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Lens review

Tamron SP 85 mm f/1.8 Di VC USD

12 April 2016
Arkadiusz Olech

10. Autofocus

The tested lens is equipped with an USD ultrasonic autofocus motor so it works noiselessly. It is also rather fast – running through the whole distance scale and confirming the focus takes about 0.5-0.6 of a second. It is perhaps not a record-breaking result but still that speed is very sensible indeed.

The lens didn’t have any accuracy problems either. In studio conditions it hits what you aim at in 92% of cases; in other 8% of cases the focus is not perfect but still set correctly. Obvious misses (meaning MTFs worse by over 20% than the maximum value) we didn’t notice at all.

The photo below shows that, while attached to the Canon 50D, the Tamron set the focus slightly behind the proper target and when cooperating with the EOS 5D Mk III it practically never missed, hitting always the aim. Unfortunately it was true only for objects situated very close to the lens. When we increased the distance we managed to notice slight front-focus which we were able to correct applying microregulation of about 5-6 units.


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Canon 50D, f/1.8
Tamron SP 85 mm f/1.8 Di VC USD - Autofocus
Canon 5D MkIII, f/1.8
Tamron SP 85 mm f/1.8 Di VC USD - Autofocus