katherinea Posted March 18, 2006 Share Posted March 18, 2006 I'm considering the tamron 90mm macro, and am wondering if there is any difference between the older 52BB version (f2.5) and the newer 72B version (f2.8), other than that the new version goes 1:1 ? Is there any difference in sharpness ?, any difference in color saturation ? (when shooting with film). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark u Posted March 18, 2006 Share Posted March 18, 2006 There are some slight differences optically. The newer lens is a better performer, most clearly at longer focal distances, but the older lens is still very fine. Of course, the older lens requires a suitable Adaptall mount (or e.g. Nikon Adaptall mount + Nikon to EOS adaptor if you have an EOS camera - EOS Adaptall mounts are rare and expensive), and is manual focus and has a manually set aperture when used with some camera bodies. The older lens is beautifully built, with a solid metal barrel and ultra smooth focus operation. There was an excellent comparative review conducted by Geoffrey Crawley (well respected reviewer) of all generations of the lens when the latest Di version was released published in Amateur Photographer magazine a little while ago (2004). The newest, Di version is better still. You can buy a copy of the review here: http://www.testreports.co.uk/photography/ap/stock/Model.asp?Model=12235&ModelPage=true Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katherinea Posted March 19, 2006 Author Share Posted March 19, 2006 Thanks for the information. I've checked out the link and bought the article you suggested, and am mulling over it all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_m Posted March 19, 2006 Share Posted March 19, 2006 There were two different versions of the 90F2.5 lens. They were different physically and optically and they had different filter sizes but sorry I can't remember the details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stemked Posted March 20, 2006 Share Posted March 20, 2006 I can add my wife has the 90mm f2.5 adaptol (in Pentax K mount), 49mm filter. It is a nice lens, looks kind of chunky, but the optics are where it shines. So much so that she has won some a few large nature photography contests from images made with this lens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karl_adams Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 IIRC the 52B version has a metal barrel and 49mm filter thread, while the 52BB has a plastic barrel and 55mm filter thread. I can't comment on 72B versus 52BB, but can vouch for the 52BB being very good indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katherinea Posted March 21, 2006 Author Share Posted March 21, 2006 Thanks to everybody for their responses. It's good to know that the old metal one can have such fine optics. From other places on the net I've done research on, it seems it can just depend on the particular sample. It might just depend on the prices I have the opportunity to buy a lens at as to which way I go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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