Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Macro 1:1 172E from 1999 - Just great, that says it all

For quite some time I have been looking for a good macro lens that on the one hand deliver excellent image quality, on the other hand should be as inexpensive as possible. A pretty hard thing.  There are a lot of legendary Macro lenses on the used lens market, but they've gone up in price in recent years. Meanwhile, prices of several hundred euros for fifty-year-old lenses are no longer a rarity. A good friend gave me the tip to look for newer used lenses. Sometimes you can make real bargains here. One of the best macro lenses are the 90mm f / 2.8 from Tamron, whose first representatives were on the market as early as 1979.  The first Macro lenses were completely manual and fitted with a aperture ring. Here is an overview of all previously produced by the company Tamron Macro lenses:

90mm SP f/2.5 1:2 (1:1 with adapter) 52B (1979)

90mm SP f/2.5 1:2 (1:1 with adapter) 52BB (1989)

90mm SP f/2.8 1:1 72B (1996)

AF 90mm f/2.5 152E (1994)

AF 90mm f/2.8 1:1 72E (1996)

AF 90mm f/2.8 1:1 172E (1999)

AF 90mm f/2.8 Di 1:1 272E (2004)

AF 90mm f/2.8 Di VC 1:1 F004 (2012)

AF 90mm f/2.8 Di VC ii 1:1 F017 (2016)

In particular, the lenses with autofocus lose very quickly to value as soon as the newer version is thrown on the market.  The current version with image stabilizer (VC) costs about 700, - Euro, even if the older versions are still on the market to buy.  Older versions before the year 2000 are, even in good condition, for less than 100, - € to buy.  I bought my copy for 69, - Euro.  And sometimes it gets even cheaper. My lens is about 18 years old, but still in perfect condition.

The main problem with autofocus lenses is the lack of the aperture ring. So you need a Macro lens with a bayonet for a camera that you have lying around at home. For me it was the Canon bayonet, because I have a Canon 100D with the help of which I can adjust the aperture on the Macro lens if necessary. With the appropriate adapter, you can then use the macro lens to a Sony or Fuji or mft DSLM-camera.  Unfortunately, there is no possibility to adjust the aperture on site, unless you drag a second camera around with you.

Normally, this is not a problem, because macro shots can not be sensibly photographed with fully open aperture. You have to stopped down a little and in my experience, this should be at least until aperture f / 4.0.  In many cases, if the object is larger and deeper, it should even be aperture f / 8.0.  I get along well with a fixed aperture of f / 4.0 and leave it at that.

Now I want to introduce the technical data of my used macro lens here:

lens construction: 10 elements in 9 groups
number of blades: 9
closest focus distance: 29 cm
closest working distance: 9,5 cm
Magnification ratio: 1:1 at the closest focus distance
focus distance range limiter: 0,29-0,4; 0,4-
weight: 420 gramm
maximum diameter and length: 74 x 97 mm
material: plastic barrel and metallic mount
filter thread: 55 mm
release year: 1999, produced to 2003
AF drive: in body (without Nikon)
aperture: f/2.8 to f/32
lens hood: 1C9FH (plastic)
produced for: Canon, Nikon, Konica Minolta, Pentax-Mount

The lens is quite a nice chunk and correspondingly heavy. Although it is mainly made of plastic, but the built-in micromotor and the many lenses have quite a nice weight.  Nevertheless, it can work well with it and the focus setting is no problem thanks to focus peaking and magnifying glass function.
The picture quality is just fantastic, not only the sharpness is impressive, otherwise there is nothing to complain about. As with all newer and more coordinated lenses, there are no problems with distortions, purple frings or coma at open aperture. Very impressive. So you can not go wrong with these modern lenses. Of course, manual focus is provided, as there is no sensible electronic contact between lens and camera on a DSLM camera. But for macro photography is preferred by the big "connoisseurs" manual focus anyway.
The bokeh is not perfect, rather a bit restless, but normally the object is in the foreground and the background disappears. So no problem.
All in all, a super buy for a very small money.  What more do you want? From my side, I can only recommend that you look around for such an old, new lens.
Here are some pictures that I have taken with the Fuji XT-20 and the Tamron 90mm, each at f/4.0:

7artisans 35mm f/1.2 - my experience with a budget lens

Oh, man, what a good price for such a fast lens. A lens with a starting aperture of 1.2 for a ridiculous 120, - Euros - hard to believe. But the first reviews in the net were rather sobering. Most reviewers criticized the weak sharpness, which was usable only at Aperture 2.0. Should I try anyway?

After all, I already had the Neewer/ Meike 35mm f / 1.7 lying around with me at home and the part was wide open good to use. But no matter, my curiosity was greater than expected and at such a price you could (almost) make no mistake, right?

So I ordered them directly from China and it took only a few weeks, then was the black box with the longed for lens on my desk. Not even the customs made problems because the manufacturer shipped across the UK and re-tackles the lens there. Clever!

After unpacking I was relieved, the objective is by no means shabby and a plastic bomber, but feels very valuable. Everything is made of metal and has as good a feel as my other 7artisans lenses, like the 25mm f/1.8.  A little getting used to is the aperture adjustment without audible clicks. But I already know that from the manufacturers, like Meike or Neewer. Unfortunately, a lens hood is not included in delivery, but would not have been wrong, as you will see later.

As always, we start with the statistics:

Optical construction: 6 elements in 5 groups

Aperture: 1.2 - 16

Number of shutter blades: 9

Size: 1,42 x 1,8 x 1,3 inch

Weight: 157 gr. (5 1/2 oz.)

Closest Focus Distance: 0.35m (13.78″)

Filter diameter: 43 mm

Angle of View: 46°

Format size: APS-C

What about the optical properties? The fact is, with fully open aperture, the image result is really not the burner.  There is a sharp spot in the middle of the picture, but the image impression is milky and low in contrast. Only stopped down to aperture 1.4 or better 1.8, brings good results.

In addition, you have to be extremely careful that the light does not fall laterally or directly on the front lens. It creates disturbing arcuate flares. Here are some typical pictures in side or backlight:

Fujifilm XT-20 with 7artisans 35mm f/1.2 at f/1.4

Fujifilm XT-20 with 7artisans 35mm f/1.2 at f/4.0

Fujifilm XT-20 with 7artisans 35mm f/1.2 at f/1.8

Fujifilm XT-20 with 7artisans 35mm f/1.2 at f/1.2

That looks really bad. But as soon as you stopped down to at least Aperture 4.0, it gets better. That's a big minus point. Fortunately, you can buy screw-in lens hoods with a thread of 43mm for little money everywhere.
Vignetting is not a problem with this lens, even with the aperture open I could not find anything.

Fujifilm XT-20 with 7artisans 35mm f/1.2 at f/4.0

The same applies to distortions, even in close-up shots, there were only very small deviations from the image line. However, this is typical for focal lengths between 35 and 50 mm.
Now to the main topic: Sharpness of the picture.
Let's not fool ourselves: a photo is only as sharp as a razor from the middle to the outside, if you use a high aperture, as of aperture f / 8.0.  This is not different with a budget lens, like the 7artisans 35mm f / 1.2.  If you have expected something different, you must buy an L-lens from Canon or spend at least a high three-digit amount of money.  For a meager 120, - Euro, there is a sharp spot in the middle of the picture and on the outside, it is sometimes not so nice. So what, you get what you pay for!
As you can see this picture well, this must not be a disadvantage:

Fujifilm XT-20 with 7artisans 35mm f/1.2 at f/1.4

That really does not look bad, provided you have the right light and do not pay much attention to the corners. The big advantage is just the open aperture, with which you can put the motif out well. Thanks to the magnification function and the highlighting of the contrast edges on Sony and Fuji cameras (focus peaking), you can control the image sharpness very well.
Amazingly, I had no problems with chromatic aberrations. At my other cheap lenses of Meike, Neewer but also 7artisans that was really annoying sometimes. Even if Adobe Lightroom offers a corresponding function with the help of a single mouse click is sufficient to remove the purple fringing. There were still gray areas that have messed up some image downright. With this lens, this phenomenon did not exist even with completely open aperture.  Obviously, 7artisans has incorporated appropriate "analog" lens corrections, because there is no software correction for this lens.
Let's summarize: this lens can not perform miracles, it does not outsmart physics. But for little money you get a lens that synonymous with open aperture beyond the f/1.4 gives good results. However, I would not work with completely open aperture at f/1.2, the results are not convincing.
So basically: Thumbs up - a buy recommendation.
Here are some pictures that have been taken in the last weeks:

Fujifilm XT-20 with 7artisans 35mm f/1.2 at f/5.6

Fujifilm XT-20 with 7artisans 35mm f/1.2 at f/1.4

Fujifilm XT-20 with 7artisans 35mm f/1.2 at f/8.0

Fujifilm XT-20 with 7artisans 35mm f/1.2 at f/4.0

Fujifilm XT-20 with 7artisans 35mm f/1.2 at f/5.6

Fujifilm XT-20 with 7artisans 35mm f/1.2 at f/2.0

Fujifilm XT-20 with 7artisans 35mm f/1.2 at f/1.2

Fujifilm XT-20 with 7artisans 35mm f/1.2 at f/5.6

Fujifilm XT-20 with 7artisans 35mm f/1.2 at f/5.6

Fujifilm XT-20 with 7artisans 35mm f/1.2 at f/5.6

Fujifilm XT-20 with 7artisans 35mm f/1.2 at f/8.0

Fujifilm XT-20 with 7artisans 35mm f/1.2 at f/4.0

MIR-1 with 37mm f/2.8 "Grand Prix" Brussels 1958 - uncommon in many ways

I admit, this is my first Russian lens, which does not have the normal focal length of 50mm or approaching 50mm (for example 55 or 56mm). If you look at EBay or other platforms on the Internet, then there are offered almost only 50mm lenses from the former USSR. 

The Mir-1 37mm f2.8 is essentially the standard USSR moderate wide angle lens. The optical formula is a copy from the Zeiss Flektogon. It is available primarily in M42 mount (MIR-1B), also M39 mount (MIR-1), t-mount (Mir-1A) and Russian bayonets like the Kiev-10 or Kiev-15.

At the World Exhibition in Brussels in 1958, a set of lenses, which included Mir-1, was awarded the highest award - the Grand Prix . That's why the engraving "Grand Prix Bruessel 1985" can be found in the upper part of the lens body.

My copy is from one of the oldest silver-colored series of the lens produced in Krasnogorsk mechanical workshop "S.A. Sverev" in Krasnogorsk near Moscow in the late 1950's. 
After 1960, production of the silver-bodied M39-mount lens was transferred to ZOMZ in Zagorsk. The engraving in Latin letters indicates that this lens was made for export to Western Europe. These older soviet lenses are relatively cheap to buy. My copy has cost well under 50 euros. At EBay, these old lenses are sometimes sold close to 100 euros, which is really - despite good condition - far too much. But many traders believe (usually quite rightly): every day an idiot gets up and buys me this shi..  Alright, this lens is not that bad.
What irritated me a bit at the beginning:

With a M39-NEX-adapter, however, it is impossible to focus. You also need a M39-M42 adapter ring, only then does the lens work with a Sony E-mount camera. The new versions MIR-1B have an M42-mount and can be easily adapted to a Sony NEX.

The lens has a second peculiarity, which I have not seen in this form: The aperture itself is adjustable without stopping, but you have to adjust beforehand on an additional aperture ring the maximum aperture. How does it look in action? I put on the pre-ring aperture 8 and then I can on the actual aperture ring all the aperture up to the aperture 8 use, beyond that it does not work.

Let's start with the statistical data as usual:

Optics: 6 elements in 4 groups
Aperture: f/2.8 to f/16
Diaphragm: preset-aperture ring, 10 blades
Lens mount: M39-Mount
Minimal focus: 70 cm (= 2,29 ft.)
Filter size: 49 mm
Coating: SMC
Diameter x Length: 59 x 62 mm
Weight: 200 gr. (= 7,05 oz)

In principle, the feel and mechanics of this old lens are excellent. Nothing sleeps or jams, everything works smoothly. It is made of metal and shows no visible plastic elements. This was to be expected for the 50s and 60s of the 20th century. 

Focusing on a subject is easy with a very long focus path. With the help of focus-peaking on the modern DSLM cameras from Olympus, Fuji and Sony, the focus is easy. The initial aperture of f/2.8 is not exactly the burner, but stand out of the motifs from its background is possible.
What about the picture quality and the behavior of the lens in different lighting situations?
As with many old lenses, the images are slightly milky and low in contrast with the aperture completely open. The sharpness in the center of the image is fine, but it drops sharply towards the edges of the image. 
Here are two shots at f/2.8 that prove this well. The lower image is a one hundred percent enlargement from the center of the image.

It's enough to make the picture sharp even up to the edges, when you stopped down to f/4.0 to f/5.6. On the enlarged picture the bokeh is good to look at - it is calm and very creamy.
In the backlight, the MIR-1 lens shows incredible flares. I have not seen anything like that before. Look at these  pictures:

The glass used must have a strange coating. Unfortunately, the sources on the Internet do not reveal any information about it.
Significant vignetting I have not noticed in my photos. Even image bulges or distortions are weak. Well, 37mm is also a very moderate wide-angle lens. In addition, I have tried the lens only on an APS-C camera. For a full frame camera like Sony a7(x), it could well show some flaws.
I noticed very positively that there is hardly any purple fringing. Neither strong contrast edges nor open aperture can be seen any conspicuous color fringes. This may be due to the simple optical structure and good calculations of the Zeiss Flektogon.
Let's summarize: despite its age, the lens is still a very good performer. The photos are a bit stopped down, very rich in contrast and sharp. The focal length is ideally suited as a walk-around lens on a full frame. On an APS-C camera, we are already slightly beyond the normal focal length of 50mm (37 mm in full format correspond to about 55mm on an APS-C camera). For portraits, the focal length of 37mm is too short, for landscape too long. Maybe she could be used in street photography when the Motifs are far away.
Finally, here are a few photos that I have shot in recent weeks with this lens: