Tamron 85mm f/1.8 Di VC USD SP

Early in 2016, Tamron released a third lens in its lineup of premium SP-series prime lenses – the SP 85mm F/1.8 Di VC USD. It’s the first lens in its category of fast-aperture telephoto lens which incorporates image stabilization into its design.

The lens was designed for full-frame cameras in the Nikon, Canon or Sony A-mount, but will also mount on sub-frame (APS-C) cameras from those manufacturers. On such a camera the lens will provide an equivalent field of view of 127mm (Nikon and Sony) or 136mm (Canon).

The lens ships with a round hood, accepts 67mm filters, and originally went on sale with an MSRP of $850.

Sharpness

The Tamron 85mm ƒ/1.8 Di VC USD SP provides excellent results for sharpness, even at its widest aperture setting of ƒ/1.8. On the sub-frame D7100 the lens displays tack-sharp results all the way from ƒ/1.8 through to ƒ/11, where diffraction limiting starts to kick in. On our full-frame D800e, there was just a hair of corner softness at ƒ/1.8 and ƒ/2, but by ƒ/2.8 the lens produced images that were tack-sharp across the frame. Even fully stopped-down at ƒ/16, the lens still provides excellent results for sharpness, impacted only very slightly by diffraction limiting.

Chromatic Aberration

Tamron have done very well for combating chromatic aberration: on either the full- or sub-frame cameras, the impact of chromatic aberration was minor. There is a minor amount of spherical chromatic aberration, which we typically note in lenses with fast apertures.

Shading (”Vignetting”)

When the Tamron 85mm ƒ/1.8 lens is mounted on the sub-frame D7100, we noted corners that were a half-stop darker than the center when the lens was set to ƒ/1.8; at any other aperture, corner shading was negligible.

On the full-frame Nikon D800e, corner shading was a bit more pronounced: at ƒ/1.8, we noted corners that were 3/4 of a stop darker than the center. At ƒ/2.8 this reduces to just over a quarter-stop, and stopping down further reduces it to a negligible level.

Distortion

There is practically no distortion to speak of when taking photographs with the Tamron 85mm ƒ/1.8.

Autofocus Operation

The Tamron 85mm ƒ/1.8 Di VC USD SP uses a ring-type USD (Ultrasonic Silent Drive) that allows the lens to focus very quietly. It’s not as quick to focus as other lenses, but we’ll attribute that to the wider throw it has to cover; it takes about a second to go through the entire range of focus. There is a slight amount of lens extension as the lens focuses to its closest point, but not so much as to interfere with any attached 67mm filters. Attached filters will not rotate during focusing operations.

Macro

The Tamron 85mm lens wasn’t built specifically for macro, producing a magnification of just 0.14x with a minimum close-focusing distance of 80cm (around two and a half feet).

Build Quality and Handling

The Tamron 85mm ƒ/1.8 Di VC USD SP presents a new fit and finish for Tamron SP-series lenses, offering a smooth, satiny finish and weather-sealed construction, including a gasket around the lens mount. The front elements also features a fluorine coating to help shed off water, oil and dirt.

Inside the lens there’s an exotic layout of lens elements: 13 elements in 9 groups, including 1 XLD (Extra Low Dispersion) and 1 LD (Low Dispersion) elements. The aperture is made up of 9 curved diaphragm blades, to ensure excellent bokeh. Tamron has provided a windowed distance scale, measured in both metric and imperial, but there is no depth-of-field scale or infrared index.

The external layout of the lens is fairly simple: two switches, one for enabling / disabling autofocus, and one for enabling / disabling the Vibration Control (VC) system. The Sony-mount variant of this lens won’t come with VC, because Sony cameras have image stabilization built-in, and the two systems conflict. It’s also worth noting that there is a rubber seal at the camera-mount side of the lens.

The manual focusing ring is quite pleasant to use on this lens: it’s about an inch wide, with a deep ribbed rubber texture. There are about 90 degrees of focusing throw – great for manual focus – and either end comes to a soft stop to let you know that focusing further won’t do anything.

The Vibration Control image stabilization is a definite perk for this lens, as most manufacturers don’t include it for a prime lens: however, with digital cameras being used more and more for making movies, having built-in stabilization is very useful indeed. In our testing, the system offers almost three stops of hand-holding improvement: check out our IS Test tab for greater detail.

The lens ships with the HF016 lens hood, which is a round, bayonet-mounted hood. The interior of the hood is ribbed to improve resistance to flare. It’s about 2″ long, and it will add about 2 1/2 inches to the overall length of the lens when it’s mounted. The lens is compatible with Tamron’s new TAP-in Console, a USB-based dock accessory that allows for autofocus and mechanical adjustments as well as firmware updates.

Alternatives

Canon EF 85mm ƒ/1.8 USM ~$350
Released in 1992, the Canon comparable lens is getting a bit long in the tooth, and it doesn’t provide near the same level of sharpness as the Tamron. In 1992, the idea of providing image stabilization in a standard prime lens would have been unthinkable.

Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G AFS ~$480
Nikon updated its G-series prime lenses in the last few years, providing a bit more competition for the Tamron: it’s very nearly a match, but the Tamron eeks out a bit more sharpness, especially on the full-frame mount. As well, the Nikon doesn’t sport image stabilization.

Sony 85mm ƒ/1.4 Carl Zeiss Planar T* ~$1,700
Sony doesn’t offer an ƒ/1.8 lens in the 85mm configuration, but it does offer a very expensive ƒ/1.4 version. Sony offers image stabilization with each camera, so the VC function of the Tamron lens isn’t useful here, however, having a ƒ/1.8 option in the 85mm category is.

Sigma 85mm ƒ/1.4 EX DG HSM ~$850
For about the same price, you could get the Sigma 85mm ƒ/1.4, offering a slightly wider maximum aperture, but no image stabilization.

Conclusion

Tamron has done their homework in creating this lens: Sony doesn’t offer an 85mm lens in the ƒ/1.8 category, Canon’s design is almost 25 years old, and Nikon’s, while good, doesn’t offer image stabilization: there’s something here for everyone, especially coupled with the amazing optical performance. Image sharpness is excellent, practically tack-sharp right from ƒ/1.8, there’s no image distortion to speak of, and chromatic aberration is well-controlled.

If there was a downside for the lens, it’s perhaps that it’s a bit pricier than its Nikon and Canon alternatives, but for the results it turns in, you get what you pay for.

Product Photos

Sample Photos

The VFA target should give you a good idea of sharpness in the center and corners, as well as some idea of the extent of barrel or pincushion distortion and chromatic aberration, while the Still Life subject may help in judging contrast and color. We shoot both images using the default JPEG settings and manual white balance of our test bodies, so the images should be quite consistent from lens to lens.

Still Life shot

VFA target

As appropriate, we shoot these with both full-frame and sub-frame bodies, at a range of focal lengths, and at both maximum aperture and ƒ/8. For the ”VFA” target (the viewfinder accuracy target from Imaging Resource), we also provide sample crops from the center and upper-left corner of each shot, so you can quickly get a sense of relative sharpness, without having to download and inspect the full-res images. To avoid space limitations with the layout of our review pages, indexes to the test shots launch in separate windows.

(From Tamron lens literature) Tamron, a leading manufacturer of optics for diverse applications, announces the launch of the SP 85mm F/1.8 Di VC USD (Model F016), the world’s first fast-aperture telephoto lens with VC (Vibration Compensation). Tamron’s acclaimed VC makes it possible to take handheld photographs in dim light or at night. The 85mm SP lens uses LD (Low Dispersion) and XLD (Extra Low Dispersion) glass elements in the optical design to minimize color fringing and to achieve sharp and clear image quality with high-fidelity color. It also achieves attractive bokeh that draws attention to the image foreground subject. In addition, Moisture-Resistant Construction has been added to prevent intrusion of moisture, and a highly durable Fluorine Coating has been applied to the top element surface to prevent condensation and repel smudge-causing substances. This new lens joins the 35mm F/1.8, 45mm F/1.8 and 90mm Macro in a lineup of SP series prime lenses that has been expanding since 2015. The lens will be on sale on March 24th in Canon and Nikon mounts (the Sony mount to be launched at a later date) at US$749.

PRODUCT HIGHLIGHTS

1. The world’s first 85mm fast-aperture lens with image stabilization
   Tamron’s VC image stabilization system enables handheld use in dim light without flash. Camera movement-often too minute to be perceptible to the photographer-is the leading cause of unpleasant photographs. In addition, newer DSLR cameras with higher resolution and higher pixel densities are even more susceptible to subtle camera shake. The VC System, Tamron’s time-proven Vibration Compensation, keeps the sharpness at hand, even in moody, dim light when shutter speeds tend to be longer.
2. Superior resolving power and attractive bokeh
   Experienced optical design technique combined with LD and XLD lens elements have virtually eliminated on-axis and lateral chromatic aberrations that might otherwise appear as color fringing. In addition, by thoroughly reducing comatic aberrations (distortion of off-axis point source) and astigmatism, subjects that appear as a distinct point source will be captured as a distinct point source even at the edges and corners of the frame. Furthermore, optical simulations were thoroughly conducted, and the 85mm achieves natural bokeh- that dreamy, semi-focus blur that separates the portrait subject from the background with a snap.
3. Fluorine Coating and Moisture-Resistant Construction
   Fluorine Coating technology developed for use in industrial optics applications has been adapted to photographic lenses. The water and oil repellent coating applied on the front element surface allows safe and easy removal of fingerprints, dirt and smudges. The coating also provides an enhanced level of durability, and will sustain its effectiveness for years. In addition, seals are located at the lens mount area and other critical locations to prevent infiltration of moisture and/or rain drops and provide Moisture-Resistant Construction. This feature provides an additional layer of protection when shooting outdoors under adverse weather conditions.
4. Sophisticated eBAND and BBAR coatings plus Advanced Anti-Reflection Technologies
   Two highly developed lens coating technologies, eBAND (Extended Bandwidth & Angular-Dependency) which uses nanotechnology, and BBAR (Broad-Band Anti-Reflection), combine to increase light transmission and to reduce flare and ghosting to imperceptible levels. Additional techniques are employed to prevent reflections inside the lens barrel so that the 85mm lens delivers high contrast, sharp and clear images worthy of a fixed focal lens. This lens clearly captures detailed tones even in the shadows.
5. Electromagnetic diaphragm system now used also for Nikon-mount lens
   An electromagnetic diaphragm system, which has been a standard feature for Canon-mount lenses, is now employed in Nikon-mount lenses. More precise diaphragm and aperture control is possible because the diaphragm blades are driven and controlled by a motor through electronic pulse signals.
6. USD actuator maximized for fast and accurate focusing
   Fast, quiet AF is achieved by employing a USD (Ultrasonic Silent Drive) ring-type ultrasonic motor which enables remarkably precise focusing drive with high torque and responsiveness. Thanks to the absence of reduction gears in USD, there is no backlash and no unnecessary back-and-forth movement. The control software program for the USD actuator has been revised to provide substantially improved focusing speed and accuracy when using AF. In addition, Full-time Manual Focus override is available at any point during the autofocus operation for deliberately shifting focus without switching the AF-MF. Whether overriding the autofocus or focusing completely manually, the focusing ring turns smoothly and evenly.
7. Compatibility with TAMRON TAP-in Console™
   Always as new as tomorrow: You can update firmware, customize autofocus positions and adjust the mechanical setup and preferences of the 85mm lens by simply attaching it to the TAMRON TAP-in Console and connecting it via USB to a personal computer. (The TAP-in Console is an optional accessory that will be released in March 24.)
8. Compatibility with Adobe and Silkypix software
   Supplied with SILKYPIX Developer Studio 4.0, advanced editing software that features correction menus for various aberrations (lateral color, distortion, relative illumination) based on the optical design data of this specific lens. In addition, lens profile information has been supplied to Adobe Systems, Inc. to facilitate selecting the precise lens data required for more sophisticated adjustments in RAW processing when using Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom. Shooting RAW image files enables creation of more stringent and high-fidelity image quality.

Design Concept
The superior technology inside the Tamron 85mm is matched by advanced external ergonomic features under a design philosophy called “Human Touch.” Improvements include altering the geometric shape and resistance of the AF/MF and VC switches to deliver comfort with secured operational feedback, and enlarging the distance scale window to maximize visibility and legibility. Even the font style has been newly developed to enhance legibility as part of the overall product design.

Most people tend to think of image stabilization as being mainly for telephoto lenses. While it’s true that their longer focal lengths tend to magnify the effects of camera shake, image stabilization can provide a very useful assist at wider angle focal lengths as well; anyone who’s ever tried to blur the image of a waterfall, while keeping the surrounding landscape tack-sharp knows exactly what I’m talking about.

With Tamron’s VC (Vibration Control) system disengaged, we need to shoot at 1/125s to get 100% sharp images, which is in keeping with the “one-over-focal-length” rule of thumb. With the VC system engaged, we can shoot as slow as 1/30s and get 100% sharp, hand-held images, and 70% sharp at 1/15s. This is an improvement of almost three stops.

Mouse over this chart to show results with IS activated.

IS systems tend to provide more benefit to less-stable shooters than very steady ones, so most users will see the same or greater amounts of shake reduction as we measured here. You can read more about our IS test methodology here: SLRgear IS Test Methodology, v2.