Tamron 04B 200mm f3.5

     I have begun testing my copy of this lens.  It is Winter in Vermont so my subject choices are limited.  I'm also shaking like a leaf and so are the trees.  This is an adaptall-2 lens.  It is not an SP lens though.  While it does have BBAR coating it is not a pro lens.  It has a built in hood.  I tested it with my T2i and a Fotasy adapter.  The adapter fits well.  Because of the crop factor the lens is difficult to hold steady.  It is heavy, which helps, but it is still a bear to stabilize.   Focus dampening is excellent but focusing without an AF confirmation chip is difficult at best.  Having said this, you won't have these problems with mirrorless bodies that have image stabilization on board.  Magnified finders and IS make this lens much easier to use.  Image quality is excellent overall.   Corner to corner sharpness appears consistent at most common apertures and distortion is minimal.  Center sharpness is a little soft at f3.5.  Go figure.  By f5.6 it tightens up and f5.6 is its sweet spot.  No surprises there.  This lens uses 1/2 stop increments so remember to move the aperture ring two clicks to adjust one full stop.  I didn't see a difference in quality between f3.5 and f4.  I noticed some fringing at wide apertures in high contrast scenes.  It was limited to small areas but not limited to the corners.  It is easily correctable as it is not complex.  I also noticed a signficant amount of contrast reducing flare in backlit situations.  It only occured with direct backlight though.  The lens is marketed as close focus but it really isn't.  At the time of production it may have qualified as close focus compared to standard teles but do not expect to shoot flowers with this lens.   Contrast is excellent and consistent except in backlit scenes.  Shadow detail is quite good.  This lens performs very well in soft light.
Color rendition is excellent.  I haven't taken anything but Winter scenes, but i'd be surprised if it didn't reproduce all colors very well.  Saturation is spot on accurate.  Black and white conversions have a pleasing range of tones with excellent tonal separation.   Normally I wouldn't suugest a telephoto for cityscapes but I believe this lens would do very well, especially if you like to shoot black and white.