Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1996/05/27

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To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
Subject: Re: Tamron Adaptall Lenses
From: Eric Welch <ewelch@gp.magick.net>
Date: Mon, 27 May 1996 10:23:31 -0700

At 11:32 AM 5/27/96 -0500, you wrote:

>I am particularly considering the 90/2.5 Macro and the 28-70/3.5 Zoom. 
> Does anyone have experience with Tamron lenses? I don't expect Leica 
>quality, obviously, but are they pretty good?  decent?  junk?   Any help 
>will be greatly appreciated.

At my previous newspaper we had a Tamron 300 2.8 for a pool lens, since each
photographer used a different brand camera (Pentax, Canon, Nikon, Leica). It
was a good lens, not outstanding, though. Wide open it was quite soft
compared to Lecia, Nikon or Canon. But it did the job. It works well with
the 1.4 Leica Apo converter. 

The main problem with Tamron lenses isn't the glass, which is pretty
competitive with most (except as noted above 300 (280) 2.8s) other glass out
there, including many manufacturers. The only real problem is they aren't
that rugged. After several years of professional use, they tend to fall
apart. Since you seem to be filling in the gaps, I don't think it might be
something for you to worry about. Performance-wise, people seem to be very
impressed with the 90 2.5 macro.

As for the mount, they are not all that rugged either, but they do the job
just fine. It's probably best to buy one for each lens, so you don't have to
continually switch them back and forth and cause a lot of wear. The 300 2.8
is so heavy, the right blow to the lens will break the mount notches that
hold the mount on the back of the lens. Then you have to hold the lens to
make sure it doesn't twist and the camera fall off when you're not looking.
Not good! It happened to me several times (breaking, the camera fell off
several, and except for once I caught it before it hit the ground). Should
be no problem with more more normal lenses.

==========================
Eric Welch
Grants Pass Daily Courier