Tamron SP 85 mm f/1.8 Di VC USD review - Vignetting

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Tamron SP 85 mm f/1.8 Di VC USD

12 April 2016

Arkadiusz Olech

8. Vignetting

First let’s check how the Tamron 1.8/85 VC performs in this category on the small sensor of the Canon 50D. Appropriate thumbnails are presented below.

Canon 50D, f/1.8	Canon 50D, f/2.0

As you see you shouldn’t worry at all – at the maximum relative aperture the vignetting amounts to 21% (−0.67 EV) and by f/2.0 it decreases to 13% (−0.41 EV). By f/2.8 that aberration becomes imperceptible, reaching just 5% (−0.14 EV).

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Now let’s see how the lens fares on full frame.

Canon 5D III, f/1.8	Canon 5D III, f/2.0

Canon 5D III, f/2.8	Canon 5D III, f/4.0

There are much more problems. At the maximum relative aperture you must take into account the brightness loss in the frame corners amounting to 53% (−2.20 EV). It is a lot and it should be considered a serious slip-up. The Tamron, after all, is physically big; still it loses more light than smaller 1.8/85 models produced by Canon and Nikon.

By f/2.0 the vignetting decreases to 42% (−1.59 EV), and by f/2.8 it decreases to 19% (−0.62 EV). The problems are over completely by f/4.0 and f/5.6 where that aberration is respectively 12% (−0.37 EV) and 7% (−0.22 EV).