4 tele-zoom test (Vivitar S1, Tamron SP23A & 46A, Kiron)

[PhantomLord]

Hi,

I did a quick comparison between a few telephoto zoom lenses I have so since it was already done, I have decided to share, maybe someone will find it useful.

Lenses in question:
1) Tamron 46A 70-210/4
2) Vivitar Series 1 70-210/3.5 (ver. Kiron)
3) Tamron SP 23A 60-300/3.8-5.4
4) Kiron 70-150/4

From my point of view Tamron SP 23A is the clear winner followed closely by Kiron 70-150 and Vivitar Series 1, while Tamron 46A need to be closed to f/8 to catch up.

All photos done on Canon 600d on tripod with wireless shutter release, focusing on LiveView with 5x magnification. ISO 100, RAW + dev in Lightroom (+0,3EV to the exposure and 50 points of sharpening with details and masking to 0).

Scene at 70mm (maybe not the most interesting, but I find building cranes to be great for central sharpness evaluation):


Crops from above, order of lenses is: Tamron 46A, Vivitar Series 1, Tamron SP 23A, Kiron. Click on the strip to open in full resolution (all crops stacked with 100% zoom). I've tried to cut the same pieces from the photos, but there are slight changes between shots. If someone is interested in full size images, please let me know.

70mm (Tamron 23A at minimum range - 60mm)

70mm@wide open


70mm@f5.6


70mm@f8.0


150mm

150mm@wide open


150mm@f5.6


150mm@f8.0


210mm Tamron 46A, Vivitar Series 1, Tamron SP 23A

210mm@wide open


210mm@f5.6


210mm@8.0


300mm with Tamron SP 23A wide open (f/5.4), ~f/8, ~f/11

[cooltouch]

It's always nice to see how one of my all-time favorite zooms -- the Tamron 23A -- stacks up against the competition, and more often than not, coming out on top.

Another interesting comparison you might want to try some time is stacking up the 23A, when set to its 1:1.55 macro mode, against a selection of good macro lenses. The results might surprise you.

[PhantomLord]

Thank you Michael, I acquired Tamron SP 23A just recently out of curiosity mostly than need and I was pretty much surprised when I saw how it holds against Vivitar S1 and my favourite Kiron.
As for comparison in close focus range it would be impossible for me to compare to decent macro lenses since I don't have any .
I'm starting to like this Tamron more and more as for £30 it's hard to beat .

[Lloydy]

You really have get into serious pixel peeping to discern the sort of difference that would stop you buying any one of those lenses. I have the Vivitar and love it, but I would gladly own any of the others going on your pictures and comparison. My thought is - the better manufacturers made very decent lenses in the popular focal lengths, they simply couldn't afford to sell utter crap so Vivitar, Tamron et al are a pretty safe buy.

[WNG555]

Nice side by side comparison. The 23A has become my favorite zoom as well.
Tamron has produced a number of great lenses, the 23A is one of them.
And having acquired a few, the Adaptall2 mount has been beneficial. Like sharing a tripod mount I made for the a6000. Makes the 23A a pleasure to shoot.

[marcusBMG]

Good and interesting comparison Mateusz. I haven't really looked hard at my 46A at 70mm, at 210mm it did well, for example pretty much matching a Kiron 70-210mm f4 Zoomlock for resolution. My Viv series 1 (kiron) is good at 210mm but yours is really rather better at 70mm. And like the other posters I am a fan of the 23A.. (recent pics here)