Tamron SP 35mm f/1.8 Di VC USD Optical Lens for Nikon F AFF012N700

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I wanted a 35mm prime for my D750 to use as a walk-around in street photography and while hiking, etc. Tested this Tamron against the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 ART and the Nikon 1.8G. The Tamron was the clear winner for my needs. Here’s why:- Image Quality: Sigma is the winner for sharpness wide open and definitely better stopped down to f/1.8, but the Tamron is very good even at f/1.8. Both have a nice rendering, with the Tamron showing some CA in certain scenes but nothing that isn’t easily corrected in Lightroom. Personally, I liked the Tamron colors the best, but that’s pretty subjective. The Nikon was noticeably behind the other two to my eye.- Form Factor: The Nikon is the winner for portability, being almost unnoticeable on the camera, but the Tamron isn’t unduly heavy and balances very nicely on my D750. The Sigma, on the other hand, is kind of a brick for my uses; if only in studio and other controlled settings, it wouldn’t have bothered me as much.- Autofocus: The Nikon was the fastest, but the Tamron is fast enough and very accurate. I eventually did an in-camera autofocus fine tune of +2 but it was very good out of the box. The Sigma was slow and not as consistent as the other two, at least in the copy I rented to test.- Build Quality: The Sigma feels solid, but the Tamron feels and looks better, and the fluorine coating really works if you get caught in the wet. Manual focus on the Tamron is a joy thanks to the long, precise throw and stiff action of the focus ring. You also get some weather resistance in the Tamron, which is not the case with the Sigma or Nikon rivals. The Nikon, like all the 1.8G primes, is solid but doesn’t really feel so to me.- Features: Here’s where the Tamron really shines: I don’t use the vibration compensation a lot on a wide prime like this, but when you need it it’s great to have and works really well. Great for things like photography in dimly lit cathedrals and the like without needing to break out a tripod or monopod. The best feature of the Tamron, however, has been the incredibly short minimum focus distance–it will focus accurately to within a couple of inches of the outer lens element. Basically gives you a quasi-macro capability without having to tote a macro around, which I’ve found very useful and a lot of fun when hiking or walking around town with it. The VC and near-macro capability really increase your creative possibilities with this lens, which is what I wanted.- Other: Six year warranty is pretty awesome.That’s it; I love this thing and am thrilled with the purchase–so much so that I’ll probably add the Tamron 85mm f/1.8 at some point soon.

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This thing is a low light monster! It paired very nicely with my Nikon D750 and focusing accuracy is spot on. Great focal length for street photography and general purpose stuff. It is solidly built and not too heavy to carry around. I love the new look of Tamron SP lens; professional appearance for sure. The Vibration Compensation function works great and it allows me to shoot as low as 1/20th of a second safely. Last but not least, this thing is super sharp, even wide open. But of course it gets sharper as you stop it down. Highly recommended.

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I rented this before buying and was blown away. Ditched my Canon 85mm and bought this. Very happy. Great shots even wide open.

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As a wedding photographer, I felt the need for this lens. A friend let me borrow his, I love it, so I decided to buy one myself.

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I couldn’t be happier with this lens. The contrast on the images it produces is STUNNING. I shoot weddings with this lens and the occasional landscape shot.

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It’s a bit of a beast, but with that comes a solidly constructed, top of the line lens that will rival Sigma and Canon Pro lenses. Unless you’re going to crop the far corners of your photos (evidently there’s a lot of you guys out there that must do this) and enlarge them into 20×30 prints AND hang them next to the same photo taken by a Sigma Art for comparison, AND you’re going to give people magnifying glasses for their pixel peeping pleasure, I would save the money and go with this Tamron. Best value for money, given the quality you’ll receive.

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I chose this lens over a Sigma 35mm and I am so glad I did! First image taken with it on my Canon 6D and IT IS PERFECTION!

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This is an excellent lens. Picture quality is fantastic and it is well built and the image stabilization is nice to have. But I will comment on something already mentioned in previous reviews. Don’t expect this lens to produce sharp images out of the box. (at least this is my experience). I ordered the tap-in console to fine tune it and I miserably failed, then I fine tuned using the Nikon D850 auto af fine tune and I nailed it. Photos became tack sharp.

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I’ve used this lens for a wide variety of shots in different lighting both indoor and outdoor. I’ve had no issues at all with picture quality. Lens performance is spectacular!

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As echoed by other reviewers, if you’re looking for a 35mm prime, this lens is pound for pound by far the best bang for your buck.Optically it’s fantastic. The VC works a charm and it’s weather sealed.I’m a professional photographer and I chose this lens over the canon and sigma equivalents based entirely on its functionality and not its price. (And I don’t care about how they all perform at 200% in the bottom left hand corner)Here’s the catch… I had to send the first copy back. The first lens wouldn’t communicate with the dock, and only worked intermittently with my camera body, with frequent communication errors. I tried calling Tamron customer service which was a total waste of time so I returned it as per amazons policy and bought another copy from a different vendor.Second copy is flawless, and didn’t even need micro adjustment and couldn’t be happier.I was bemoaning this to a friend and was told “thems the risks of buying off brand Lenses. Even Kubrick would order several copies of a lens he intended to shoot a movie with. Just to make sure he got a good copy.”If all this sounds like too much hassle then play it safe, spend the extra and buy the L.But if you have the balls and the headspace buy this lens. You won’t be disappointed.