Tamron 18-270mm VC PZD vs Canon 50mm F1.8 MkII

Right, this is a quick test of the Tamron PZD and Canon 50mm f1.8 Mk II. The aim of the test is to show how surprisingly well the Tamron compares at close-up photography.

Everybody knows that the Tamron is not the sharpest lens in the bunch especially at full zoom, but, I am of the opinion that in a real life situation the Tamron fares good enough. In any case to a level that it produces respectable enough images and coupled with its excellent vibration control, you will end up with more "keepers".

Now, the Canon is not a close up lens, but it is legendary for its sharpness (keep in mind its price). So, it would have been an unfair comparison because the Canon cannot focus as close as the Tamron. This is easily solved with a set of diopters (close-up filters). Sure, this may drop the sharpness slightly, but I still think this offers an interesting comparison. At least one worthy of a blog entry :-)

One observation I need to enforce, even though the results obtained with the Canon were very pleasing indeed, I had far more images out of focus using this lens today, do to camera movement and tiny depth of field, than compared to the Tamron.

Below the original, full sized images. Both taken hand held. Oh, and no PP done at all.

Tamron full size:

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 270mm, Exposure 1/250sec at f11, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter UV.

Canon full size:

Canon 600D, Canon 50mm f1.8 Mk II. Focal length 50mm, Exposure 1/200sec at f16, ISO 400, Focus auto, Flash none, Filter UV.

Tamron 100% crop:

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 270mm, Exposure 1/250sec at f11, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter UV.

Canon 100% crop:

Canon 600D, Canon 50mm f1.8 Mk II. Focal length 50mm, Exposure 1/200sec at f16, ISO 400, Focus auto, Flash none, Filter UV.

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Mator

One of my favorite cartoon characters is Mator. You just have to see him in action in Cars and Cars 2.

This test of the Tamron PZD is aimed at showing the usefulness of the lens at macro photography. The model of Mator that I have is about 8cm (3.5inches) in length. Sure, the PZD is not a true macro but, because of the 270mm zoom and relatively close minimum focusing distance of the lens you can get close enough to get some very useful close ups in most situations. Plus, with careful focusing you can manage decent sharpness at the same time as you can see from the 100% crop below.

Focus was deliberately aimed the the front headlight area and depth of field set to try and create a typical real life car photo look. Note the image was taken at f18 but due to the extreme zoom the depth of field is shallow. I love the way the print pattern is visible on the model in the 100% crop.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 270mm, Exposure 4sec at f18, ISO 100, Focus manual using LiveView, VC off, Flash none, Filter UV, tripod.

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1968 Ford Shelby G.T.500KR

Enjoyed myself last night playing with painting with light. My "patient" model was a 1968 Ford Shelby G.T.500KR in 1/18 scale. Not a very detailed model but good enough for low light work. My flashlight was a 3 LED model. Exposure was set to bulb and f-stop to 18. And then you just guess it from there. I've tried a number of techniques like lighting the car from the back etc. but for this shot, I aimed the flash at the nose and side and then slowly moved the around the back of the car making sure not to have much light fall on the bodywork. I am pretty pleased with the old border look adding to the period of the model.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 39mm, Exposure 24sec at f18, ISO 100, Focus manual, VC off, Flash none, Filter UV.

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Wellington Botanical Gardens

Some more close ups from the Wellington Botanical Gardens (see earlier post Sweating it Out).

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 270mm, Exposure 1/200sec at f11, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter UV.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 59mm, Exposure 1/400sec at f8, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter UV.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 270mm, Exposure 1/200sec at f11, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter UV.

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Red 1956 Ford Thunderbird

I did some 1:24 scale model close up tests last night and here is one I am pretty pleased with.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 50mm, Exposure 2sec at f13, ISO 100, Focus manual, VC off, Flash none, Filter UV.

How was this shot? Well, I've found some interesting plans on Flickr last week for a simple softbox design you can use for close up photography. (Andy's DIY Softbox)

Here is my version constructed using Coreflute (Correx), and a 23W 6500K cool daylight globe. I have folded white cards, and ones covered in aluminum foil that I can move around to add highlights. I can also add a layer of colored transparent sheets, or sheets of black card between the frame and softbox to control how much light comes through onto the model.

Amazingwhat a little bit of Duct-tape will hold together!

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Gully

There was a huge flock of gulls at the beach today drawn to concentrations of white bait in the water. Some let me come quite close. This specific picture caught my eye because of the beautiful textures in the sand.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 270mm, Exposure 1/400sec at f8, ISO 100, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter UV.

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Sweating it out

Work closed early today for the holidays, so myself and two photography friends went to the Wellington botanical gardens to see what we can accomplish at the main hothouse. I must say, I am sure I've dropped a couple of Kgs!

My one friend was shooting with my Canon 18-55mm IS II (his Mk I is in for repairs) and my other friend used his Sigma 17-70mm. Both very capable lenses I must say. The only two areas I think the Sigma wins compared to the Canon is better f-stop and closer focus for macro shots.

All in all we've spent about 2 hours inside taking a lot of pictures. I am sure my friends may beat me on image sharpness, maybe, but I can confirm that I've shot a lot of photos in excess of 100mm, getting nice and "close" to flowers far off. My friends, because of focal length constraints, would have missed those shots.

Even though I may have sacrificed some sharpness by using the Tamron PZD,  the day was still a winner for two reasons:

1. Vibration Control - Even through I took my tripod along I never used it. If I did I am sure I would have taken half less shots. The VC on the Tamron PZD is simply amazing. A lost of my shots were still sharp at shutter speeds of 1/20 - 1/60. I know from experience, doing the same with my Canon 18-55mm IS II, would have resulted in far more out of focus shots.
2. Focal Length - As mentioned, I cycled through wide angle and fully zoomed images the whole time. This would have been very troublesome if I had to continually swap my 18-55mm and 55-250mm to do the same. It goes without saying that would have resulted in far less shots as well.

One down side again was that I had to keep zoom creep in mind with the PZD, but I find it is starting come natural to always have my hand on the lens with the zoom ring between my fingers when I am actively shooting. Zoom creep solved :-). When I do walk around with the camera around my neck, the little zoom lock button is very handy. Top marks to Tamron for building that into the lens.

So to sum up the day, we've all enjoyed it very much and I cannot wait to see my friend's photos. I am sure they will teach me a thing or two. Both have a very keen eye for photography. For myself, I find the PZD a very fun lens to use, it allows me more time to focus on what I want to shoot, composition and all of that, and less shots are wasted due to not having the right lens on my 600D.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 54mm, Exposure 1/80sec at f14, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter UV.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 184mm, Exposure 1/125sec at f16, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter UV.

Taken outside the hothouse om my way to my car. (image below)

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 270mm, Exposure 1/60sec at f20, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter UV.

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Gazania Mania

My wife's little flowers outside. Not much to say, but to mention these were shot hand held in a light breeze. I tried to snap the shots in between "gusts". I've applied minimal denoising in Lightroom. I cannot wait to get some close-up filters for this lens! So far not much I can find to fault the lens with except zoom-creep. This lens does like to go from 0 to hero (270mm) all by itself. Maybe it cannot wait to shoot at full zoom :-)

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 270mm, Exposure 1/250sec at f18, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter UV.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 270mm, Exposure 1/125sec at f18, ISO 400, Focus auto, VC on, Flash none, Filter UV.

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Knight Bishop

On my first night with the PZD three of us got together at a friend's place to play in his close up "studio" (think temporarily converted living room). One of the items we shot was this chess set. Lighting was done with a hand held LED torch. To make sure I had the subject in focus, I switched the Canon 600D to live view and used the arrow keys and zoom buttons while manually focusing with the other hand. As you can imagine, AF + re-composition with close up photography very easily leads to slight out of focus shots. The live view + zoom trick allows for pre-focus composition and the ability to fine focus on exactly the point in frame that you want.

Only vibrance and saturation changed in CS5. To show the focus the PZD could manage I did not touch sharpening of noise reduction.

Let me know what you think.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 59mm, Exposure 14sec at f14, ISO 200, Focus manual, VC off, Flash none, Filter none.

Here is a 100% crop, I am pretty pleased. See if you can spot the fingerprint on the Bishop :-)

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Paekakariki Road Lookout

The day was very overcast and cloudy, but I was lucky and caught some sunshine as we got to the lookout point (http://www.geolocation.ws/v/P/3056126/kapiti-island-from-paekakariki-hill-rd/en). The wind was blowing a cold southerly down our spines, but I am glad we took the detour to take this shot.

This shot is a 5 frame hand held panorama with only minor saturation and over exposure recovery performed. I used one of my Canon's view finder focus points as reference to make sure the horizon stays on the same level in all 5 shots. Exposure was measured on the rightmost of the 5 shots, set in manual, and then I took the shots from left to right. I was sure to get some overexposure with the sun reflecting in the water, but that was all planned and CS5 help reduce the impact somewhat.

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Focal length 20mm, Exposure 1/200sec at f10, ISO 100, Focus manual, VC on, Flash none, Filter UV only.

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Venus Flytrap

Canon 600D, Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD, tripod. Focal length 270mm, Exposure 1/100sec at f20, ISO 800, Focus manual, VC off, Flash none, Filter UV only

The Venus Flytrap has always been a little plant that I could just not get enough of. I always stand amazed at how fast this plant can react to insects crawling though its traps. This one is a snap (pun intended) of one of my son's plants. Lighting was natural sunlight, background is a simple black piece of A4 paper held about 40cm back. Saturation, noise reduction and vibrance changed using CS5.

My 600D was set on a tripod, and my Tamron PZD was focused manually. I must say I am very impressed by the  resolution of the fine details. Keep in mind this flower is about 3cm in diameter.

I've read today on another blog that the Tamron strongest suite is that it is a pretty competent macro lens (see http://thedayszoompast.wordpress.com/2011/12/17/day-114-pocket-watch/), and I must agree. Below is a 100% crop of the original. I am pretty pleased with the depth of field taken into consideration that this was shot at 270mm.

Pity it was shot at ISO 800. Light was running out.

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Dollars out, the fun starts

This blog was started to record my experience with the Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 VC PZD, but more about that later :-)

First let me introduce myself.

My name is Andre Serfontein and I am based in New Zealand. I am by no stretch of the imagination a professional photographer, but as you will see from my current equipment list, I am a keen amateur photographer. My induction into photography started at school in the 80s, being head of the photography club at school. Those are fond memories of shooting with my dad's Pentax, developing and printing B&W at the school lab, to developing my own color slides at home.

Photography to me, is about learning and having a lot of fun at the same time. To do this, I believe you do not have to have the greatest and latest of equipment. You do however need to have time to experiment and to learn your equipment.

So let us fast forward to the present.

My current kit includes a Canon 600D, 18-55mm IS II kit lens (possibly the second best bargain buy), 55-250mm IS kit lens and the bargain of all time, the 50mm f1.8 MkII lens. Most of my shooting at this stage is with the 50mm. My interest are not limited and I am very keen to try different things.

Because I take such a wide range of photos including macro photography, landscapes and architecture, I had the need for a lens that will help on the macro and wide angle side. Enter the respected Sigma 17-70mm f2.8-4.5 DC Macro HSM. One thing lead to another including looking at the Canon 15-85mm f3.5-5.6 USM IS as well as the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM, however even though these lenses are amazing, these lenses falls outside the price I was prepared to pay, keeping in mind that over 70% of my photos are taken with my trusty 50mm. I therefore already had a very sharp and fast lens to cover most of my needs.


Back to the Sigma. This is a much cheaper lens compared to the Canons, and would better match my needs. Further investigation brought the Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 XR Di II LD non-VC to my attention.  So with my final list compiled I started serious comparison of the lenses to see which one I should get. However the more I compared the Sigma and Tamron to my Canon 18-55mm kit lens, the more I became convinced that the Canon is an outstanding lens especially taking into consideration the price of the lens. Yes, the Sigma and Tamron proved to be sharper than the Canon, but in my testing this was only at certain zoom and f-stop settings. Also, differences were really only visible when pixel-peeping.


So, reading up about the Tamron 17-50mm, I came across several discussions and forum posts about the Tamron 18-270mm VC PZD. This must be one of the most controversial (so to speak) lenses I've ever came across. It is amazing how varying public and professional opinion about this lens is. To say the least, I became very interested in this lens and the more I read up and spent time surfing for as much info as I could about this lens, the more I became intrigued. A small subconscious challenge was starting to form in the back of my mind.


At this stage it was clear that I no longer needed a replacement lens from my kit lenses and I surely had no need in replacing my 50mm. But - now I had a new challenge. I just needed to find out for myself if the PZD really was as bad as some says, or if it is really an ugly duckling you easily fall in love with. I was amazed by what some people were doing with this lens. Pages such as:

• http://www.tamronlensreview.com/tamron18270pzdvcreview
• http://www.flickr.com/groups/tamron18_270/pool/with/3843301517/
• http://www.pixiq.com/article/a-lens-for-all-reasons
• And my personal favorite and inspiration for this blog - http://thedayszoompast.wordpress.com/

So, after taking some test shots with a PZD in the local camera shop, I took the decision to bite the bullet and get on to test/try on a more permanent basis. My intention is to use this lens for  a year. I will deliberately choose to shoot a bit less with my 50mm, and to incorporate the PZD in more of my pics. I will try to record my findings as honestly as I can.


So I hope you will join me on this adventure. Come back frequently, to see what I am up to with this lens.

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