Performance
The Tamron 45mm f/1.8 lens was reasonably fast in autofocus in good light, but struggled to focus in low light. The AF operation was nearly quiet, but not as smooth as some of the professional models we have come across. We also felt that the AF was slightly off the mark in some cases. It could also be a problem with this particular piece that we tested. The 45mm lens did not exhibit any trace of distortion. It produced good overall sharpness throughout the aperture range, and from edge to edge. The lens was sharpest from f/2 to f/8 and the sweet spot was found to be f/4. We observed strong darkening of corners from f/1.8 to f/2.8, in spite of Tamron’s claim that the lens produces uniform illumination. The lens also exhibited heavy flare along with strong purple fringing at f/1.8 in strong against-the-light shots. Vibration Correction did not provide much advantage in the shutter speed.
Value for Money
The Tamron 45mm f/1.8 lens retails at an MRP of Rs.47,500. Lenses from the camera manufacturers with similar speciications cost signiicantly less if you exclude the Vibration Correction feature, which did not really provide any advantage in our test. So this price is certainly on the higher side. |SP
FINAL SCORE 77%
Design and Build Quality 18/20
Key Features 17/20
Ergonomics 17/20
Performance
Autofocus 3/5
Sharpness 4/5
Distortion control 4/5
Aberrations 3/5
Darkening of corners 3/5
Extra features 3/5
Sub-Total 20/30
Value for Money 5/10
PLUS
• Sturdy construction
• Weather sealing
• Uniform sharpness
MINUS
• Below par performance
• Over-priced
VERDICT
The Tamron SP45mm f/1.8 Di VC USD lens is weather-sealed and comes with Vibration Correction, which are both absent in most competitors. However, the VC system does not seem to provide much advantage in shutter speed, probably because of the focal length and stability of the lens when hand-held. Even the performance leaves much to be desired.
Sujith Gopinath
