Tamron Sp 180mm F/35 Ld Af if Di Macro Lens Review

This fairly large (6.5" long, three.3" in diameter), reasonably lightweight (32.5 oz, including removable tripod neckband) macro tele covers the 24x36mm format in film or digital too as the smaller APS-C digital format. The Di (Digitally Integrated) designation indicates that it's "optically designed for digital SLR cameras." To translate the remainder of Tamron's alphabet soup, LD denotes that the lens incorporates two Low Dispersion glass elements aimed at correcting chromatic abnormality that's unremarkably more pronounced at shut-focusing distances, IF stands for Internal Focusing, and SP means this 180mm macro is role of Tamron's Super Performance Series, claimed to provide superior imaging. The lens is available in Nikon AF, Canon EOS, Pentax Thousand-AF, and Konica Minolta mounts, but simply the starting time two incorporate an AF/MF one-touch switchover mechanism built into the focusing ring.

Zoom with your anxiety. At nigh 9 ft from the subject, it'southward a bloom bush-league; at iii ft, it's a floral bouquet; at just under 1 foot (1:ane), it's a botanical written report. All pictures shot handheld with Tamron'due south 180mm f/3.5 Macro on Canon EOS 20D at ISO 400. All Photos © 2006, Jason Schneider, All Rights Reserved

Why A 180mm Macro?
Why would anyone opt for a 180mm (270mm equivalent in APS-C) macro lens instead of one in the 50-60mm or even the 90mm range? The two-word reply is "working distance," that is, the distance from the front end of the lens to the field of study. At life-size (1:1) magnification, the working distance of Tamron's 180mm macro is 25cm or about 10" (without hood), just it's only 9cm (21/2") with a 90mm macro and 5cm (2") with a 50mm macro. This deviation can be disquisitional when it comes to spooking skittish subjects similar insects or birds, and the shorter the working distance, the more difficult it becomes to illuminate shut-upward subjects by aiming lights in from the sides in betwixt the lens and what you're shooting. Being able to capture dramatic close-ups without having to get right up to the discipline tin can as well exist very handy when shooting everything from flowering trees to small critters like squirrels and opossums. In short, a 180mm macro offers the advantages of a long telephoto lens and a macro lens rolled into 1.

Can't y'all achieve the same matter with a macro zoom lens? If it provides close-focusing capability at the tele cease, it might be OK for occasional macro work, but in that location are two main reasons why serious macro shooters are far better off with a true single focal length macro tele lens:
1. Unlike macro zooms, all true macro lenses are optically optimized for close-upward magnification ratios (typically about 1:10) and therefore provide noticeably better correction (visible equally sharpness and contrast) at close-shooting distances than general-purpose lenses, which are designed to evangelize optimum performance at infinity.

2. When using a macro zoom for close-ups, you often have to shoot broad-open up at effective apertures in the f/five.vi-f/8 range at the tele end, and then stop down another 1-2 stops if critical sharpness is required. With a true macro tele, yous tin achieve disquisitional sharpness even wide-open or past stopping downwardly half a end, and the only reason to stop down further is to increment depth of field.

First shot taken from curbside shows the 180's ability to isolate details from a distance. Not that high definition is maintained at closer distances. Last shot at one:1 reveals plaster statue's texture and defects (chipped pigment). Tamron's 180mm f/3.5 Macro is great for detail shots without getting besides shut to the bailiwick.

Aside from its moderately large size, the only real downside to a 180mm macro telephoto is cost--fifty-fifty the independently-made Tamron 180mm f/iii.5 Macro, which is far less expensive than, say, the Canon 180mm Macro (it'due south just nether $1200 street) carries a street price of $699.

Easily-On Functioning
For a physically long lens the Tamron 180mm f/3.5 Macro balances surprisingly well on an enthusiast digital SLR like the Canon EOS 20D, or the larger, heavier EOS 5D. For handheld shooting you tin can shave a few ounces off its weight by removing its tripod platform, which has a hinged collar and a clever twist-and-pull locking knob. The grippably textured 21/4"-broad focusing neckband pulls back to Transmission-Focus (MF) position and pushes forward to AF position on Nikon- and Catechism-mount models, a very convenient organisation that lets you focus manually in an instant if yous demand to. And you lot will demand to fairly frequently when focusing on subjects in the macro range, because no AF system can determine which role of your subject should be in critically abrupt focus simply you! Fortunately, manual-focus activity is very smooth and well damped, and autofocus is smooth, anticipated, and reasonably repose.

What, No AF Limiter?
One item you won't observe on the Tamron 180mm f/3.5 Macro is a focus-limiter control that you lot can ready to limit the autofocus range to about (typically 3 ft or under) or far distances. As a outcome, in AF mode, when you endeavour to focus on a distant subject after shooting a close-up discipline, the lens volition first move to minimum distance before moving out and locking in on the afar discipline--vice versa when shooting a shut-upwardly discipline after a distant one. This adds a couple of seconds to the AF process--the lens never hunts back and forth or stumbles, it just takes its time. If this bothers you, it's a simple matter to pull the focusing collar dorsum to MF position (which reveals a blue warning band in front of the focusing neckband), set a near or far distance manually, than push the collar forward to AF position before viewing and autofocusing on the next field of study. Is a focusing limiter a better solution? Bluntly, I recall it's a tossup, because you accept to remember to set it and unlock information technology, simply it'southward a personal decision.

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Source: https://www.shutterbug.com/content/tamron%E2%80%99s-sp-af180mm-f35-di-ld-if-11-macro-macro-tele-lens-35mm-aps-c-and-digital-slrs-full-f

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