This Classic Tamron Lens Has Bokeh that Portrait Photographers Will Love

Around a decade ago, I reviewed the Tamron 45mm f1.8 Di VC lens. Today, that lens goes for not a whole lot of money as it was designed primarily for DSLRs. Let’s be honest here, looking back, I still think that 45mm was an odd focal length choice. I would’ve been more intrigued by a 43mm lens becauise that’s considered to be true normal. This lens wasn’t quite a 50mm or a 40mm though. But what is well known is how great it was for portrait photography.

There were a ton of really incredible things about this lens. First, let’s start with how it rendered lens flare. Every lens flare that I saw with this lens reminded me of some really nice spectrum of the rainbow instead of it just being a white light of some sort. But it did this while also maintaining high contrast. Said high contrast helped with autofocus performance.

Seriously, this is a lens that I wish Tamron we remake today with the same optical formula but for mirrorless cameras. I wish that they didn’t touch it otherwise because looking back, it was a nearly perfect lens in so many different ways. And as I look back at those images now after 10 years, there’s something also very film-like about the way that the colors look. The 45mm f1.8, like the 35mm f1.8, has a look almost like Kodak Ektachrome. That means that it will be wonderful for portrait shooters.

If you end up picking this lens up for your own portrait work, I think that you’ll love the look it delivers. It’s from an era right before lenses started to become way too much of a fetishization of realism. And more importantly, this lens has something that I love: onion bokeh.

Also remember that this lens boasted weather resistance, a really nice feel in the hand, and decent autofocus. With the right adapter, I’m sure you’ll be able to use features like face detection and so much more.