I just finished a "legal" job involving photographing alleged
shoddy construction of a condominium project. The client wanted
both prints and slides (the better to wow a jury: darken the
courtroom; give them a magic lantern show of bigger-than-life
crooked walls and cracked ceilings). So, I shot everything on
Provia 100F. About a third of the photographs had to be taken
with a wide-angle lens, and for nearly half of these, even the
21/2 Zuiko wasn?t wide enough, so I shot those with the 17/3.5
Tamron. I?ve had this lens for a while, but this is the first
time I?ve used it for anything, quote, serious, end quote.
Looking v-e-r-r-r-y carefully at the results, I honestly can say
that the Tamron is only the merest, tiniest, least little bit of a
scintilla inferior to the Zuiko. It may give up just a tad, a
smidgen, the most minuscule bit, mainly in the extreme corners,
but that?s about all. A super-critical fanatic peering through a
microscope or projecting drive-in theater size images from a lens
made of elfin glass and anointed with unicorn spit might see more
of a difference than I do, but for the purposes of normal,
everyday photography, the Tamron does better than just okay.
I don?t know about the older version of the Tamron, the one with
the built-in filters, but this newer one is definitely a winner.
And I know there?s absolutely nothing wrong with my 21/2; it?s as
good as they get, so there?s no question in my mind that this is a
reasonably valid comparison -- certainly close enough for
government work.
So, for those of you, like me, who don?t have (either can?t
afford, can?t justify, can?t find, etc.) the 18mm Zuiko, you might
consider the Tamron as an alternative.
Oh, and by the way, I finally had a reason to use the 35/2.8 Zuiko
shift. It works fairly well, but it?s no substitute for a camera
with a bellows, even a simple folder like a Graphic.
Walt
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