I prefer prime lenses for serious work with slow film. I seldom
use film faster than ASA 160, and that speed generally only for
B&W. I've got 17 primes and three zooms, and only one zoom sees
regular use, a 3.5-4.5/35~105 Zuiko. In my humble opinion, while
the 2.8/35~80 Zuiko is an outstanding lens, the holy grail of
Zuiko zooms, it is too expensive for what it offers compared to
the 35~105, being less than a stop faster overall, having a
shorter zoom range and an odd filter size. Plus, I don't think
it's all THAT much better optically.
But the Tamron 2.8/28~105 really caught my eye: same speed as the
high-priced Zuiko, but with more range on either end, and at half
the price, after the rebate. I actually put one, along with the
appropriate Oly adapter, in my cart at B&H (on line, of course),
but before checking out, I decided to do some minimal
investigation. This would be only my third non-Zuiko (my TOPE 9
was shot with one), and a twinge of Zuikoholism told me that
further brand disloyalty could have negative repercussions.
My first research stop was at Gary's site, and his opinion that
this lens is so dismal wide open that it's hard to focus was
almost enough to change my mind, but I think that?s mainly at
28mm, so not all that serious. Gary's test results overall were
generally pretty good.
But then I found this:
http://www.connect.ab.ca/~buddy/lenst1.htm
Maybe this was not the most scientific of testing, but one look at
the performance at the edge and corner was enough to scare me away
from the checkout at the B&H website.
Anybody here have any experience with one of these lenses? Am I
reaching an erroneous conclusion, being too particular? I have a
lot more confidence in Gary's tests than these others, but they
still look scary to me.
Anyway, for the time being, my trusty old Zuiko 35-105 will
continue to be the only zoom I use much.
Walt Wayman
< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
|