Tamron EF 24-70 f/2.8 VC in Stock & Quick MTF Review

[Canon Rumors]

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Tamron EF 24-70 f/2.8 VC
Don’t want to wait for the new Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L II? Don’t feel like spending $2200? Wanted some form of image stabilization, perhaps the new Tamron 24-70 f/2.8 VC is for you.

Quick MTF Review
Roger at Lensrentals.com also did a quick and dirty MTF comparison between the new Tamron 24-70 f/2.8 VC and the current Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L. The Tamron faired quite well.

 

Tamron 24-70 f/2.8 VC vs Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L (Higher numbers are better)

Roger also mentions the autofocus performance is pretty good on the Tamron, maybe not as quick as the Canon, but much faster than Tamron’s 70-200.

You can read the entire quick and dirty review at LensRentals.com here.

Tamron 24-70 f/2.8 VC at B&H for $1299

cr

[ugly.|.face]

Man, this is starting to look better and better! I was going to wait a couple years(hopefully won't take that long) to get the new EF 24-70 mk II, but for way less money, this might just sway me. I am a budding wedding photographer, and am thinking about getting a 24-70 for the sake of versatility. My current setup is all primes and any zoom I get will have to be close in terms of IQ.

Waiting to see how this will compare to the ef 24-70 II...

[cbphoto]

I'd like to see info on the Tamron's vignetting. In the few lenses I've compared over the years, Tamron lenses had much greater vignetting than Canon's, especially at wide open apertures.

[elusive1]

This is pretty brutal for Canon, as this just another recent episode of Canon being out shined by a competitor, since the Tamron is really competing against the 24-70 Mark 1

I'm sure the the 24-70 L Mark2 will have better resolution figures than the Tamron, but it costs $1K more and no I.S. What good is brilliant resolution if your hands are shaky?

Tally up the recent blows to Canon on 3 major projects

1) Nikon D800 is better than the 5D3 in almost all aspects, even video.
2) Very overpriced Canon Cinema division got destroyed at NAB by Black Magic and Sony who stole all the buzz.
3) Now Tamron fills the I.S. niche that #1 feature in the 24-70 that Canon customers were begging and pleading for, but Canon failed to deliver.

I think it's time for Canon to shed the arrogance and get back to earth and start making competitive products again. I think the huge success of the 5D2 made Canon really lazy and complacent in both stills and video, and the current products are a reflection of that arrogance.

Canon needs a real and decisive winner badly. Very badly.

[cliffwang]

Man, this is starting to look better and better! I was going to wait a couple years(hopefully won't take that long) to get the new EF 24-70 mk II, but for way less money, this might just sway me. I am a budding wedding photographer, and am thinking about getting a 24-70 for the sake of versatility. My current setup is all primes and any zoom I get will have to be close in terms of IQ.

Waiting to see how this will compare to the ef 24-70 II...

I don't expect it would be better than 24-70 mark ii.  However, same price with mark I and better IQ + VC are really interesting for me.  I am also waiting for more reviews.

[bvukich]

1) Nikon D800 is better than the 5D3 in almost all aspects, even video.
2) Very overpriced Canon Cinema division got destroyed at NAB by Black Magic and Sony who stole all the buzz.
3) Now Tamron fills the I.S. niche that #1 feature in the 24-70 that Canon customers were begging and pleading for, but Canon failed to deliver.

1) DR at low ISO, and resolution are the only advantages the D800 has.
2) Black Magic may have the hype locked down, but with that tiny sensor the two are not interchangeable.
3) The 24-70II will surely blow away the Tamron in every way...  Except IS (and price). So you do have a semi-valid point there.  I'm still hoping they bring out a version with IS, but who knows.

[dilbert]

3) The 24-70II will surely blow away the Tamron in every way...  Except IS (and price). So you do have a semi-valid point there.  I'm still hoping they bring out a version with IS, but who knows.

Well, if Canon MkII lens is close to double the price of the Tamron lens then it is going to have a hard time selling if it isn't substantially better optically. I'm rather surprised that the Tamron is that much better than the Canon lens. This will definitely put a lid on the resale price of used 24-70 MkI's.

If Canon were to bring out a 24-70 with IS then you should expect it to be more expensive again than the MkII.

[michi]

I was thinking of getting the Mark II but when they announced the price and no IS I decided that it's not for me.  If the Tamron is a little better than the Mark I, I will give it a shot.  I sort of gave up on non Canon lenses many years ago after several issues with some of them.  Although I have to say that Sigma service was always top notch and took care of everything.  Anyone have experience with Tamrons customer service, is it as good as Sigma?  Also waiting for more reviews, then I will jump if they concur with the good reviews that are out already.

[ugly.|.face]

I'd like to see info on the Tamron's vignetting. In the few lenses I've compared over the years, Tamron lenses had much greater vignetting than Canon's, especially at wide open apertures.

Look up That Nikon Guy on Youtube. He has about 5-6 videos with the new Tamron. He is using a Canon mount on a 5D2. From what I have seen, the Tammy looks pretty good.

I will be happy if the Tammy truly falls between the Canon Mk I and II in real world uses( for me, those are weddings). Hopefully it will hold up to some degree of abuse even though I am pretty careful with the very little gear that I have

[TrumpetPower!]

This is good news. I'm still looking forward to more reviews, especially including Bryan's, but everything continues to point to this being a lens to get excited about. I'm absolutely thinking of selling my 24 - 105 and getting one of these in its place. A stop faster, plus IS? And optics better than the 24-70 I?

I'm not ready to pull the trigger, and I'm not in a hurry to do so, but I'm absolutely hoping for the best.

Not to tie this in with the "light leak" silliness...but EV -1, where the "problem" starts to manifest itself, is f/2.8 @ 1/2 second @ ISO 3200...and that'd probably be hand-holdable with this new lens at the wide end. Unbelievable...we're almost talking handheld astrophotography....

Cheers,

b&

[Matthew Saville]

"The Tamron faired quite well"

*looks at MTF numbers*

...LOL...  How about, the Tamron OWNED the Canon?

Aside from Tamron's slightly inferior AF technology, (still in it's infancy after all) ...the Tamron is by far a better choice for all but the most warzone-bound flagship shooters who need their lenses to double as bricks.

Don't get me wrong, the Canon 24-70 mk1 is a workhorse and I use it all the time for wedding photojournalism, but it's getting over the hill.  I'm still in disbelief that Canon is going to attempt to charge $2300 for the 24-70 mk2, without stabilization, considering the incredible sharpness of the Nikon and now this Tamron.  Good luck with that, Canon...

=Matt=

[elusive1]

1) Nikon D800 is better than the 5D3 in almost all aspects, even video.
2) Very overpriced Canon Cinema division got destroyed at NAB by Black Magic and Sony who stole all the buzz.
3) Now Tamron fills the I.S. niche that #1 feature in the 24-70 that Canon customers were begging and pleading for, but Canon failed to deliver.

1) DR at low ISO, and resolution are the only advantages the D800 has.
2) Black Magic may have the hype locked down, but with that tiny sensor the two are not interchangeable.
3) The 24-70II will surely blow away the Tamron in every way...  Except IS (and price). So you do have a semi-valid point there.  I'm still hoping they bring out a version with IS, but who knows.

Sorry Bvukich, but the general consensus by non-Canon fan boys (ie Independent Testers), the 5D3 got it's a$$ handed to it by Nikon. As for video, Black Magic did something innovative. It might be a smaller sensor, but the point is they shook up the establishment and took a chance, something Canon has not done since the 5D2. As for Sony, the FS700 pretty much dominated Canon in terms of headlines and hype at NAB. People are really excited by what Sony is doing. As for Canon, just a lot of bitching about overpriced video cameras.

Believe me, I WANT Canon to do good. I have a bit of money invested in Canon glass (around 8K in L-lenses), as well as other EOS lenses by Tokina and Zeiss. But they are not making top level products lately, and the competition is (especially Sony with their sensors and video offerings) are just making Canon look bad.

Canon needs a real winner, and soon.

[well_dunno]

I'd like to see info on the Tamron's vignetting. In the few lenses I've compared over the years, Tamron lenses had much greater vignetting than Canon's, especially at wide open apertures.

"Falloff of illumination towards the corners of the frame is very pronounced. At 24mm the corners are 2.9 stops darker than the image centre and at 70mm the corners are 2.5stops darker. Stopping down to f/5.6 results in visually uniform illumination across the frame throughout the zoom range."

http://www.ephotozine.com/article/tamron-sp-24-70mm-f-2-8-vc-usd-lens-review-19056

[michi]

2.9 stops falloff at the corners is pretty rough I guess, would still be willing to live with that though.

[well_dunno]

Also, the resolution figures seem to indicate the lens performs better at the wide end. CA is well controlled as well... Though there is this onion-like oof blur in the sample shot at f/2.8 - not sure what to make of that...