Making a decision between two lenses

Joshonator · Jun 13, 2012

So I was bidding on two auctions on ebay and accidentally ended up winning them both, so I have two very similar lenses and will be selling one to my cousin.

The optical quality is pretty much identical between the two. Right now I'm leaning toward the 80-210 because the filter thread is very important to me for mounting hoods (the glass elements are under 4mm from the front) and I would like to try mounting a reverse 28mm lens to the front for macro. But I can't help thinking that I will miss the 70-80mm range.

I am probably going to try fixing the filter thread on the 70-210 myself but my efforts so far have failed. The "macro" capabilities of both lenses is pretty much the same.

The first one is a tamron adaptall 2 70-210 f3.8-4 Tamron Adaptall-2 70-210mm F/3.8-4 Model 46A

10mm better focal range
the filter thread is slightly bent at one point, right now mounting filters is impossible
partly plastic construction
slightly lighter
the zoom creeps
In good condition other than two small marks on the focus ring
the rear element looks slightly bigger leading me to think it may be slightly better in light performance.

The Second one is a tamron adaptall 2 80-210 f3.8-4 Tamron Adaptall-2 80-210mm F/3.8-4 Model 103A

all metal construction
slightly heavier
in very good condition but there are a few small paint chips and the screws are slightly rusted
zoom does not creep
has more detailed focus marking on the barrel (I don't use these often)

Help me decide!

Patrice · Jun 13, 2012

Both lenses have the same aperture range so both will perform the same in any given light. The physical size difference of the rear element of these lenses is likely due to differences in the rear element to focal plane distances.

Since you have both lenses why don't you perform the test yourself to see if you'll miss the 70 to 80 mm gap. I suspect not.

If both lenses are in good physical and optical condition I would likely favour the all metal lens.

BTW, how can you accidentally win these auctions if you were actively participating in the auction?

Joshonator · Jun 13, 2012

Well I managed to repair the dent in the filter thread myself (was not easy!) so I'm going to be keeping the 70-210. I did an unscientific test of them both and like the results on it a bit better, it had a very slight edge in sharpness.

This is how I "accidentally" won both auctions

.

Both lenses were listed as 80-210 lenses. I was bidding on the 70-210 46a thinking it was the 80-210 103A model, but then in the picture the zoom ring was slightly down and I mistakenly thought that was the lens hood of the older crappier 03a 80-210, so I figured since I had only bid 5$ I would just bid on the better one and surely someone else would snag this one. So I managed to snipe the metal 103a version for 15$ and then someone bid 5$ in the last second on the other one but since I had 5$ as my max bid I automatically won the auction

. After I won both auctions I realised that it was actually the better 70-210 version so I actually bid more for the older one lol. Two lenses for 20$ aint bad though.