The type of photography that you are planning to use is an important decision factor. Here we have evaluated the Lensbaby Velvet 56 and the Tamron AF 55-200mm f4-5.6 II LD for their suitability to various photography scenarios:
Size and Weight Comparison
The size of a lens is a crucial factor to consider when comparing two lenses. Lensbaby Velvet 56 is the longer of the two lenses at 86mm. The Tamron AF 55-200mm f4-5.6 II LD with a length of 83mm, is 3mm shorter. On the other hand, there is no difference between the max diameters of these lenses, both coming at 72mm.
The weight of a lens is equally significant as its external dimensions, particularly if you intend to handhold your camera and lens combination for extended periods. Tamron AF 55-200mm f4-5.6 II LD weighs 300g, 25% (100g) lighter than the Lensbaby Velvet 56's weight of 400g.
Filter Threads
The Lensbaby Velvet 56 has a filter size of 62mm whereas the Tamron AF 55-200mm f4-5.6 II LD has a 52mm diameter. Larger filters are generally more expensive than the smaller ones given all the other features are equal.
Below are links to the 62mm filters that we recommend you to consider for the Lensbaby Velvet 56:
And these are the 52mm filters that we recommend for the Tamron AF 55-200mm f4-5.6 II LD:
Lens Mounts
Both the Lensbaby Velvet 56 and the Tamron AF 55-200mm f4-5.6 II LD has the same Canon EF lens mount. Some of the latest released cameras that are compatible with the Canon EF lenses are Canon 1D X III, Canon 6D MII and Canon 5D MIV.
Lensbaby Velvet 56 is also available in Fujifilm X , Micro Four Thirds, Nikon F (FX), Pentax KAF3, Samsung NX, Sony Alpha and Sony E mounts.
Tamron AF 55-200mm f4-5.6 II LD is also available in Nikon F (DX) and Sony Alpha mounts.
Focal Range
Lensbaby Velvet 56 is a prime lens with fixed focal lenght of 56mm. When it is mounted on an APS-C sensor camera with 1.6x crop, it provides a 35mm (FF) equivalent of
89.6mm.
On the other hand, the Tamron AF 55-200mm f4-5.6 II LD has a focal range of 55-200mm and 3.6X zoom ratio which has an effective (full-frame 35mm equivalent) focal range of 88-320mm when used on a APS-C / DX format camera.