{"id":1378,"date":"2021-04-10T17:26:58","date_gmt":"2021-04-10T17:26:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/?p=1378"},"modified":"2021-04-10T17:26:58","modified_gmt":"2021-04-10T17:26:58","slug":"hiking-with-the-tamron-adaptall-sp-24-48mm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/index.php\/2021\/04\/10\/hiking-with-the-tamron-adaptall-sp-24-48mm\/","title":{"rendered":"Hiking with the Tamron Adaptall SP 24-48mm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I’ve decided to attempt to hike all of the official mountains in Wales, 188 of them. When I decided to do this I totalled up how many I was already able to tick off… which was four. I’ve therefore been doing some long mountain walks to tick off as many as is possible in a day, starting with the Brecon Beacons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"Storey<\/a>\n<\/div>
One of the first shots with my Sony A7Rii. Storey Arms, Brecon Beacons. | Tamron Adaptall SP 24-48 @ 24mm, f8.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I’ve recently been using my Tamron Adaptall SP 28-80 a lot, and have been really impressed with it. However, I’ve also got hold of a very cheap SP 24-48 and already had the hood so thought I would take this tiny and light lens with me as I ticked off between three and six mountains on a hike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"Fan<\/a>\n<\/div>
It is not the most flare-resistant lens you’ll ever use, but a carefully placed hand can sometimes work. | Tamron Adaptall SP 24-48 @ 24mm, f8.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I’ve long been a fan of the 24-48, but have never kept a copy long term, especially since getting my Zeiss Loxia 21\/2.8. However, on a long hike I appreciate having the flexibility of a zoom and my Zeiss is currently jammed at infinity – which for a \u00a31,200 modern lens is very disappointing, considering I’ve never had this with any of my Adaptalls and I’m owned over 50 Adaptalls over the years now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"Walkers\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
Travelling light is key and the SP 24-48 is not much bigger or heavier than a wide prime. | Tamron Adaptall SP 24-48 @ 48mm, f8.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I’m now finally giving the SP 24-48 some real use, and on a 42mp high resolution digital camera, something not contemplated when the lens was launched in 1980. To me it holds up really well in terms of sharpness. I am having some issues with consistency though, I am finding focusing hard on the A7Rii in the mountains as contrast is lacking sometimes. My latest walk the lens is soft on the right-hand side, but I didn’t notice that on other walks. The problem with most lenses on adapters – even good ones – is that they focus past infinity, so it is often difficult to get perfect infinity focus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"Mountain<\/a>\n<\/div>
The Black Mountain range, Brecon Beacons. | Tamron Adaptall SP 24-48 @ 48mm, f8.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Compounding this issue is focusing for centre sharpness and not checking the corners to see when the best balance is struck. What I need to do when I have time is get the tripod out and a distant town and focus carefully to get the most even sharpness possible and record that point on the lens and use that in future rather than focusing by eye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That aside, when you’re not pixel-peeping I think this lens copes decently with the 42mp sensor and is certainly capable of some good photos, and I think learning more about the lens and the best focusing position for infinity might help with more consistent sharpness across the frame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"Brecon<\/a>\n<\/div>
Fan Gyhirych, Brecon Beacons. | Tamron Adaptall 2 SP 24-48 @ 24mm, f8.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What I am not sure about is whether I value having 24mm most, or whether I’d prefer a bit more reach. On my next walk I’ll be taking the SP 28-80 to find out – and to see how that holds up in the mountains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"The<\/a>\n<\/div>
A black sky in the Black Mountains. | Tamron Adaptall SP 24-48 @ 24mm, f11.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For all of my latest photos, please follow me on Flickr<\/a>. For details of the Welsh mountains I have walked so far you can find this right here on this website by using the main menu or clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve decided to attempt to hike all of the official mountains in Wales, 188 of them. When I decided to do this I totalled up how many I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1380,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[38,6],"tags":[40,41,19,36,39,42],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1378"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1378"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1381,"href":"https:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1378\/revisions\/1381"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themanualphotographer.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}