Tamaron 24-70 f2.8 Review

[Pixel Nut]

 ;DI purchased the Tamron 24-70mm f2.8 VC on 5/4/12 for $12889.00.  Unlike my Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 VC, this lens has very good noise and CA control.  The focus IQ is much improved and the VC is truly impressive.  It is sharper and has less distortion than any Canon 24-70mm f2.8 (series one) that I have tried to date.  It is also sharper than my Canon 24-105mm f4 and my Canon 17-55mm f2.8.  On a full-frame, this lens by Canon standard is not a true 70mm.  It is more like 66-67mm.  However, it compensates by being brighter at f2.8. This lens seems to be at it's best from f2.8 to f7.1.  It gets just a little bit softer at f8. I am very happy with the performance of this lens.  Into my camera bag it goes with my Canon 70-200mm f2.8L IS II and 70-300mm f2.8L IS.

[amak]

So overall, the IQ is much better than the Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 VC? How is the AF compared to the 17-50mm?
Thanks

[ruuneos]

;DI purchased the Tamron 24-70mm f2.8 VC on 5/4/12 for $12889.00.

Seems legit to me   $12889.00 for Tamron 24-70 f2.8 VC.

[Pixel Nut]

The AF is fast.  Perhaps a fraction of a second slower than the 17-50mm 2.8, which is one of the fastest focusing of all the Canon lenses I own. I do not find it annoying. When I owned the Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 VC, it was noisy and hunted for focus in low-light. It resulted in a lot of missed or unusable shots.

[dstppy]

;DI purchased the Tamron 24-70mm f2.8 VC on 5/4/12 for $12889.00.

Seems legit to me   $12889.00 for Tamron 24-70 f2.8 VC.

That includes tax 

This lens is definitely on my want list.  Nice to know about FOV difference.

[cliffwang]

So overall, the IQ is much better than the Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 VC? How is the AF compared to the 17-50mm?
Thanks

Hey,
Check this forum thread.
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=1145772
Over than 1000 post here.  Thus, I believe the reviews do not bias Canon or Tamron.  Overall the lens has better IQ than Canon 24-70 L.  The VC is amazing.  And the price is much cheaper than Canon 24-70mm.  It's almost perfect except the same AF problem with Canon 24-70mm.  About 10 to 20% of them may need to do MA.

Forgot to answer your another question.  Based on the posts on the thread, the AF of Tamron 24-70 is very fast.  It's noticeable slower than Canon 24-70mm, but you won't feel slow.

[wellsphotoky]

Into my camera bag it goes with my Canon 70-200mm f2.8L IS II and 70-300mm f2.8L IS. Into my camera bag it goes with my Canon 70-200mm f2.8L IS II and 70-300mm f2.8L IS.

Am I missing something here?

[dilbert]

This has happened before.

When the Mk II of a lens comes out and it is roughly the same as the Mk I, the price of the Mk I goes up.

The reasons are simple:
- supply of the Mk I will be very constrained, perhaps unavailable quite soon
- for the most part they're the same unless you're a perfectionist
- since they're almost the same, people decide they want the cheaper one
- demand for the cheaper one goes up
- and thus the price for the cheaper one goes up.

[cliffwang]

This has happened before.

When the Mk II of a lens comes out and it is roughly the same as the Mk I, the price of the Mk I goes up.

The reasons are simple:
- supply of the Mk I will be very constrained, perhaps unavailable quite soon
- for the most part they're the same unless you're a perfectionist
- since they're almost the same, people decide they want the cheaper one
- demand for the cheaper one goes up
- and thus the price for the cheaper one goes up.

I totally disagree.  Check the list price from those major websites.  They all have similar price.  What dose that mean?  That means Canon increase the price, not retails.  That doesn't make sense to increase the price for only this two months before the MK2 out because Canon believe it could make more profit from its buyers.  If Canon really think that's the way to run business, Canon SUCKS.
I believe Canon increase the price because Canon try to make people feel the price between MK1 and MK2 are not too different.  That's for the marketing purpose.

[Aglet]

;DI purchased the Tamron 24-70mm f2.8 VC on 5/4/12 for $12889.00.  Unlike my Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 VC, this lens has very good noise and CA control.  The focus IQ is much improved and the VC is truly impressive.  It is sharper and has less distortion than any Canon 24-70mm f2.8 (series one) that I have tried to date.  It is also sharper than my Canon 24-105mm f4 and my Canon 17-55mm f2.8.  On a full-frame, this lens by Canon standard is not a true 70mm.  It is more like 66-67mm.  However, it compensates by being brighter at f2.8. This lens seems to be at it's best from f2.8 to f7.1.  It gets just a little bit softer at f8. I am very happy with the performance of this lens.  Into my camera bag it goes with my Canon 70-200mm f2.8L IS II and 70-300mm f2.8L IS.

Hey!  same blurb you posted on BH's site review on the lens; you must really like it!

Well, your glowing review prompted me to have a closer look at it.
I checked the MTF charts for the Tamron 24-70, both Canon 24-70 L and compared to the Nikon equivalent.
The new Tammy certainly seems to be sharper than all of them wide open altho the new Canon 24-70 L II is close in some areas.
Another edge the Tam may have, judging from the published MTFs, is slightly smoother bokeh.

I'm certainly going to watch for actual test results on this one, I think it may make a suitable complement to the D800e I'll be waiting for .. interminably.