The M1:2 designation within the title refers to the truth that the lens has a magnification of 1:2 at its closest focusing distance of 4.3 inches. Meaning it’s good for up-close macro photographs. Uncorrected you’ll undoubtedly discover straight traces bending outward (aka barrel distortion) on this lens, which generally is a enjoyable impact. However in the event you allow distortion correction in your Sony digicam, the distortion might be fastened for you in your JPEGs. If you happen to shoot RAW, it’s straightforward to appropriate this in picture enhancing software program. The identical is true of the darkened corners you would possibly see on the lens’ widest apertures, although some individuals like this impact, too. Autofocus purists would possibly balk at the truth that this Tamron focuses electronically by sending an electrical sign to a motor whenever you flip the focusing ring, reasonably than utilizing a mechanical helicoid to maneuver the lens parts. We discovered the electrical focusing pleasantly responsive, although, and didn’t discover it a detriment in any respect. Positive, the digicam must be powered on to focus the lens, nevertheless it’s additionally a digicam with an digital viewfinder. So it’s not like you possibly can look and manually focus with the digicam off anyway. Whereas avenue shooters who need to prefocus to a sure distance could look askance at us, they need to be eager to notice that this lens additionally doesn’t have a distance scale for manually focusing in that method anyhow.
