Posts: 198 Location: New England, USA

prices paid;

$33 Tamron 300mm f5.6 model CT-300 in m42 no case but original cap
$66 Tair 3 f4.5 Grand Prix Brussels with leather case Smile

+ $6.95 for a metal hood
$102 Nikon 300mm f4.5 AI-S no case but original cap

The Tair is certainly a mount to tripod then attach camera although I think I could use it with my monopod. I have successfully used the Nikon hand held in braced positions (i.e. rifle shooting style... somehow learning to shoot at a young age, being a country boy at heart I think helps with camera shooting). The Tamron is easily used handheld.

Anyways let's look at the rest of the crops starting with f4.5 Nikon first, Tair Second;

ramcewan · Joined: 02 Mar 2012 Posts: 198 Location: New England, USA

Nikon, Tair, Tamron ... staying in alphabetical order. I will try and take a picture of the ornament bird in theses crops close up and with a modern lens to show whether or not those black spots are in the feathers or the lens as I can't really remember.

ramcewan · Joined: 02 Mar 2012 Posts: 198 Location: New England, USA

f8 again just to keep things in order

Nikon first, Tair second. I think the differences could be chalked up to the lighting being slightly different as is evidenced on the grid of the feeder. Or it could be user error in focus, either way the difference to my eye is so slight I cannot help but call it a tie.

ramcewan · Joined: 02 Mar 2012 Posts: 198 Location: New England, USA

f11 ... last set as even at this point the ISO is getting pretty high and affecting the image more than the lenses, same order Nikon, Tair, Tamron

Himself · Expire: 2013-05-30

Lloydy · Expire: 2022-01-01

About 2 years ago I think I paid £30 ( UK P ) for the Tair, 1st class condition in its case with filters, a working Zenit, a Helios 44-2 and a pile of filters, cable release and a Vivitar flash all in a very good bag I still use today.
The Tair has got to be the bargain lens of a lifetime ?

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

I sold my Nikkor lenses both AI and ED AIS and kept Tair , to me they were all same so I kept cheapest one.

ramcewan · Joined: 02 Mar 2012 Posts: 198 Location: New England, USA

I ended up keeping the Tair.

I sold the Tamron Ct-300 and the Nikon 300mm AI-S and bought the Olympus Zuiko 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 ED FT lens plus a FT->MFT adapter which will serve as my travel lens.

The Tair will serve as my at home tripod lens for bird shots on the feeder next spring, something for which it is perfect. I might try and set up a humming bird feeder this summer and give the Tair a shot at this too.