This is the latest of Tamrons Mirror lenses. There was an earlier model called 55B which did have some optical problems due to mirror design. All that was optimized in this 55BB model.
Technical Data
| Released year | 1983 |
| Discontinued year | 2005 (Tamron.de told me that) |
| Minimum aperture | 8 |
| Elements/groups | 7/4 |
| Minimum focus distance | 170 cm |
| Maximum magnification | 1:3 |
| Minimum length | 87.0 mm |
| Maximum length | 91.5 mm (dependent of the adapter) |
| Diameter | 84.0 mm |
| Weight | 0.595 kg |
| Front Filter diameter | 82 |
| Rear Filter diameter | 30.5 (screw-on) |
| Hood mount | screw-on |
| Autofocus (AF) | no |
Gallery
The Images below were taken using a Canon 30D (equiv. to 800mm) with Olympus OM to EOS adapter.
- 1: Taken handheld indoors @ iso 1600, f/8 and 1/100 s.
- 2: Taken handheld @ iso 200, f/8 and 1/500 s.
- 3: Taken using monopod @ iso 160, f/8 and 1/500 s.
- 4: Taken using monopod @ iso 160, f/8 and 1/400 s.
- 5: Taken using monopod @ iso 500, f/8 and 1/400 s.
- 6: Taken using monopod @ iso 160, f/8 and 1/500 s.
- 7: Taken using monopod @ iso 1250, f/8 and 1/400 s. This is the size of the moon on a APS-C Chip uncropped (equiv. to 800mm) .
- 8: 100% Crop of picture 7. Sharpened. Noise was removed with Noise Ninja.
Links
- Adaptall-2 on the Tamron SP 500mm 1:8
- Tamron website on MF SP 500mm F/8 (Model 55BB)
- Bob Atkins - Mirror Lenses - how good? Tamron 500/8 SP vs Canon 500/4.5L
- PhotoZone.de Tested the Tamron on a Nikon D200
- David Ruether's SUBJECTIVE Lens Evaluations (Mostly Nikkors) SLEMN for short. (Tamron is listed - but is it the SP model?)
- Tamron.com about the Tamron SP 500/8
- Picturecodes Noise Ninja Plug-in for Photoshop
2 comments:
I picked up one one of these lenses recently cheaply and it is in very good condition. I was looking to experiment with using it on my 7D.
I use my SLR primarily for video work rather than stills and I am very curious about how it would work as a video lens as well (Aside from size problems). Do you know what sort of adapter I would need to use it on a 7D or a T2i?
Thanks for the amount of work you have put into this review. I will give one of these a try on my Pentax based on your tests to see if I can match your results.
Thanks... Richard
www.richardsercombe.co.uk
Post a Comment