When I first started this blog I told the tale of coming back to film photography with my Pentax SP1000 and having a bit of a disheartening experience with it. To be fair it wasn't the fault of the camera, it was more a case of my inexperience at buying cameras from ebay that left me with a bit of a lemon. Since that first year the camera has sat on a shelf as a parts donor should my SP500 ever need them. That changed recently with a challenge from the good folks at the Embrace The Grain Photography Podcast.
Each month the hosts of the podcast, Sherry and Jake, like to give their listeners and social media followers a little challenge to encourage us to get out and enjoy photography. The challenge for June 2022 was to use a zoom lens that maybe you haven't touched for several months or maybe even years and give it a little love.
I have a Tamron Adaptall 2 SP 35-210 f/3.5-4.2 26A and a Tamron Adaptall 2 80-210mm f3.8-4.2 03A that I haven't used for a year or three and decided to use them for the challenge. I also decided to take this a step further and dusted off my Pentax SP1000 for it's first outing in around five years. A few quick checks told me the camera still functioned and I remembered the nagging little problem of not letting the rewind button release when loading the camera. I wiggled it, just a little bit to get things in the right place and I gave it a whirl.
The beauty of the Tamron Adaptall system is you buy a mount for your camera with your lens. Should you buy a camera with a different mount, you just buy a new Adaptall mount for that particular camera mount, thus saving a ton of money on lenses. It was a great idea and gave folks like myself a reasonably priced way into photography. After initially suffering with reliability problems on the original adaptamatic system, Tamron addressed those reliability issues with the new Adaptall system and gave the company a good basis to grow from.
Tamron continued to make improvements to the Adaptall system and brought the Adaptall 2 system to the market in 1979, which was a boom time for the photographic industry. The Adaptall 2 series of lenses was split between the Standard lenses and the SP range of Superior Performance lenses aimed at advanced enthusiasts and professional photographers.
Tamron Adaptall 2 lenses are seriously well made optics with a weight that reassured the user that should they get mugged, the lens could be used as a defensive weapon and still work perfectly afterwards. Allegedly. I attached one of my Adaptall 2 telephoto zoom lenses to my Pentax SP1000, loaded a roll of Kodak Gold into it and set off for a wander.
First up was my SP 35-210mm f3.5-4.2 This is a beast of a lens, weighing in at just under 2 pounds it is a serious lump to hold. This is mitigated with the zoom and focus being on the same ring making it easy to use. I took my time shooting this roll and really enjoyed it despite the weight. Folks like me wth a spine injury might want to carry it in a bag rather than a neck strap. You can trust me on that one. I also used the addfitional lens hood that was sold for this lens which really helped reduce any flare or abberations. I shot a roll of Kodak Gold with this set up whilst out and about with my Goodman Zone and the Zone was the lighter of the two.
Next up, the 80-210mm f3.8-4.2. I used this over a couple of days whilst enjoying the good weather and getting out and about. This lens is the meat and potatoes of the Adaptall 2 range aimed at your average enthusiast like myself. It's also a good half a pound lighter than the 35-210 and it handles nicely too. Focus and zoom are again on the same ring making it easy to use and It also has a built in lens hood that came in very handy on the sunny summer days when I was using it.
I shot another roll of Gold with this set up and really enjoyed it. I bought this lens from my friend Owen when I first got back into film in 2017 and the muscle memory is still there despite the lens being unused for a couple of years. I have been using my Tamron 28-70mm f3,5-4.2 on my DSLR's a lot recently and had begun to take for granted the quality that Tamron lenses are capable of. This challenge reminded me why I love the Adaptall 2 lenses and i'm glad I took part.
Developing day arrived and I developed my film in my Cinestill CS41 kit that is still going strong a few months after I first mixed it. I always try to have a few rolls of C41 to develop to make it worthwhile setting my water tank up etc. I had also shot a couple of rolls of Ilford XP2 in my Goodman Zone and I spent an evening developing them. It wasn't long before my films were hanging to dry in my bathroom and I left them overnight. The next day I scanned both rolls of 35mm Kodak Gold with my Ion Slides2PC scanner and tidied them up in Affinity Photo.
I loved using my SP1000 and Tamron Adaptall 2 telephoto zoom lenses again. When I came back to photography in 2017 my bargain bucket Spotmatics with Tamron and Helios lenses served me well and gave me a good foundation to build upon. Here are a few of my photos from this enjoyable challenge, I have placed them and more from both rolls in an album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. Also please consider making a donation using the Ko-Fi buttons on this page as It helps me continue my journey and it's very much appreciated.
Pentax SP1000 - Tamron AD2 35-210mm zoom - Kodak Gold
Pentax SP1000 - Tamron AD2 80-210mm zoom - Kodak Gold
Embrace The Grain Photography Podcast
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