According to many reviews of Tamron 85 1.8 VC,this lens is sharper than Nikon 85 1.8 G, much better built, renders a very nice bokeh and CA is well controlled. So I purchased the Tamron 85 1.8 VC hoping that it could replace my Nikon 85 1.8G.
There's no doubt that the Tamron 85 is well built, much better than the Nikon 85. It has a high quality feel to it. It's heavier than the Nikon 85 but it's not very heavy. Just the right weight. It's plenty sharp @ wide open but so is my Nikon 85. It's a little sharper than the Nikon but not by a large margin. Maybe my copy isn't sharp? Or am I expecting too much? Nikon 85 renders a slight better color than the Tamron 85. To me, The Tamron's color looks a bit muted but you an fix it in pp. VC on the Tamron works well for me and I could gat a sharp image @1/20 in a low light situation. The one thing that makes the Tamron 85 stands out against the Nikon 85 is well controlled CA. There IS a clear difference between the two lenses regarding CA. The Tamron simply nearly eliminates all CA while the Nikon exhibits clear blue/purple color fringes around the edges in a very contrast lighting situation. Big win for the Tamron.
However, other than an outstanding CA control performance, the Tamron didn't impress me enough to replace my Nikon 85 1.8g. So I'm returning the Tamron and save a little more money to get either an used Nikon 85 f1.4 G or Sigma 84 1.4 ART since the prices of both lenses is getting quite close. But the Sigma 85 1.4 ART seems to have an AF issue and that there seem to be a lots of duds out there. That makes me worry.
