Christopher J Osborne

This is another one of Tamron's earliest Adaptall 2 lenses. It was launched in 1979 as one of Tamron's initial line up Adaptall 2 lenses. It features a design with separate rings for zoom and focus (often referred to as a 'two-touch' design at the time). This was considered a little old fashioned as combined zoom/focus controls were becoming more popular (often referred to at the time as a 'one-touch' designs… it's interesting that most zooms these days have gone back to such two ring designs!) In 1984 this lens was replaced with an updated design (code named 20A) featuring a one-touch design, more compact and light-weight design (459 vs. 585 grams), and a revised optical design that has a much better reputation for image quality. This new lens was labelled with a maximum aperture of f/3.5 just like the 02A, but according to adaptall-2.com it is in fact an f/4 design, so the older 02A design does have one small advantage there. But if this zoom range appeals I would suggest looking out for the 20A model rather than this 02A model.

This is the first Tamron lens I ever bought and it turned out to be a bit of a mistake! If you're a constant aperture zoom lens fan you might be impressed by the semi-fast constant maximum aperture of f/3.5. But don't be fooled: this is one of the least interesting Adaptall 2 lenses! I have never been been able to work up the enthusiam to actually put this thing on a camera and take photographs with it…

Links

Tamron 70-150mm f/3.5 (02A) on the adaptall-2.com website