{"id":1041,"date":"2012-12-02T17:04:56","date_gmt":"2012-12-02T17:04:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jeffreypalmerphoto.com\/photoblog\/?p=1041"},"modified":"2014-02-08T14:10:45","modified_gmt":"2014-02-08T20:10:45","slug":"review-tamron-90mm-f2-8-macro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jeffreypalmerphoto.com\/?p=1041","title":{"rendered":"Review: Tamron 90mm f\/2.8 Macro"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do you want to shoot close, tight, detail shots?\u00a0 To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I really did… not often at least.\u00a0 It took awhile for me to become convinced that I needed a macro lens.\u00a0 Now, I don’t know how I got by without it.\u00a0 If you’re in the market for a macro lens, you should give this Tamron 90mm f\/2.8\u00a0a thought.\u00a0\u00a0It’s extremely versatile\u00a0excelling for both portraits and and macros.<\/p>\n

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The first consideration when buying a macro lens should be the focal length.\u00a0 Most of the options range from 60mm to 150mm.\u00a0 Generally the shorter the focal length, the closer you’ll have to be to your subject.\u00a0 With a macro lens, this can get extreme.\u00a0 Some of the 60mm lenses will require the front of the lens to be an inch or two from the subject.\u00a0 Needless to say that isn’t optimal.\u00a0 Using a 150mm lens you are able to shoot the same subject from close to a foot away; Much more working distance.\u00a0 Based on this, a 150mm lens would seem like the obvious choice.\u00a0 They aren’t without their problems too though.\u00a0 First, they are big and heavy.\u00a0 Second, they require a faster shutter speed over a shorter focal length lens.\u00a0 When you’re having to shoot at f\/22 just to get a 1\/2 inch in focus, this can quickly become a big deal.\u00a0 Last, as you move up in focal length, the costs quickly increase.\u00a0 Based on these reasons,\u00a0I found the 90mm focal length to be ideal.<\/p>\n

Tamron… why Tamron?\u00a0 Macro lenses are one class where third party lens makers excel.\u00a0 Sigma, Tamron and Tokina all offer quality macro lenses at low prices.\u00a0 On to the details…<\/p>\n

Optical Performance<\/p>\n

I’ll get right to it.\u00a0 This lens doesn’t have many shortcomings in its\u00a0optical performance.\u00a0 If you want to get the most out of your camera’s sensor, this lens will let you.\u00a0 Prime lenses are known\u00a0to be sharp but this lens is in a class of its own.\u00a0 I won’t offer any technical data in this review but this lens is about as sharp as it gets.\u00a0\u00a0You may actually want to soften your images a bit if you’re using the lens for portraits.<\/p>\n

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The lens performance in the other optical categories is equally as strong.\u00a0 Any distortion present\u00a0is below an amount\u00a0that\u00a0the\u00a0eye can\u00a0perceive and chromatic aberration is of no concern as well.\u00a0 I can’t see any vignetting even when shooting wide open.\u00a0 Contrast is generally excellent, suffering\u00a0slightly when shooting into the sun.\u00a0\u00a0Color reproduction is accurate with images just a bit\u00a0cool for my taste.\u00a0 Any issues with contrast and color reproduction\u00a0are simply based on\u00a0my\u00a0preferences and easily negated in post-production.\u00a0 My favorite optical quality of this lens is\u00a0the bokeh it produces.\u00a0 This makes it an excellent portrait lens and provides for smooth transitions in\u00a0those macro shots.\u00a0 Both foreground and background out of focus elements appear smooth and creamy.\u00a0 Even difficult subjects with lots of highlights and linear elements are well\u00a0rendered.<\/p>\n

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\nBuild Quality<\/p>\n

Depending on your needs this is one area where the lens may fall a bit short.\u00a0 It\u00a0doesn’t feel fragile by any stretch but it’s lacking that indestructible feel of some other lenses.\u00a0 I would say it’s comparable to a higher end kit lens.\u00a0 This is actually a plus for me as it allows the lens to significantly cut down on its weight.\u00a0 The build quality has no effect on the lens functionality.\u00a0 While some aren’t so found of it, I appreciate the clutch mechanism for switching between manual focus and automatic focus modes.\u00a0 With this lens, I am constantly switching between the two\u00a0focus modes\u00a0and changing is quick and easy using this feature.\u00a0 There is no need to search for a small button, just grab the large focus ring and toggle back and forth as needed.<\/p>\n

Another useful feature is the focus limit switch.\u00a0 This is\u00a0essential if you plan to use the lens for applications beyond macro photography.\u00a0 The lens can take awhile to rack through the entire focal range.\u00a0 With the switch set to the limit position, the lens doesn’t extend through the extreme macro focal range and allows for quick focusing.<\/p>\n

Speaking of focusing, there are two different versions of this lens.\u00a0 The most common version relies on the camera’s focus motor.\u00a0 For Nikon cameras, there is a version with an internal motor which is the version I have.\u00a0 That version also lacks the aperture ring that is present on the other model.\u00a0 I can’t speak for both models but the Nikon version features an internal motor that is noisier than others I have used.\u00a0 While it’s still quiet enough for\u00a0intimate settings, it’s\u00a0something to keep in mind.\u00a0 When used for macro applications, the length of the lens can nearly double as\u00a0the barrel\u00a0extends to focus.\u00a0 One puzzling design choice is to have\u00a0the lens optics sit about an 1.5 inches inside the barrel (see top right image).\u00a0 This reduces the working distance for the lens to nearly 4 inches for 1:1 macro reproduction but does give a sense of security that you won’t hit the glass element against your subject.<\/p>\n

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Overall<\/p>\n

If you can’t tell, I love this lens.\u00a0 It\u00a0does\u00a0everything I need it to do and never gets in my way.\u00a0 The lens has all the features I need and offers flawless handling.\u00a0 The optical performance leaves nothing to be desired.\u00a0 The wonderful bokeh, focal length and focus limit switch make what could be a specialized lens highly adaptable.\u00a0 Whether I’m doing product shoots, taking a stroll through the woods or documenting a wedding this lens is always on hand.\u00a0 With its small size and light weight, there is no reason not to have it in your camera bag.\u00a0 In the less than\u00a0one year I’ve owned it, it has captured some of my favorite images.\u00a0 All this from one of the cheapest macro lenses available.\u00a0 It’s a no-brainer for me to recommend this lens.<\/p>\n

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