The type of photography that you are planning to use is an important decision factor. Here we have evaluated the Tamron 45mm F1.8 Di VC USD and the Lensbaby Velvet 56 for their suitability to various photography scenarios:
Size and Weight Comparison
Size of a lens is an important deciding factor when comparing two lenses.Tamron 45mm F1.8 Di VC USD is the longer of the two lenses at 92mm. The Lensbaby Velvet 56 with a length of 86mm is 6mm shorter. Besides being longer, the Tamron 45mm F1.8 Di VC USD also has a larger diameter of 80mm compared to Lensbaby Velvet 56's 72mm diameter.
Weight of a lens is as important as its external dimensions, especially if you are planning to hand hold your camera and lens combination for longer periods. Lensbaby Velvet 56 weighs 400g, 23% (120g) lighter than the Tamron 45mm F1.8 Di VC USD's weight of 520g.
Below you can find the dimension and weight table of the 'Standard Prime Lenses in Nikon F (FX) Mount for size comparison purposes.
Standard Prime Lenses in Nikon F (FX) Mount for Size Comparison
Lens Mounts
Both Tamron 45mm F1.8 Di VC USD and Lensbaby Velvet 56 has the same Nikon F (FX) lens mount. Some of the latest released cameras that are compatible with the Nikon F (FX) lenses are Nikon D6, Nikon D780 and Nikon D3500.
Tamron 45mm F1.8 Di VC USD is also available in Canon EF and Sony Alpha mounts.
Lensbaby Velvet 56 is also available in Canon EF , Fujifilm X, Micro Four Thirds, Pentax KAF3, Samsung NX, Sony Alpha and Sony E mounts.
Focal Range
Tamron 45mm F1.8 Di VC USD is a prime lens with fixed focal lenght of 45mm. When it is mounted on an APS-C sensor camera with 1.5x crop, it provides an 35mm (FF) equivalent of 67.5mm.
Lensbaby Velvet 56 is a prime lens with fixed focal lenght of 56mm. When it is mounted on an APS-C sensor camera with 1.5x crop, it provides an 35mm (FF) equivalent of 84mm.