Tamron SP 35 mm f/1.4 Di USD review - Vignetting

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Tamron SP 35 mm f/1.4 Di USD

20 November 2019

Arkadiusz Olech

8. Vignetting

First let's check how the Tamron SP 1.4/35 performs in the category of vignetting on the small sensor of the Canon 50D – appropriate thumbnails are shown below.

Canon 50D, f/1.4	Canon 50D, f/2.0

No reasons to worry – at the maximum relative aperture the vignetting amounts to 26% (−0.85 EV), and by f/2.0 and f/2.8 it decreases to an imperceptible value of, respectively, 11% (−0.32 EV), and 6% (−0.17 EV).

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Now let's check how the situation changes after passing to full frame – below you can find photos taken with the help of the Canon EOS 5D Mark III.

Canon 5D III, f/1.4	Canon 5D III, f/2.0

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

Unfortunately in this case vignetting is huge. At the maximum relative aperture, in the frame corners, you lose as much as 66% of light (−3.13 EV). You deal with a high vignetting level by f/2.0 where we got a result of 44% (−1.68 EV). That aberration becomes moderate only by f/2.8 where it reaches 27% (−0.92 EV)

Then the vignetting drops quite slowly on stopping down so by f/4.0, f/5.6 and f/8.0 you see, respectively, 22% (−0.73 EV), 17% (−0.53 EV) and 12% (−0.37 EV). The aberration becomes completely imperceptible only by f/11 where it reaches just 9% (−0.29 EV).

Is it a lot, 66% of brightness loss at the maximum relative aperture? The answer must be positive but it's worth reminding here that the Sigma A 1.4/35 had exactly the same result (but its situation was a tad more difficult due to physical dimensions smaller than those of the Tamron). The vignetting value of the Canon 1.4/35L II amounted to 64% so, within measuring error, was almost identical.

If you want to see a better performance you have to look at the huge Sigma A 1.4/40 where we got 59% and the Nikkor 1.4/35G in which case the light fall-off in the frame corners amounted to 60%.

Canon 5D III, JPEG, f/1.4