I wanted a 35mm prime for my D750 to use as a walk-around in street photography and while hiking, etc. Tested this Tamron against the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 ART and the Nikon 1.8G. The Tamron was the clear winner for my needs. Here's why:
- Image Quality: Sigma is the winner for sharpness wide open and definitely better stopped down to f/1.8, but the Tamron is very good even at f/1.8. Both have a nice rendering, with the Tamron showing some CA in certain scenes but nothing that isn't easily corrected in Lightroom. Personally, I liked the Tamron colors the best, but that's pretty subjective. The Nikon was noticeably behind the other two to my eye.
- Form Factor: The Nikon is the winner for portability, being almost unnoticeable on the camera, but the Tamron isn't unduly heavy and balances very nicely on my D750. The Sigma, on the other hand, is kind of a brick for my uses; if only in studio and other controlled settings, it wouldn't have bothered me as much.
- Autofocus: The Nikon was the fastest, but the Tamron is fast enough and very accurate. I eventually did an in-camera autofocus fine tune of +2 but it was very good out of the box. The Sigma was slow and not as consistent as the other two, at least in the copy I rented to test.
- Build Quality: The Sigma feels solid, but the Tamron feels and looks better, and the fluorine coating really works if you get caught in the wet. Manual focus on the Tamron is a joy thanks to the long, precise throw and stiff action of the focus ring. You also get some weather resistance in the Tamron, which is not the case with the Sigma or Nikon rivals. The Nikon, like all the 1.8G primes, is solid but doesn't really feel so to me.
- Features: Here's where the Tamron really shines: I don't use the vibration compensation a lot on a wide prime like this, but when you need it it's great to have and works really well. Great for things like photography in dimly lit cathedrals and the like without needing to break out a tripod or monopod. The best feature of the Tamron, however, has been the incredibly short minimum focus distance--it will focus accurately to within a couple of inches of the outer lens element. Basically gives you a quasi-macro capability without having to tote a macro around, which I've found very useful and a lot of fun when hiking or walking around town with it. The VC and near-macro capability really increase your creative possibilities with this lens, which is what I wanted.
- Other: Six year warranty is pretty awesome.
That's it; I love this thing and am thrilled with the purchase--so much so that I'll probably add the Tamron 85mm f/1.8 at some point soon.
| Produttore | Tamron |
|---|---|
| Numero modello articolo | AFF012N |
| Dimensioni prodotto | 8,13 x 12,7 x 12,7 cm; 480,81 grammi |
| ASIN | B014ULAEQ4 |
| Aggiornamenti software garantiti fino a | sconosciuto |
