Field testing for my new Tamron lens

[kuching]

Finally I got my new standard lens for my camera. It is Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8. This new lens is a fast standard lens : f/2.8 !!! And, it's cheap : RM1,3xx only!!! My old standard lens is AF-S DX 18 - 55 mm F3.5 - F5.6G ED. The old lens can not focus on the object as fast as before (And; can not focus on anything at all in low light condition), so it's time to change to this new fast lens.

I was very lucky to test my new Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR lens in Bintulu on Nov 30, 2007 as there was no rain at all (raining non stop in southern Sarawak for more than 24 hours & still raining non stop on 2nd day).

Bintulu is a boring town....and I didn't know what to photograph. So, I just walking around & shot whatever is interesting.....


My new standard lens, Tamron 17-50mm :




It's not very heavy...





Photograph my aquarium at night, hand held.....





The scenery at Kemena river of Bintu; focal length @ 17mm:





Focal length @ 30mm:

[kuching]

The jetty:





Batang Kemena of Bintulu:





The clock tower / monument:








The monument is a historical site:

[kuching]

The pond @ Bintulu old airport:

[benny]

Wah!! f/2.8!!!!!!!!!

We are going to be in for a treat!!!!!!

Cheers,

[cwtan12]

Mike,

Did wet your net at the drain next to the old airport? It had paros and betta species many years ago but I couldnt find them when I was there early this year.

[hwchoy]

vignetting looks good huh? I recently saw some shots from a friend's nikkor 18-200 DX lens (equivalent to Canon's EF-S) and vignetting was so horrible, considering it was a $1200 lens!

can you try a long exposure shot of light spots? I want to see how the star rays look like on this lens. since it has 7 aperture blades we will get a 14-ray star.

I know the Canon EF 16-35/2.8L also have 7 blades, but they are circular and I am not sure how that affects the star rays. Benny, how about a long exposure shot from you?

[vincentlii]

I have one Tamron SP lens too, its a 35- 105 mm 2.8f. Very good lens, own it for more than 10 years.

[kuching]

Wah!! f/2.8!!!!!!!!!

We are going to be in for a treat!!!!!!

Cheers,

Yup...will be useful when I go to shoot-shoot inside dark jungle.

[kuching]

Mike,

Did wet your net at the drain next to the old airport? It had paros and betta species many years ago but I couldnt find them when I was there early this year.

What!!!??? Got Paros & Betta in that place? Alamak.....I didn't see anything leh.

[kuching]

vignetting looks good huh? I recently saw some shots from a friend's nikkor 18-200 DX lens (equivalent to Canon's EF-S) and vignetting was so horrible, considering it was a $1200 lens!

can you try a long exposure shot of light spots? I want to see how the star rays look like on this lens. since it has 7 aperture blades we will get a 14-ray star.

I know the Canon EF 16-35/2.8L also have 7 blades, but they are circular and I am not sure how that affects the star rays. Benny, how about a long exposure shot from you?

I don't understand.....what is star ray?

[kuching]

I have one Tamron SP lens too, its a 35- 105 mm 2.8f. Very good lens, own it for more than 10 years.

Wow....must be very good lens that u keep for 10 years already....

[hwchoy]

I don't understand.....what is star ray?

when you do a long exposure at small aperture, any points of light will be rendered as a star. this pix was shot at 6 sec exposure at ƒ/18 ISO200. the lens used was the EF 24-70/2.8L which has 8 aperture blades, hence the star has 8 arms. a 7-blade lens will create a star with 14 arms (2x7). I want to see how it looks.

[kuching]

ok, will try that next time...

[luenny]

That's a good lens. I got the same lens too. Quite fast and pretty decent pricing too. Vignetting not that good though but I guess it's pretty ok for the price point. Have fun.

[kuching]

That's a good lens. I got the same lens too. Quite fast and pretty decent pricing too. Vignetting not that good though but I guess it's pretty ok for the price point. Have fun.

Never mind....at least it's better than my old kit lens.

[s1c1lee]

Hi Choy,

I do not understand this part. "8 aperture blades, hence the star has 8 arms. a 7-blade lens will create a star with 14 arms (2x7)". Shouldnt the 8 aperture blades give you 2x16 arms?

Regards,
SC

[hwchoy]

even number of blades give the same number of rays in the star, odd number of blades give twice the number of rays

[s1c1lee]

Thanks for the quick reply. While I am not a photography newbie, I must say that this skill is very rusty now. Then again, there are the finer points (pun intended) that I seem to have missed!

Regards,
SC

[hwchoy]

too many people evaluate lenses based on their sharpness, resolution, etc. all very technical and easy to quantify. in reality photography and images are more art than science, and the best lenses are cherished for non-quantifiable (but qualifiable!) properties such as bokeh, vignetting (yes! sometimes people want lenses that has vignette), colour rendition, etc.