14mm : Canon 5D Mark II + USM II L & A900 + Tamron SP

[InTheSky]

Hello,

Finally I have got the time to clean the pictures took on the last weekend with my friend.

http://www.pbase.com/nadeauf/14mm_canoniil_vs_tamronsp

The canon 14mm USM II L is a incredible lens. You will see the difference compare to the old Tamron SP. The Tamrons is not that worst ... but there is a too much differences between both (and year of design too). Again ... question of price

I have took another angle and subject, but I think the series of pictures I have left on Pbase speak for themselves.

At F2.8 : ISO 200
_______________________ Canon ___________________________________________________Tamron ___________________________



I don't know why, but the Sony system always give 15mm information for the lens, instead of 14mm. It was the same with the Sigma 3.5 14mm.

Frank

[Dusty]

The Canon lens seems to have less vignetting than the Tamron, and it goes away at a lower f-stop. The distortion differences are harder to tell as the shots were not exactly from the same spot, it seems.

I do give the Sony a slight edge in colors.

Dusty

[David Kilpatrick]

If the Canon image was processed to the same contrast curve and saturation as the Sony, the vignetting would like stronger by far - and so would the image noise. Or vice-versa. The Sony would have to be processed using a Linear curve to match the flat output of the Canon. Canon 'Neutral' and 'Faithful' settings are extremely low contrast, 'Standard' is still soft, and 'Landscape' is needed to match Sony's 'Standard'.

The Canon image is focused on the very foreground, front focused to maybe 1-2m away. The Sony image is correctly focused. Clearly the Tamron is softer at the extremes and has more CA, but scaled to equivalent size and with matching processing, I suspect the Sony would produce more useful image more of the time. The inaccuracy of the Canon focus is surprising.

David

[InTheSky]

Probably my mistake for the focus of the Canon. This was the first time I shot with it. I have had another pictures, where it was not me on the Control of the Canon. Question to be more scientific I have ask my friend to do the second series of pictures. I was on the side changing the Camera and the Compact flash. But on everyone, I have play with Lightroom, because the exposure was not the same (Thanks to the high dynamic range of the Sony). in some picture I'm more that 1 stop different.

* Flare - test
* Macro and out of focus effect
* Detail (branch in the tree)

At F11
_______________________ Canon ___________________________________________________Tamron ___________________________


AF 2.8
_______________________ Canon ___________________________________________________Tamron ___________________________


...

Regards,

Frank

[alphaPDX]

I still cannot decide if 650g is too much to add to my aps-c camera. I can deal with the curvature of Sigma's 15 fisheye and save some weight.. but I have a local shop with the SP14 for under us$500, quite a deal on this lens for new-in-box and cheaper than the Sigma. I appreciate the comparison shots, it's always good to have more to digest when contemplating such a purchase.

[David Kilpatrick]

If you are just interested in the range around 14mm, there is one obvious choice. I've owned the 14mm Tamron, and various other options including the Russian fisheye. I ended up with the 12-24mm Sigma, which is significantly better around 14mm than the Tamron.

David