At 03:22 AM 9/25/04, Moose wrote [in part]:
>There have been lots of replies, including mine, but no one has
>addressed a couple of general issues.
>
>No manufacturer has always made only really great lenses. Even with the
>finest makers, some lenses are better than others. Add in the length of
>time over which major makers have been making lenses and the great
>changes in optical technology over that time and the fact that most have
>made various quality lines, and generalizations are meaningless.
[snip]
Absolutely . . .
Tamrona, Kiron, Sigma, Tokina, Vivitar, etc. . . .
They all make . . . or made . . . a number of stellar lenses. They all
make . . . or made . . . some truly abysmal lenses. The quality range in
optics and build among them is enormous. Not only can price can be
deceiving, the specific line name can be as well. Don't count on markings
such as "SP LD" or "AT-X" as a guarantee of high performance, or even above
average.
It is not uncommon for an older design to be much, much better than a
current one that replaced it. An older Tamron Adapatall II lens and its
current successor is good example. Tamron made a 35-105mm f/2.8 SP LD
sometime during the latter 1980's and into the 1990's. This is a truly
fine lens with well above average build and very excellent optics,
including bokeh, throughout its aperture and focal length range. It was
replaced in their "top end" line of lenses at some time during the latter
1990's by a 28-105mm f/2.8 SP LD. The new (and current) lens is a dog with
low contrast and poor MTF across its aperture and focal length ranges. It
also has very noticeable barrel distortion that shifts to very noticeable
pincushion distortion as the focal length goes from short to long. Yet it
sells as part of their "pro" line with pro level pricing. Whatever Tamron
did to its formulation to extend the wide end down to 28mm destroyed
it. It's a very fast constant aperture lens for one with a 4X focal length
range, but that's about all it is and that's about all you get for a huge
pile of money . . . other than a very large and heavy lens too. IMHO it's
a good doorstop. Not picking on Tamron in particular . . . examples of
this can be found among all the brands.
If a primary goal is having the best glass, doing some research about which
specific lenses are excellent in optical and build qualities is essential.
-- John Lind
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