The Tamron 35mm (Amazon affiliate link) has barely been off my camera since I bought it a few months back. It's been a pleasure to use for both a nude shoot in a hotel room with a bounced flash, shooting video, both interview-style, B-roll and architecture and street photography.
TLDR? We made a quick video for you as well:
We did some test shots in the studio to prepare for another shoot and the 50mm just wouldn't cut the crop we were aiming for, but the Canon 16-35mm that I had would bevel and distort too much for our taste. This isn't really a to make a point of
This lens is better than other lense $x
but more a: we wanted something that'd do that job better.
The Tamron 35mm isn't expensive compared to other lenses with the same specs and the build quality seems to be quite high. The lens feels nice to use and it looks brilliant as well. When ever I would try something in challenging conditions like in low light, I'd turn to Judith and say:
Still not disappointed with it... Gotta try harder.
It was a bit of a gamble, after only looking at a few reviews and adding a Tamron lens to our Canon only lens park, but so far, no regrets. Still trying harder to find something that'd make me not like it that much. All shots below have been taken with the 35mm on a Canon 6D MK 1 (full frame sensor).
Reasons to buy the Tamron 35mm VC SP
- Fast lens with a reasonable price tag
- Very low minimum focus distance (get up close!)
- Pretty sharp from corner to corner, little distortion
The lens is great to use, the switches for autofocus and image stabilisation / vibration control have a good size to be hit when not looking at them.
Drawbacks of the Tamron 35mm 1.8f
- The focus ring goes the other way around (counter-clock wise for infinity) (not for this only, but just Tamron in general)
- It's not the lightest, about half a kilo
- Price tag above the entry level segment of for example the Canon 50mm 1.8 (~5 times the price)
Summary
If you're looking for a lens for street photography, full body portraits and some good all around specs, give the Tamron a shot. If you're sceptical about Tamron in general, think of this lens as something at is trying to take shots at the Sigma Art segment (well a bit below).
