Tamron 28mm f2.8 (CW-28)
This lens looks like it belongs on any camera it's attached to, the front lens says it all along with it's sleek black look.
Last Edited : Tuesday August 6th 2024.
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I had been after a Tamron 28mm f2.5 for a while, always losing out to bidders that were willing to part much more than the £30.00 or so that I thought the f2.5 version was worth. Then one day while browsing the net with nothing better to do I stumbled across this listing going for £45.00 and as the seller was taking offers I sent an offer of £25.00, the seller naturally refused and eventually I managed to get it for £28.95 (don't ask).
When it arrived I was taken aback by it's quality as the original carry case it came in looked as though it had been through a few really bad storms and various uprisings on a different planet.
The "Passed" sticker has been long gone because of the over use, I never figured out why they would stick them on part of a lens that would move in different directions.
I quickly attached an Adaptall 2 to FD adapter and FD to M43 one and stuck it on my OM-D E-M5 II and took a few shots from my usual testing location, my front door. Unusually the weather was very good and if I hadn't had a few things to do around the house I would have gone for a short walk.
OM-D E-M5 II 1/2500th second at f2.8 ISO 200
OM-D E-M5 II 1/400th second at f5.6 ISO 200
OM-D E-M5 II 1/1250th second at f2.8 ISO 200
OM-D E-M5 II 1/320th second at f5.6 ISO 200
And a couple of shots taken on different times of the day to compare the focal reducer FOV.
Taken with the focal reducer 1/800th second f5.6 ISO 200 at around 10 AM on 25th May 2023
Taken without the focal reducer 1/1250th f2.8 ISO 200 at around 2:30 PM on 25th May 2023
After the initial shock of how brilliant the quality of this lens was I decided to give it a whirl on my OM-D E-M1 II. And here it is:
On the E-M1 II the lens name and aperture can be added to a menu item and stored in the EXIF data which I find absolutely brilliant.
OM-D E-M1 II 1/250th second f5.6 and ISO 200.
OM-D E-M1 II 1/320th second f5.6 and ISO 200.
And here is a screenshot showing the image above with it's EXIF data on the left hand side.
Taken with the FotoDiox Focal Reducer added making the lens a 20mm f2.0. There is a slight blue tint to the image but once stopped down a little it disappears.
OM-D E-M1 II 1/640th second f4.0 ISO 200
Taken like the previous image using the FotoDiox Focal Reducer.
OM-D E-M1 II 1/500th second f4.0 ISO 200
This is a decent lens and it certainly has nice colour and contrast. It focuses easily and using the FD-M43 adapters stop down ring makes it quick and easy to take a shot. It certainly brings back some old memories of walking around with a completely manual camera outfit and just taking your time to take that photograph, the only difference is of course is we don't have to wait a week to see how badly we had done, or not. I was in two minds about selling this on once I got my hands on the Tamron 28mm F2.5 (02B) but decided to keep it as it has a different personality to that version, call me sad but there is definitely a difference in the way both lenses work and produce the images, anyway this lens looks the part and the 02B version looks a bit sad next to it.
They don't make lenses like this anymore, there were lots of different variations on the assembly line and depending on the day and time of the week the lens was created it could affect how it was assembled, crazy but true, LOL. What will happen when Oil is totally banned and plastic is no more? Maybe camera and lense bodies will be made from reconstituted banana skins, who knows.
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