Tamron 28/2.8 Adaptamatic

[luisalegria]

I am collecting the Tamron Adaptamatics because they are very nicely made, and of course, they are very cheap !



This is one of the more common ones. Among the easiest to find are this 28, the 135 naturally, the 70-220 and 80-250 zooms. They are also very cheap. The desirable ones, which can get a bidding contest, are the 21 and 24mm wides, the 300/5.6, and the monster 200-500 zoom. The mounts are best found by picking up a lens with the right mount, you are much more likely to find one than a loose mount. But really, there is only one really useful mount in this series these days, and thats the M42. Its a good thing the whole series has an A/M switch on the body.

Like all the series, the fit and finish of the 28 are exceptional. Its a big and heavy creature like all the Adaptamatics, much larger than later 28's, but in line with the first generations of automatic lenses. Otherwise the only notable aspect of this lens is that it has a rather close focus, 10"/.25m, which is nearly as close as the later Sigma Mini-Wide, and certainly was unusual at the time (well, it was 40 years ago).

I can't really compare wide-angles very well, all I can say about this one is that it produces perfectly decent results as far as sharpness, and doesn't misbehave excessively even when shooting into the sun. Its pleasant and predictable to use.

[yalcinaydin]

Nice samples as usual.
Last two's contrasts look a bit high but I guess it is near sunset.
When you had said common I searched ebay and could find just one Adaptmatic and it has M42, it as buy now and I'm not interested for now so folks feel free to grab it

[Attila]

Superb, look eye of cat! Seems Tamron already forgot how they made lenses. Newest Adaptall-2 has no same good result.

[Rob Leslie]

I love the f2.8 28mm Adaptall 1 lens which IMO has a different character to the later f2.5 28mm Adaptall 2 though the 2 is a bit sharper. I have not tried the older Adapt-a-matic version.
I have had my f2.8 28mm Adaptall1 from new I bought around 1976/78 and done many thousands of exposures on film and now digital. One film during the late seventies onwards I actually preferred the lens to the Pentax f3.5 and f2.8 28mm and the Nikon 28mm. I used the lens on both cameras.
The f2.8 28mm Adaptall renders tones and transitions between them better than many higher contrast lens a quality similar to some of the better German lenses. It can be prone to a little internal ‘Haze flare’ wide open when shooting towards the light but this is predictable and is natural in colour even on digital (Not blue or Red) it is easy to control making it an asset with some subjects, especially Portraits/glamour.
Both the f2.8 Adaptall1 and the latter f2.5 28mm focus to 10 inches.
I would steer clear of the early Adap-a-matic 24mm, 21mm (Unless your just collecting). Wide angle lens design wasn’t so hot in that era. The much later Adaptall 2 24mm is a very good one but surprisingly the SP 24-48 zoom is even better.