Tamron 17-35 mm f/2.8-4 Di OSD review - Chromatic and spherical aberration

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Tamron 17-35 mm f/2.8-4 Di OSD

18 February 2019

Arkadiusz Olech

5. Chromatic and spherical aberration

Chromatic aberration

When it comes to correction of longitudinal chromatic aberration, the tested Tamron doesn’t perform perfectly well. At the maximum focal length and by f/4.0 you can perceive slight colouring of out-of-focus images but, fortunately, that effect is not especially pronounced and it disappears practically completely on stopping down the aperture to f/5.6.

Tamron 17-35 mm f/2.8-4 Di OSD - Chromatic and spherical aberration

Graphs below show results reached in the category of lateral chromatic aberration, respectively on the edge of the APS-C/DX sensor, and on the edge of full frame.

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You won’t have any problems with that aberration at 35 mm, where its level is practically zero. Results in the 17 to 26 mm focal range are a tad higher but they never exceed a level of 0.09% so you deal with low or very low level across the whole focal and aperture spectrum. It is a very good result, especially if you take into account angles of view and the aperture fastness of the tested lens. It’s enough to remind here that its predecessor, so the Tamron SP AF 17–35 mm f/2.8–4 Di LD Aspherical (IF), could reach the proximity of 0.14% in the 24-35 mm focal range.

Canon 5D III, RAW, 26 mm, f/3.5	Canon 5D III, RAW, 35 mm, f/16.0

Spherical aberration

First photos of this chapter don’t show any distinct ‘focus shift’ effect. What’s more, circles of light reached before and after the focus are very similar. Both these facts prove that the Tamron 17-35 mm doesn’t have any distinct problems with spherical aberration.