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First Exposure by Jack and Sue Drafahl
Tamron SP AF28–105mm f/2.8 LD Aspherical (IF)

A photographer’s edge to achieving great images, may often be as simple as f-stops and focal lengths. How many times have you lost a shot because it took too long to change lenses? Having a variety of focal lengths at your fingertips adds immediate creative control and extends your versatility. The ability to control the scene framing at different focal lengths is what has made zoom lenses popular over the years.

Tamron, a leader in the creation of quality lens optics for over 50 years, offers a wide variety of interchangeable lenses for 35mm SLR cameras. Thanks to their invention of the “T-mount” adapter, one lens can be used on a variety of camera models. By popularizing this interchangeability of lenses, Tamron has given the photographer flexibility and their wide assortment of lenses provides maximum creative control.

Generally we hear about new camera lenses at trade shows or via special e-mail announcements and press releases. In this case, the news about Tamron’s 28–105 f/2.8 telephoto lens came from Fuji Photo when we made arrangements to review their S1 Pro digital 35mm camera. So what does Fuji Photo have to do with Tamron? The common thread is the S1 Pro digital camera that incorporates the new Super CCD technology. The two companies decided that the S1 Pro, with its Super CCD technology, and the 28–105mm lens, with its f/2.8 maximum aperture that doesn’t change throughout the entire zoom range, would make great companions. Both companies announced special discount offers on this lens when you purchase the S1 Pro camera.

So what’s so great about this lens? Besides the fact it offers a terrific working range of 28mm wide to 105mm telephoto, the best part is the constant f/2.8 aperture. Typically, as you increase focal length, you need correspondingly higher shutter speeds to handhold the lens and obtain a sharp image. The general rule of thumb is that you should use 1/focal length as your shutter speed, meaning that with a 125mm lens it would require 1ž125 second shutter speed to maintain image sharpness while handholding the lens.

If you take a typical zoom lens, the aperture will be fairly large at the short end of the zoom, but as you zoom the lens to the longer focal lengths, the effective f-stop increases. This increase in f-stop, requires you drop your shutter speed accordingly. This makes this type of zoom lens more difficult to use at the longer focal lengths.

The Tamron 28–105mm zoom uses four large-diameter hybrid aspherical elements and three LD (low dispersion) glass elements to maintain a highlevel of image quality throughout the zoom range, particularly at the widest aperture. Tamron’s Integrated-Focusing Cam system, Internal Focusing system and Triple-Cam zoom system combine to keep the lens compact at the 28mm focal length. Although the lens is a bit larger than a similar focal length zoom lens with variable aperture, it is still rather compact for such a package

Tamron’s Anti-Slip Mode prevents the lens barrel from sliding outward under its own weight. A large reversible lens hood is designed to reduce lens flare throughout the entire zoom range. The macro function of the lens allows you to focus down to 20 inches and achieve a 1:4.7 magnification ratio. The lens weighs less than pounds, uses 82mm filters, and has camera mounts for Canon, Minolta, and Nikon cameras.

Whenever it is possible we like to combine several articles on one shooting expedition. It doesn’t always happen that way, but this time we got lucky. At the time we were testing the Fuji S1 Pro digital camera, Agfa Vista 35mm film, and of course, the Tamron 28–105 zoom. We divided the trip between the east and west coast by shooting some images in Florida and the remaining in our home state of Oregon. The Tamron 28–105 lens was used in all the testing, we just alternated between the Fuji S1 Pro and the Nikon F5 loaded with Agfa

Vista film. It really is a sign of the times, when we process half our images via C-41 chemistry, and the other half through a computer flash card reader. Either way, the results told us that this was an excellent lens. The S

1 Pro images were spectacular. When you combine the S1 Pro’s high speed Super CCD with its starting ISO rating of 320 and the fast f/2.8 aperture of the Tamron lens, you have quite a flexible workhorse. The images shot at wide open or near wide open apertures were very sharp, right out to the corners. Because of the constant f/2.8, the images were bright in the viewfinder, and easy to see even in low light throughout the entire zoom range.

The film tests with the F5 were more of a challenge as it rained most of the time and the light levels were very low. In many cases we really needed the f/2.8 at the 105mm focal length in order to get the shot. Of course, we didn’t just shoot everything at f/2.8. We were able to test f/22 with a flash for all the closeup photos with flash. The resolution and detail clarity was excellent throughout all the rolls of film. This lens is definitely a keeper for both film and digital photography.

Tamron realizes that the photo world doesn’t completely exist between 28 and 105mm, so they offer several other autofocus lenses in their Super Performance division, including the SP AF14mm f/2.8, SP AF20–40mm f/2.7–3.5, SP AF 24–135 f/3.5–5.6, SP AF 70–210 f/2.8, SP AF90mm f/2.8 1 :1 Macro and SP AF 300mm f/2.8.

The Tamron 28-105mm f/2.8 lens has a list price of $1417. For further information regarding this great lens or Tamron’s other offerings, contact Tamron: (631) 694-8700 or visit www.tamron.com.

Jack and Sue Drafahl are freelance journalists/photographers living in the Pacific Northwest. They have owned and operated a custom lab and service bureau, Image Concepts, for many years. They can be reached at: concepts@pacifier.com/.