Tamron adaptall-2 80-210mm f3.8-4 testing

[uberprutser]

Hello all,

New here and also relative new to MF lenses :)

I bought the above mentioned Tamron lens with shooting butterflies in mind. Since it's almost winter over here, there are not many butterflies around, so I'm killing some time trying to figure out if my recent purchase is any good. (It looks and feels good, very heavy)
I've taken some test shots and I'm hoping some expert over here can help me evaluate.
I shot pictures with all aperture settings at 80, 135 and 210mm. But I'm mostly interested at 210mm since that gives met the field of view I'm after. I'm also not that interested in the wide open performance but I'll post those pictures none the less.
All shots were taken at 1/1000 at ISO 200 using a tripod and a cable release. Two off camera flashes were used to light the scene. The flashes could not keep up when the apertures got smaller.

210mm at f4


210,mm at f5.6


210,mm at f8


210,mm at f11


210,mm at f16


210,mm at f22


210,mm at f32 (a surprisingly small arperture that could come in handy for macro work)


So you tell me, is my copy of the Tamron Adaptall-2 any good? Or should I be looking for something else?




Just for fun, here is the lens mounted to my Olympus E620 dslr.

[hifisapi]

[Olivier]

As far as I can see, it is a good lens.

I have the 03A.
Here, you own the 103A which is a better version.

Here it is : http://www.adaptall-2.org/lenses/103A.html

It will work fine for butterflies.
http://forum.mflenses.com/tamron-103a-80-210-3-8-4-zoom-excellent-value-t15971,highlight,%2Btamron+%2B103a.html

[uberprutser]

Thanks for the info and link. (The problem with the pictures not showing up seems fixed now )

I think its a bit too soft and I will probably need to stop down to f16 to get a decent DOF. No PP.

Here are some more test pictures. 1/640 at ISO 100. focus was on the center of the frame.

210mm at f3.8-4 (purple fringing on the flash highlights)


210mm at f5.6 (bit overexposed according to the histogram)


210mm at f8 (bit overexposed according to the histogram)


210mm at f11 (bit overexposed according to the histogram)


210mm at f16 (from f16 the flashes had a hard time keeping up)


210mm at f22


210mm at f32


Here is a crop of the image shot at f16.


And a bonus picture for your viewing pleasure
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[Farside]

The Tamron 80-210 3.8 /4 is a fairly decent lens and if you're happy with it, keep an eye open for the SP version, the 70-210; you won't go wrong with one of those
They're still fairly cheap but not as cheap as the 80-210, which was one of the biggest-selling Tamron lenses, ever; so used prices for them are still low.

[mo]

I use this lens for rugby,I find the focusing easy to use on this lens,I guess my best results are in the close to mid distance rather than the 210 end....are you taking images of butterflies in flight?

[uberprutser]

I will probably die trying to shoot a butterfly in flight. They do not have a very distinct flight trajectory

I have better luck when they sit down. But even then it's a hit and miss game. (more miss then hit)


Not a MF lens but probably shot MF

[uberprutser]

A few more test pictures.

Old Tamron vs New Olympus.

Tamron at about 105mm and f5.6


Olympus Digital 50mm Macro at f5.6


Tamron at about 105mm and f16


Olympus Digital 50mm Macro at f16

[luisalegria]

Test shots are off - point of focus is different.
Also exposure is incorrect on f/16 shot.

Beware that many digital bodies have metering problems with manual lenses. I use Pentax, which is pretty good with that, but still I often have to change exposure compensation as I change aperture.

Long lenses have less DOF at equivalent apertures than shorter focal length lenses, this is not a property of the lens but an optical property of the focal length. A 50mm lens at any aperture will have more DOF at any aperture than this zoom will at any point in its range.

If your goal is short-range product shots like that camera, I recommend a 50mm or even wider lens.

The reason one would want a longer FL macro lens is for standoff distance, such as for butterflies. But you have to be careful with focusing, lighting in order to use smaller apertures, etc.

As for softness, be careful with focus accuracy and that DOF problem again. You have much less margin for focusing errors with longer focal lengths. On a 12mp APS-C sensor I find this lens gives me perfectly sharp results wide open if accurately focused, which can be quite a problem with the usual DSLR viewfinders.

[eno789]

This lens is pretty decent. A few pictures I took with it


_DSC0013 by B Zhou, on Flickr


_DSC0004 by B Zhou, on Flickr

Next two with Raynox DCR-150


_DSC0077 by B Zhou, on Flickr


_DSC0065 by B Zhou, on Flickr

You need to differentiate thin DoF from softness.

[Olivier]

[uberprutser]

@luisalegria, you're right. So i redid the test. This time I compared it with the Olympus 40-150 zoom (kitlens) and manually focused with both lenses. Also this time I took a crop out of the full frame.

Tamron @f5.6 (~105mm)


Olympus @f5.6 (~105mm)


Tamron @f16 (~105mm)


Olympus @f14 (~105mm) (should have been f16)


@eno789. Nice pictures
I find this lens very hard to focus. What is you experience?

[luisalegria]

Much more informative test.
The focus of your kit lens is a bit off on the second shot, the left of "Praktica" is in focus while the left isn't - small DOF !
And the lighting isn't quite similar, but close enough.
You did get the Tamron focused accurately in both shots.

My impression is that at f/5.6 both lenses are very good on your sensor.
At f/16 also, but at those apertures on a small sensor any lens would be more limited by diffraction.

Any manual focus lens is more or less difficult to focus on the usual DSLR finder. Some are worse than others. I don't find this lens to be difficult compared to most.

An important point - A lens that is designed for the DSLR mount - such as a PK on Pentax, Nikon on Nikon, etc. - that supports auto operation (focus with open aperture with auto stop-down) is very much preferable. Focus wide open to make it more clear on the finder when the image is correctly focused.

[ManualFocus-G]

This is probably the best value tele-zoom you can buy

eno789, incredible shots!