Tamron SP 45mm F1.8 Di USD A-mount lens review by QuietOC
 QuietOC#44175 date: Nov-17-2018 | |
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| sharpness: 4.5 color: 4 build: 5 distortion: 5 flare control: 4 overall: 4.5 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I used to own this lens |
| compared to: | Tamron SP 35 F1.8 USD Minolta 40 F1.7 Konica AR 40 F1.8 Sony FE 40 F2.5 G Canon EF 40 F2.8 STM Pentax-M 40 F2.8 Pentax-DA 40 F2.8 XS Pentax-FA 43 F1.8 Limited Rokinon AF 45 F1.8 Minolta MD 45 F2 Sigma 45 F2.8 DG DN C Rokinon 50 F1.2 Yongnuo 50 F1.4 Canon EF 50 F1.4 USM Sigma 50 F1.4 EX DG HSM Minolta MD 50 F1.4 & AF & Sony (D) Minolta MD 50 F1.7 & AF & RS Meike 50 F1.7 Youngnuo YN50 F1.8 DF Sony FE 50 F1.8 Canon EF 50 F1.8 STM Konica AR 50 F1.8 Vivitar 50 F1.8 Fotasy 50 F1.8 APS-C Sony DT 50 F1.8 SAM Sony E 50 F1.8 OSS Minolta MD 50 F2 Neewer/Meike 50 F2 Minolta AF 50 F2.8 Macro RS Minolta AF 50 F3.5 Macro |
| price paid: | 275 USD (used) |
| positive: | Sharp wide-open Flat focus plane Quiet Focusing Minimum breathing Moisture-resistant Always available MF |
| negative: | Size and weight Veiling glare Axial CA/focus shift Purple fringing No VC (A-mount) Dim as F2 lenses |
| comment: | A like new copy with original retail packaging and all accessories. The original list price was $599, but Tamron lowered it to $399 a year ago. The Sony 50 F1.4 has been stuck at $448 during this time, but used copies have been selling for less than $175. I traded my Sony DT 18-135 SAM for the first A-mount copy. Then I bought a Canon EF VC version. I replaced this with the much smaller Samyang AF 45/1.8. "MADE IN JAPAN" This is a large lens, slightly larger than the Sigma 70mm F2.8 EX Macro. Maybe the size was needed for the optical stabilization system which is not enabled in the the A-mount version. The little Minolta MD 45mm F2 is actually brighter than this lens. This lens is sharper than my copy of the Minolta. The focus plane is much flatter than the Minolta 45, but not as flat as the Minolta/Sony 50mm F1.4. It has worse veiling glare than the 28 F1.8, 35 F1.8, 50 F1.7, and F1.4. The contrast gets a generous bump when stopping down. The sharpest focus wide-open has a lot of purple fringing and is not the sharpest focus at f/2.8. For sharp results stopped down it is better to minimize the purple fringing when focusing. Like the Minolta 50 F1.4 this lens would benefit from stopped down focusing which is not possible on Sony cameras without using a third-party adapter that has a manual aperture control. The EF version has much less fringing. The first reviewer below misstated that it is focus-by-wire, but it uses a normal focus clutch mechanism just like other SSM lenses. It can be manually focused off of a camera--no wires used or needed. The plastic HF012 petal hood is shared with the SP 35mm F1.8 lens. |
rating summary
- total reviews: 3
- sharpness: 4.33
- color: 4.33
- build: 4.67
- distortion: 4.67
- flare control: 4.00
- overall: 4.40