The type of photography that you are planning to use is an important decision factor. Here we have evaluated the Tokina Opera 50mm F1.4 and the Tamron 45mm F1.8 Di VC USD for their suitability to various photography scenarios:
Size and Weight Comparison
Size of a lens is an important deciding factor when comparing two lenses.Tokina Opera 50mm F1.4 is the longer of the two lenses at 108mm. The Tamron 45mm F1.8 Di VC USD with a length of 92mm is 16mm shorter. On the other hand, there is no difference between the max diameters of these lenses, both coming at 80mm.
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. Tamron 45mm F1.8 Di VC USD weighs 540g, 43% (410g) lighter than the Tokina Opera 50mm F1.4's weight of 950g.
Below you can find the dimension and weight table of the 'Standard Prime Lenses in Canon EF Mount for size comparison purposes.
Standard Prime Lenses in Canon EF Mount for Size Comparison
Lens Mounts
Both Tokina Opera 50mm F1.4 and Tamron 45mm F1.8 Di VC USD 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.
Tokina Opera 50mm F1.4 is also available in Nikon F (FX) mount.
Tamron 45mm F1.8 Di VC USD is also available in Nikon F (FX) and Sony Alpha mounts.
Focal Range
Tokina Opera 50mm F1.4 is a prime lens with fixed focal lenght of 50mm. When it is mounted on an APS-C sensor camera with 1.6x crop, it provides an 35mm (FF) equivalent of 80mm.
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 1.6x crop, it provides an 35mm (FF) equivalent of 72mm.