Tamron AF 180mm f/3.5 SP Di LD [IF] macro 1:1: Review
Tamron AF 180mm f/3.5 SP Di LD [IF] macro 1:1: Review
Written by Monday, 06 December 2010 00:00
When considering buying a macro lens a photographer should be able to answer the following questions:
- The amount of money s/he is willing to pay, (Rate 10/10 )
- What s/he wants to shoot, ( insects, flowers etc)
- The required or actual sharpness of the lens, ( 9.5/10 )
- The camera on which the lens will be used and most importantly if the lens will be used on an Fx or a Dx body. Besides the cropping factor that is also important for the sharpness decrease throughout the frame, which can become an issue with Fx sensors, (9.5/10 with an Fx sensor),
- Distortion (less of an issue in tele lenses), (9/10 )
- Vignetting, ( 9/10 )
- Chromatic aberration, ( 9/10 )
- Autofocus, ( 3/10 )
- Use on a tripod,
- Fitness of purpose, (with the particular user in mind)
- Built quality - conditions of usage of the lens (rain, dust, dirt etc), ( 8/10 )
The importance of these factors should be rated according to the personal needs and requirements of each photographer. I own the Tamron 180mm Macro since the Spring of 2010. I am using it on a Nikon D80 (Dx body). The rating of the factors above was made with my own needs and requirements in mind before I purchased this lens. I consider 10/10 to be excellent. Below I explain the way I rated the lens; I hope this will be useful.
(a) Price. With a market price of 570 Euros the Tamron 180mm is the cheapest 180 mm macro lens currently available (including the Nikkor 200mm Micro in this category); given the quality of the lens I consider it a huge bargain.
(b) Focal Length. I have used both the Tamron 180mm macro and the 90mm Tamron macro on a Dx body (equivalent to 270mm and 135 mm on a Fx body). In my experience approaching flying and, in some cases, crawling insects in a 1:1 distance is quite a task. If it is at all possible a 150 mm macro lens (at the very least) is a must; the ability of the lens to focus from further away (without compromising the macro element) allows the photographer to maintain a safety distance from their subject which in turn ensures that the subject stays put and does not disappear in haste. Setting aside for a moment the fact that insects consider the proximity of the human presence as 'too close for comfort', it is worth remembering that insects are afraid of the change between light and shade. Photographers using a 90 mm lens must get closer to get a picture. In these cases it is occasionaly impossible not to shade the insect and thus scare it away or not to shade it to an extent that the shot requires a flash gun.
On the other hand when photographing stable and/or larger objects, such as flowers, shorter macro lenses have the advantage due to the fact that they give more of a “3D” look to a photo thus giving the illusion of a better DOF. An added advantage is that the photographer can stand quite close to their object without the latter getting partially off-frame. Finally flowers etc are objects which do not generally require a lot of cropping (or high magnification) as opposed to insects such as ants or ladybugs. This means that for this kind of photography an 1:2 macro lens is sufficient, as opposed to, for example, insect photography where at least 1:1 magnification is a must.
(c) The sharpness of a lens is a complicated issue as the performance of the lens in this respect is affected by a variety of factors. Usually sharpness differs in the centre and the corners of a photo as the sharper point of the lens is around its center. Admittedly this is more of an issue with Fx bodies. Nevertheless it is something that buyers need to take into account when chosing a lens. The sharpness of a lens may vary depending on the lighting available during a photo shoot; some lenses are quite sharp in bright conditions but lose sharpness considerably as lighting decreases. It follows that if a photographer plans to do a substantial amount of shooting in the shadows (or at places / times where lighting is not ideal, e.g. under thick vegetation) it is imperative to chose a lens which can render sharp images in the circumstances. Finally the overall sharpness of the lens is also affected by the apperture of choice. On the whole lenses are quite soft when wide open and become sharper as they are stepped down. I have rated the Tamron 180mm macro very highly in terms of sharpness. The lens renders extremely sharp images from f/5.6 to f/11 whilst maintaining great sharpness down to f/16. I have not noticed any loss of detail in the corners of the frame - even when shooting with Fx bodies - and it is absolutely superb when shooting in low light. In fact, with regards to low light shooting, I believe the performance of the Tamron 180mm is comparable with this of the new Nikkor 70-200 f/2.8.
(d) Distortion, light fall off and chromatic aberration are no issue for this lens when stopped down to f/5.6 or less. Even on an Fx body it is almost impossible to spot a flaw.
(e) Autofocus. This is the only drawback of the lens and, regrettably, it is a big one. Although this is an IF lens with a non-rotating front element (which is a great advantage as external movement of a lens tends to scare wildlife) this lens does not have an autofocus motor in its Nikon version (no autofocus when mounted on a Nikon d3000 for instance). Furthermore the actual autofocus is very slow and can occasionally hunt forever. Fortunately the design of the lens comes to rescue; by a simple movement of the focus ring the user can change from autofocus to manual focus which makes manual pre-focusing very easy thus counterbalancing the hunting effect of the autofocus system. Furthermore the focus ring is very smooth and very precise so manual focusing is not a tedious job. Having said that if the photographer’s eyesight is not that good and camera support is not available (so that s/he has to completely rely on the autofocus system) this is not the lens to buy.
(f) Fitness for purpose. This varies among photographers so each and everyone need to consider their own preferences and circumstances. For example a photographer who uses a flash unit for their macro shots will have no issue taking hand held photos with this lens. If however a photographer prefers the daylight or does not have a flash unit s/he must abide by the golden rule: the fastest shutter speed for a handheld photo on a given lens is 1/mm of this lens on an FX body. For the Tamron 180mm macro this requires a shutter speed of 1/270 on a Dx body and 1/180 on an Fx body. These relatively high speeds are difficult to get in natural daylight even on a bright day with an aperture of f/8-11 and iso 100; if the subject is in the shadows these speeds are almost impossible. In these cases, except if the photographer has an exceptionally steady hand, a macro lens around the 100mm mark may be preferable as it will be easier to handle. Of course if a tripod is available none of the above matters.
The physical condition of the photographer should also be taken into account. The lens weights 820gr which, though not excessive, may tire some people when combined with the weight of the camera in long walks. Some physical strength and stamina is necessary in order to get tack-sharp shots with a shutter speed of 1/200 to 1/300 sec. without the use of flash.
(g) Built quality is very good, not as good as the Canon 180 mm macro or the Nikkor 200mm micro but this is not a reason to worry about unless the lens is dropped into the mud! An interesting plus on this lens is the ring that can rotate attached filters. This comes in handy when a circular polarizer is used; the user does not have to stick their hand into the hood to rotate it. The hood is also very well made.
Photographers have each got their own criteria for chosing suitable lenses. If the priority is
- sharpness throughout the frame regardless of lighting conditions,
- the acquisition of a good all round lens or
- the acquisition of a macro lens to use specifically for shooting insects
this is the lens of choice for anyone who does not or will not rely exclusively on the autofocus system. Other options include much higher priced lenses which will give the same or worse quality pictures. Finally it is worth remembering that, as with most lenses, this is a lens that the user must learn how to use. Once you get the hang of it it will pay you back with some outstanding pictures.
Photos by the author.
Notes
(1) I have not commented on the lack of VR (Vibration Reduction or Image Stabiliser) as this feature is not available on any other 150+ mm macro lens to-date.
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