Tamron SP 35mm f/1.8 Di VC USD Lens Review

Handling and Features
Performance
Verdict
Specification

This wide angle lens from Tamron sports a fast f/1.8 maximum aperture, Vibration Compensation, silent internal focusing with full time manual override, moisture sealed construction with a moisture repellant fluorine optical coating as well as eBAND and BBAR lens coatings to help suppress ghosting and flare.

The lens is available in Canon, Nikon and Sony mounts. The Sony compatible model will lack Vibration compensation, as this functionality is already built into Sony DSLR and SLT bodies. As this lens is a 'Di' optic, it is compatible with both full frame and crop sensor camera bodies. In this review, we'll take a look at how it performs.

Tamron SP 35mm f/1.8 Di VC USD Handling and Features

Even though this lens is a little bulky for one sporting an f/1.8 maximum aperture, the extra size will be to accommodate the Vibration Compensation system. Even so, it's not heavy, striking a good balance between the use of high quality materials and construction and light weight. Weighing about 450g and being 78.3mm long, it balances well on the Nikon D600 used for testing. The lens sports a moisture resistant design and a rubber gasket has been placed around the metal lens mount to help prevent the ingress of dust and moisture into the camera body.

Tamron has included their USD silent focusing motor, which makes autofocus reasonably quick, and manual focus adjustments can be applied at any time. Manual focusing is a pleasure as the wide rubberised focus ring is well damped and very smooth to operate, which makes applying fine adjustment easy. A minimum focus distance of 20cm is perfectly suited for shooting in claustrophobic environments, or even for the occasional close up. The 67mm filter ring does not rotate and the lens doesn't extend, which makes this lens ideal for use  with graduated or polarising filters.

With care, sharp images are possible hand-held at shutter speeds as low as 1/5sec, approximately half the time. This is roughly three stops slower than the usual rule of thumb for sharp hand held images would permit. The VC system also provides a very steady viewfinder image, which can help with accurate composition and focusing.

Tamron SP 35mm f/1.8 Di VC USD Performance

At maximum aperture, sharpness is already very good in the centre of the frame, although clarity towards the edges of the frame is only fair. Stopping down improves performance across the frame with sharpness in the centre reaching outstanding levels at f/4 and good levels towards the edges by f/5.6.

MTF
 

How to read our charts

The blue column represents readings from the centre of the picture frame at the various apertures and the green is from the edges. Averaging them out gives the red weighted column.

The scale on the left side is an indication of actual image resolution. The taller the column, the better the lens performance. Simple.

For this review, the lens was tested on a Nikon D600 using Imatest.

Chromatic aberrations are well controlled, thanks to Tamron's use of XLD and LD glass in the optical design. Fringing just exceeds 0.5 pixel widths towards the edges of the frame at all apertures, which is a low enough level to pose few issues, even in large prints or harsh crops from the edges of the frame.

CA
 

How to read our charts

Chromatic aberration is the lens' inability to focus on the sensor or film all colours of visible light at the same point. Severe chromatic aberration gives a noticeable fringing or a halo effect around sharp edges within the picture. It can be cured in software.

Apochromatic lenses have special lens elements (aspheric, extra-low dispersion etc) to minimize the problem, hence they usually cost more.

For this review, the lens was tested on a Nikon D600 using Imatest.

Falloff of illumination towards the corners is typical for a fast aperture wide angle lens. At f/1.8 the corners are 2.3 stops darker than the image centre and visually uniform illumination is achieved with the aperture closed down to f/5.6 or beyond.

As you might expect from a fixed focal length optic, mild barrel distortion is present. Imatest detected 0.9% barrel distortion, but you'll be hard pressed to spot this low level of distortion under most circumstances.

A petal-shaped hood is provided to help shield the front element from extraneous light that may cause issues with flare and loss of contrast. Although it is good practice to keep a lens hood in place, Tamron's eBAND (Extended Bandwidth & Angular-Dependency) lens coatings do an excellent job of suppressing flare and contrast remains good, even when shooting into the light, so the hood may not always be necessary.

Tamron SP 35mm f/1.8 Di VC USD Sample Photos

Value For Money

Tamron has a habit of setting a high RRP at launch, and the launch price of this lens is no exception. A launch price of £580 does seem a little steep, but this may drop in time, as has been the case with other Tamron lenses.

Canon users have the EF 35mm f/2 IS USM as an alternative. This lens may have a slightly slower maximum aperture and lack weather sealing, but it does include image stabilisation and silent focusing and is much less expensive at around £400.

Nikon's AF-S 35mm f/1.8G ED lens is their closest equivalent, which matches the Tamron for spec in almost every way except for image stabilisation and weather sealing but is also much cheaper at around £400.

Sony don't currently produce an equivalent lens. Their closest lens is their premium 35mm f/1.4 G lens, which costs around £1100.

Sigma produce a 35mm f/1.4 lens in their 'Art' collection of premium lenses, which only costs £30 more than this Tamron lens, at around £610, at the moment and sports a faster maximum aperture and silent focusing, although lacks weather sealing and image stabilisation.

For more options have a look at the Top 5 Best Tamron Lenses of 2015.

Tamron SP 35mm f/1.8 Di VC USD Verdict

As this lens becomes more readily available and the price drops to a value nearer to its closest equivalents, the value of this lens will increase. As it stands, the price is a little high. Even so, this lens offers premium features, such as weather sealing, silent autofocus and Vibration Compensation, which will make it an interesting alternative to other similar lenses. It is certainly capable of delivering excellent quality images, with high sharpness in the centre of the frame. Whether those extra features are worth the extra expense to you will depend largely on how you use the lens. For example, travellers may find the Vibration Compensation and weather sealing invaluable to them.

Tamron SP 35mm f/1.8 Di VC USD Pros

Excellent sharpness in the centre.
Good build quality
Effective Vibration Compensation system
Moisture resistant construction
Low distortion
Resistant to flare
Relatively lightweight

Tamron SP 35mm f/1.8 Di VC USD Cons

Seems to be priced a little high at launch when compared to similar lenses (although this may change in time)
 

FEATURES
HANDLING
PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY
VERDICT

The Tamron SP 35mm VC USD offers premum features, excellent sharpness and vibration compensation.

 

Tamron SP 35mm f/1.8 Di VC USD Specifications

View Full Product Details