Re: Tamron Adaptall Lenses

[jredfern@ftn.net (J. Redfern)]

>Chuck Warman <cwarman@sol.wf.net> writes

> The problem
>with many Tamrons I've used over the years is they need to be stopped
>down for decent quality, and that grates a bit once you're used to Leica
>lenses, and the colour isn't the same at all.

While I would agree with most of what has been said here; finances often
dominate. I have owned both the 90mm macro and the 17mm from Tamron.
        The 17 is quite a lot cheaper than most brand name equivalents but
is soft as butter until stopped down at least three stops and even then is
nothing to write home about. The good side is that second hand it is a
cheap way to find out if such a wide lens fits into the "useful" category
or merely the object of fascination/lust category.
The 90mm on the other hand is super (Lack of Leica color be damned). The
auto focus version is to be passed on as the construction is definitely
bottom end. The original version with the 49mm filter is very good too and
is of metal construction but must be bought with the hood as the front
element is almost flush with the end of the barrel and is more than a
little prone to flare. The current MF version is an improvement in this
respect but is plastic barelled.
        Two caveats: the adaptall mount should be fitted for one camera
type only as regular exchangeing of the mounts wears down the fittings
quicker than you can spit. The other: quality control! The 90mm is a great
lens of much higher quality than one would usually associate with a third
party lens maker but quality control varies. Your chances of buying a
lemon, while remote, are certainly higher than when buying a Leica. If you
can try a couple out, note the serial #s and compare.
Of course it isn't a 100mm Leica but until you can manage to feed the kids
and make photographs exclusively with Leitz glass, a good 90mm Tamron
should please you no end.

Jae
(Sadly missing the 90mm Tamron I flogged ages ago to buy some Leica widget)