Lens Comparison Sony 35mm f/1.4 vs Tamron 35mm f/2.8
To Bokeh or not to Bokeh
I bought the Tamron 35mm f/2.8 because I wanted a 35mm prime without spending a fortune. I got it on Amazon for $199. It is a small and light lens, coming in at 3” long and 8.7oz, including the hood. It competitors in this price range are the Rokinon 35mm f/1.8 at $349, Sony 35mm f/2.8 ZA at $598. and the Sigma 35mm f/2 DG DN at $629.
I then bought the Sony f/1.4 35mm G-master lens because I wanted a top end 35mm lens with a very wide aperture. I bought it from Pixel Connection for $1,298. It is a chunky lens at 1lb-3.6 oz and 4” long without the lens hood. Add an inch for the lens hood. It competes with two Sigma 35mm lenses, the f/1.4 DG DN at $789 (1lb 6oz, 4.4”) and the f/1.2 at $1,349 (2lb-6.4oz, 5.4”).
The Tamron is a great general purpose lens and very sharp, even wide open. But, so is the Sony with the added bonus of a much wider maximum aperture. At f/1.4, you can really isolate your subject and, hopefully, get very pleasing bokeh in the background. At f/2.8, you simply can’t get the same effect.
I considered the Sigma f/1.2, but what put me off was its size and weight.
Obviously, with the addition of the Sony f/1.4 to my kit-bag, the Tamron had to go.
But, I thought I’d compare it to its rival before sending it off to eBay heaven. In my semi-scientific test, I took the same three photos with each lens, wide-open and at f/4, which is usually the sweet spot for sharpness with prime lenses. The first photo was meant to test the lenses shooting a near subject with the expectation of seeing lots of nice bokeh in the out-of-focus areas. The second two were cityscapes shot from my balcony. I ended up with 12 photographs and I scored them on center sharpness, edge sharpness, highlight detail, shadow detail, bokeh, and sharpness through the complete depth of field. Here are my results:
To my surprise, the Tamron was sharper across the board. The only area where it lost out was in the ability to create a background with pleasing bokeh. That is not to say the Sony is not sharp. Unless you are pixel peeping, you wouldn’t notice the slight advantage of the cheap Tamron vs the expensive Sony G-master lens.
So, maybe the Tamron won’t go after all. It is tiny and unobtrusive, making it a great walk-around lens. Here are the first two shots at f/1.4 (Sony) and f/2.8 (Tamron) followed by the second cityscape at f/4 (Sony, then Tamron).
These images were resized down to 2048px wide, so that they could be displayed in a Substack post.
If you are in the market for a 35mm lens for your Sony E-mount camera, the Tamron is a great performer at a bargain price. If you really want the low-light performance and pretty bokeh of an f/1.4 lens, then the Sony won’t disappoint you. However, I’d check the Sigma f/1.4 and f/1.2 before making a final decision.