Hin's Photo Corner

This is a one touch small zoom lens that I enjoy using for street shooting and portraits. It reminds me very much of my previous favorite manual focus zoom lens with Vivitar/Kiron 70-150mm f/3.8 in both one-touch and 2-touch zoom designs. Though kiron and adaptall zoom appears to have similar designs, they perform a bit differently for me. The close up of the adaptall-2 20A is 1:3 in the 150mm end. Filter size is 49mm and it has a small built in lens hood.







I wish I still have my Kiron zooms to directly compare the two. I have used the 20A for couple of outings and I feel the sharpness and overall performance is good but yet it is not as good as the Kiron zooms that I have used before. I recall getting sharper and better close up pictures from the Kiron zooms. Though I favor the Kiron zooms over than the adaptall-2, the 20A zoom lens is still a good performer that is inexpensive to get.




What I like about the 20A is on its small size, quick zooming, great handling and when used with Tamron adaptall-2 PK-A, I can use 20A like any A lens. The lens has every potential to beat my prior positive experience with Kiron. I am yet to use this zoom lens more and perhaps find a better lens hood to replace the built-in lens hood which I find too small to be effective. In use with K20D, I find the lens work better with -0.7 Ev compensation.


Related:

• Vivitar 70-150mm f/3.8 in K-mount -- 1-touch zoom
• Vivitar 70-150mm f/3.8 -- 2-touch zoom
• Tamron adaptall-2 PK-A adapter
• Hin's Camera Gear
  

I find the lens a bit too heavy to carry around in hiking purpose. It is a long lens and I feel better balanced when I have it mounted on K20D. The lens does well for me in sharpness and bokeh. The PF/CA is one thing that I still find occasionally in shooting. I recently used it with K-x in weekend hiking trip. I especially like the contrast and bokeh in the close up at the long end in 210mm.






And in the last fall, I used it with Pentax K20D for some fall pictures while visiting Mountain View Shoreline Park.






Related:

• Tamron SP 70-210mm f/3.5 adaptall-2 19AH Initial Tests
• Comparing Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm
  
• Tamron SP 80-200mm f/2.8 adaptall-2 30A
  
• Tamron SP adaptall-2 p/ka adapter
• Tamron adaptall-2 articles
  
• Hin's Camera Gear
  

It has been a while since my last blog post. I have been caught up with work and family and I lack time and energy for pictures and blogging. Over the Memorial day weekend, I got a chance to test out an old and quite rare adaptall-2 lens in my possession. I got my copy of Tamron SP 24-48mm f/3.5-3.8 (13A) from an eBay seller in UK and I was disappointed to see the scratch and cleaning marks on the front glass. Once I used the lens in two outings, the poor cosmetics and rough marks don't look as bad as it seems.


One thing that I should pay attention is the missing of the Tamron #27FH optional lens hood in my purchase. I did my test shots without the lens hood and lens flare seem to have less contrast in those brightly lighted scenes in my test pictures.

The lens is not a small lens by Pentax standard. It is quite heavy and bulky when compared to a pancake lens. It is well praised in adaptall-2 site on 13A and it is perhaps the smallest at the time. I personally love 24mm in full frame and I think this rare lens is more popular in 35mm film use. I have both this Tamron SP 24-48 f/3.5-3.8 (13A) and Tamron SP 35-80mm f/2.8-3.8 (01A) and they seem to be a solid pair to go together.


I did all the following test shots without the lens hood. Lens flare seems to impact some of the pictures.











Impressions & Notes

• The lens hood is important to have and it is essential to enjoy this lens. I don't have the original and I use none in the test shots and lens flare seem to be a problem for me. I later found a 58 to 62 step up ring and a 62 inch rubber lens hood and I think I will have better results in next outing
  
  
• The lens is not small and lightweight by Pentax pancake standard but still relatively small when compared to other similar lens of its time. You can think of it as a good wide angle prime in 24mm and quite good performer for normal lens in the 48mm.
  
  
• The front of the lens can't fit a filter ring easily and the original lens hood number #27FH has a filter thread mount for 77mm. The front is oddly shaped as if the lens is partially broken. The threads on the front don't seem to go well with a filter. I suppose the filter is supposed to be used the original lens hood #27FH is used.
  
  
• Unlike the Tamron 35-80mm f/2.8-3.8 (01A), close up is not its strength. The minimum focusing distance is about 0.6 meter.
  
  
• On the trip, I set up my SR focal distance at 24mm as that capture most frequent shots and I didn't bother to change the setting. I used the zoom lens as three primes in one as in 24mm, 35mm, and 48mm. I used 24mm for all the wide angle shots, 48mm for the portraits and 35mm for the in between.
  
  
• I suspect the lens is prone to flare to a fair degree
  
  
• The lens seems to be well controlled in regards to PF/CA
  
  
• Overall, I am quite pleased with the lens performance. Sharpness is quite good over its focal range. I imagine it to be more valuable and likable in film use.
  

Related:

• Exploratorium with Tamron SP 24-48 13A
• Tamron 35-80mm f/2.8-3.8 (01A)
• Tamron adaptall-2 p/k-a adapter
• adaptall-2 related blog posts
• Pentax K-x White
  
• Hin's Camera Gear
  

I bought a copy of the Tamron 55BB mirror lens and I saw quite a lot of dirt on the inside rear mirror. It does not look like fungus to me initially. Later, I examined my 55BB closely and found it with both dirt and fungus in both front and back mirrors. I don't have the tool and experience to open up from the frontal part and clean both mirrors. There are more fungus and dirt on the back than that on the front mirror.


I tried the lens with some casual shooting. Though the fungus and dirt, the lens surprises me especially in sharpness and performance in close up. Focusing is quite easy on the lens though the lens seems too light to hold steady in the shooting. It is very unlike the previous mirror lens that I have used from Vivitar 500mm f/8 mirror lens from Korea, likely similar to Opteka or Kalimar . Contrast and sharpness is quite good in the 55BB and what I like about is the handling in the focus ring and the ease of focusing. Though it may be too lightweight to feel well balanced in the K-x, I manage to shoot all the above hand-holding. Close up performance is a surprise for such a long focal lens. Bokeh is kind of an odd ball. Some good and some oddly busy looking with donuts shaped rendering especially when off focus objects are too close.

I've never thought a mirror lens can be sharp and offer moderate contrast that can be tuned in post processing. Was I so wrong on my subjective and negative views before! I was biased towards mirror lens due to my previous not-so-great experience with cheap brand of mirror lens. The 55BB really stands out in comparison.

When I re-edit some of the test shots with K-x, I am quite surprised with the sharpness. I can see the detail on the hummingbird feather and squirrel face without cropping. DOF in close distance is narrow and prone to user focus errors but I do find the focusing ring in 55BB to be outstanding for getting precision in manual focusing.

All in all, the 55BB is a good mirror lens to look for instead of the previous Vivitar that I have tried. It may be too slow to serve well in shooting birds in fly but it will do well in still objects in a distance.

I have sold the lens to my good friend in PF who knows how to clean fungus. And I have found my Pentaxian friend IndianaDinos who has written many valuable blog posts documenting how he cleans up fungus in K10DPentax.


Related:

• Adaptall-2 site on Tamron 55BB
• Fungus cleaning -- K10DPentax.
• Moon Chasing with Tamron 500mm f/8.0 adaptall-2 (55BB) and Pentax K-5
• Hiking with Tamron 55BB -- 2nd copy
• Vivitar 500mm f/8.0 mirror lens from Korea
• Pentax Long Lenses and TC
• Tamron adaptall-2 P/KA adapter
• Tokina SD 400mm f/5.6 and Pentax K-x
• Hin's 600mm rig
• Hin's Camera Gear

Purple Fringing has always been bothering me. When I see a scene with interesting lighting, I always don't remember a thing about CA/purple fringing in the result image. I can't see it coming upon review of the images at the scene. I should have known better. I have various Tamron zooms and though some of them are my favorite, they are not immune to purple fringing and CA. Many people rely on post processing to clean them up. I rather not have them in the first place. I have used both Tamron and Sigma zooms and primes in various focal lengths, I seem to get much less from Sigma. It begs the question why I have more from the Tamron brand. I am planning in a distant future to upgrade my zoom to the latest Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 and I surely hope it does better than other Tamrons in terms of CA control. And I hope there is better alternative in the Pentax Brand with similar pricing. The Pentax DA* 60-250mm f/4.0 will be ideal but it is out of my comfort zoom for pricing.
For some pictures, I can have my quick fix in turning it into a black and white photograph but i can't do it to all photos as the color in the sunset in the reflection is what I want to capture in the scene.




Related:

• Purple Fringe with Tamron 70-300mm Di LD Macro
  
• Tamron 75-250mm f/3.8-4.5 adaptall-2 104A
• Tamron SP 70-210mm f/3.5 adaptall-2 19AH
• Tamron SP 80-200mm f/2.8 adaptall-2 30A
• Hin's Camera Gear

I have way too many zoom lens and I am picking some of my zooms and decide which one to keep and the lesser candidates to go. The problem that I have is that I am cheapo getting various < $100 lens and I am not picky and I actually like most of them as if they will turn diamond some day. It is a shame that I fall in love with my gear so easily

Though the hassle with the extra Tamron adaptall-2 P/KA adapter to mount, I like quality of many of the adaptall-2 SP zoom lens and primes. One cheapo zoom that that I like to share with you is Tamron 75-250mm f/3.8-4.5 adaptall-2 104A. It is not a relatively small lens if you consider the extra reach 250mm. And in terms of weight, it is very similar and perhaps lighter when compared to other 70-210mm zooms. Filter size is 62mm and it is easy to hand-hold the lens.

Impressions & Notes

• It is difficult for me to trim this zoom as it is quite sharp and with good color
• The zoom starts out at 250mm end and zoom to 75mm and I like it starting at a zoom position that I use more often.
• Sharpness seem better at 200mm than 250mm
• PF is unfortunately found in shots with contrasty area. Not as bad as the Tamron 70-300mm Di LD macro
• Absolutely no zoom creep
• Bokeh is quite decent with the zoom.
  
• Focusing ring a joy to use for quick and precise manual focusing
  
• Internal lens hood is nice but not deep enough to be effective.
  
• Easy to obtain focus in Pentax K-x
• Works well with Tamron adaptall-2 PK/A adapter but I observe more PF/CA in the long end when 01F 2x TC is mounted.
  

Related:

• Tamron SP 35-80mm f/2.8-3.8 adaptall-2 01A
• Tamron 75-250mm f/3.8-4.5 adaptall-2 104A
• Tamron adaptall-2 P/KA adapter
• Tamron SP 70-210mm f/3.5 adaptall-2 19AH
• Tamron SP 80-200mm f/2.8 adaptall-2 30A
• Hin's Camera Gear
  

I am accumulating primes with Tamron adaptall-2 hoping to get 17mm, 24mm, and 28mm for wide angle needs with my film bodies. I recently got 51B on the 17mm from another great forum member. It is quite interesting to see a prime with built-in internal filters. I plan to use the 17mm with my film gear and the view is quite wide in the film body. Some LBA product shots to share:



The Y2 is a yellow filter, I see darkening color in 81B and some other change in 80B. When I asked around for the use of the filter, I learned that 80B and 81B are used for warming effect.

17mm is not wide when used on aps-c camera with my K20D but it is very wide when I put it on my Pentax SuperProgram and Pentax MX and the view is quite spectacular. I noted some distortion in the test shots and I think more use will help. I am hoping for a small sets of mixed primes and zooms to be used with my film gear stepping out of my comfort zone into film where one has to think in composing a picture.

• Tamron SP 17mm f/3.5 (51B) -- this prime
• Tamron 24mm f/2.5 (01B)
• Tamron 28mm f/2.5 (02B)
• Tamron SP 35-80mm f/2.8-3.8 (01A)

All the adaptall-2 have aperture rings and with the adaptall-2 p/k-a adapters, they will work fine in SuperProgram as well as MX for street scenes, candids, close-up and portraits. My nostalgic film experience is my high point with the adaptall-2 lens series. And I can adapt to another system using the same sets of lens for Ricoh xr-p or Nikon F series of 35mm camera. Oh my gosh, I wish I can use them with my 645N camera and I can surely benefit from the adaptall-2 system. With usage in both Pentax film bodies, my Pentax digital bodies with K-x and K20D, and my Praktica MTL5 in M42 mount, I can't complain how adaptable the adaptall-2 system is. Bravos to Tamron who came out with such a great system for ease of adaptation to one's system of their choosing.


Useful Resources:

• Adaptall-2 site on Tamron 17mm f/3.5 (51B)
• Ken Rockwell hated the adaptall-2 mount
• More to be added as I don't see much in search

Related

• All adaptall-2 related articles
• Tamron SP 17mm f/3.5 (51B) and Ricoh xr-p
• Night Walking Scenes with 51B
• Tamron SP 35-80mm f/2.8-3.8 adaptall-2 (01A)
• Tamron SP 80-200mm f/2.8 adaptall-2 (30A)
• Tamron SP 70-210mm f/3.5 adaptall-2 (19AH) in Gilroy Garden
• Tamron 75-250mm f/3.8-4.5 adaptall-2 (104A)
• Tamron adaptall-2 p/ka adapter
• Hin's Camera Gear