esawaya1994's reviews

Tamron 45mm f/1.8 Di VC USD SP

After falling in love with prime lenses look through the nifty fifty, I started craving a higher performing lens. The Tamron fit all the criteria for me as a replacement for the 50mm f1.8 in trrms of handling, build and performance. The tamron is indeed much sharper from corner to corner. I think actually the description of the sharpness in the article is pretty understated. The Tamron appeared to me to be sharper than the Sigma 50mm f1.4 especially in the corner when I tried them both, this is confirmed in several side by side comparisons online. I believe the o ly sharper optic in the canon line-up besides the Zeiss lenses is the newer RF 50 F1.2, and frankly, at 4 times the price, it had better be.... Also, not only does the lens have great sharpness and contrast wide open, it also has what both the sigma and 50mm f1.8 lack: artful rendering and character. The bokeh is just so lovely especially when you get upclose. The images from the lens really do look special, through its combination of muted yet attractive colors, creamy bokeh and punchy micro-contrast. I also found the 45mm to be an amazing angle of view as it is actually close to a normal angle of view than the normal 50mm, so you get lots of creative options with the composition. It can be used for events, portraits, street, landscape... It is not perfect with some mild chromatic aberrations at times amd slow-ish autofocus, but is certainly a very distinct and capable lens that has become my favorite as it is so good with so many things.