Field test of the Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 Lens: A pro lens at a prosumer price

<p>
<a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/845350-REG/Tamron_SP_24_70mm_f_2_8... target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 DI VC USD Lens for Nikon Cameras" border="0" height="83" src="http://static.bhphoto.com/images/images150x150/845350.jpg" style="display: inline; float: left" vspace="2" width="83" /></a>Unless you make a lot of money with your mid-range zoom lens, or are willing to spend what it takes to get the best, $1900 for the 2 pound <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/520637-USA/Nikon_2164_AF_S_Nikkor_... target="_blank">Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 lens</a> is a hard price to justify. For that price, you get an ultra-sharp, ultra-fast, lens, but you don&rsquo;t even get VR. I&rsquo;ve enjoyed using Sigma&rsquo;s version, the <a href="http://www.cardinalphoto.com/content/sigma-24-70-another-pro-value-champ... target="_blank">Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 lens that I reviewed in 2010</a>. It is much less expensive, but not as solidly built and also isn&rsquo;t stabilized. Until now there hasn&rsquo;t been a value-priced version of a 24-70 f/2.8 that could measure up to the Nikon. That&rsquo;s why I was excited to work with the new <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/845350-REG/Tamron_SP_24_70mm_f_2_8... target="_blank">Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 Lens</a>, which not only featured a fast focus motor but unique among mid-range pro zooms, also has image stabilization&hellip;.<br clear="all" />
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<p>
The <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/845350-REG/Tamron_SP_24_70mm_f_2_8... target="_blank">Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 Lens</a> feels really solid and reassuring. Without dropping it to test, it&rsquo;s hard to say if it is rugged as it looks &ndash; the Nikon version certainly is &ndash; but it seems like it would be. As a result it is only a couple ounces lighter and a tiny bit smaller than the Nikon &ndash; making it larger than the Sigma &ndash; but the heft feels great to hold and work with. The zoom ring also moves in the same direction as the Nikon, which is a nice plus for Nikon shooters. I used the Nikon mount version of the lens with a Nikon D4, a <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/735300-REG/Nikon_25474_D7000_DSLR_... target="_blank">Nikon D7000</a> and a <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/570162-REG/Nikon_25444_D700_SLR_Di... target="_blank">Nikon D700</a> to put it through its paces.</p>
<p>
The lens focuses quite quickly, with performance similar to that of the Nikon version. It also features fulltime manual override (the equivalent of Nikon&rsquo;s M/A mode), a nice touch in a third party lens.</p>
<h2>
Features and Operation</h2>
<p>
Using the Tamron 24-70mm zoom lens is pretty straightforward. Like most modern lenses it has a manual focus (MF) / autofocus (AF) switch, although fulltime manual focus override is available even when the lens is set to AF (essentially the equivalent of Nikon&rsquo;s M/A mode). There is a lens lock to keep the lens at 24mm and avoid any chance of lens creep if held vertically. Frankly, I didn&rsquo;t have any problem with lens creep, so I didn&rsquo;t actually find that I needed to use the lock. The final switch on the lens turns on the excellent image stabilizer, called VC for vibration compensation. The Tamron takes 82mm filters, which might be a bit of an annoyance if you&rsquo;re used to having 77mm filters for your other lenses. The zoom ring is comfortable and easy to reach, while manual-zoomers may find the focus ring a little close to the camera body to use easily. Overall, the lens is a no-nonsense model that is great to operate and doesn&rsquo;t feel like it compromises on build quality or operating considerations.</p>
<h2>
Image Quality</h2>
<p>
Without question the Tamron has image quality worthy of a pro zoom. It provides sharp images throughout its range, although perhaps with a bit more softness at 24mm. Detail resolution is excellent. In this image of a GT40 race car (untouched except to resize for the web), I&rsquo;ve exploded out the section with the inspection sticker, which is readable.</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.cardinalphoto.com/files/David%20Cardinal/ev_montereyhistorics... alt="ev_montereyhistorics2012_0155" border="0" height="403" src="http://www.cardinalphoto.com/files/David%20Cardinal/ev_montereyhistorics... style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="ev_montereyhistorics2012_0155" width="604" /></a></p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.cardinalphoto.com/files/David%20Cardinal/ev_montereyhistorics... alt="ev_montereyhistorics2012_0155c" border="0" height="404" src="http://www.cardinalphoto.com/files/David%20Cardinal/ev_montereyhistorics... style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="ev_montereyhistorics2012_0155c" width="604" /></a></p>
<p>
Now there aren&rsquo;t many times when I need to read the stickers off a car windshield, since I don&rsquo;t work for CSI, but having a sharp lens does provide some fun options. I was standing outside at the car races when a stunt skydiver started to descend. All I had was the 24-70 on my full-frame <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/570162-REG/Nikon_25444_D700_SLR_Di... target="_blank">Nikon D700</a>. Not exactly a great combo for capturing action at a distance. I zoomed in &ldquo;all the way&rdquo; to 70mm and took this image &ndash; with the diver looking like a pinpoint. However, I was able to crop the image down and scale up the center to actually produce an image of the diver and read the inside of his chute:</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.cardinalphoto.com/files/David%20Cardinal/Ev_MontereyHistorics... alt="Ev_MontereyHistorics2012_0170" border="0" height="403" src="http://www.cardinalphoto.com/files/David%20Cardinal/Ev_MontereyHistorics... style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Ev_MontereyHistorics2012_0170" width="604" /></a></p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.cardinalphoto.com/files/David%20Cardinal/ev_montereyhistorics... alt="ev_montereyhistorics2012_0170" border="0" height="404" src="http://www.cardinalphoto.com/files/David%20Cardinal/ev_montereyhistorics... style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="ev_montereyhistorics2012_0170" width="604" /></a></p>
<h2>
Vignetting Issue</h2>
<p>
The one knock on the Tamron 24-70 has been vignetting. At f/2.8 full-frame, it is indeed an issue, but once you get to f/4 or further, vignetting is essentially gone, as you can see from this full-frame image of classic race cars from the Monterey Historics (image is straight out of the camera except for resizing):</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.cardinalphoto.com/files/David%20Cardinal/Ev_MontereyHistorics... alt="This full frame test image shows that vignetting is not an issue at f/4" border="0" height="403" src="http://www.cardinalphoto.com/files/David%20Cardinal/Ev_MontereyHistorics... style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="This full frame test image shows that vignetting is not an issue at f/4" width="604" /></a></p>
<h2>
Vibration Compensation (VC, aka IS or VR)</h2>
<p>
Finally there is a pro spec (f/2.8, excellent IQ) general use zoom with image stabilization. Until now photographers have had to give up on stabilization to get an f/2.8 mid-range lens. Kudos to Tamron for breaking the mold with their Vibration Compensation (VC) equipped model. The VC works really well, and I was able to take sharp image down to 1/8s pretty easily. It only makes me wonder why Nikon, Canon and Sigma haven&rsquo;t done the same thing. This one feature alone &ndash; along with a much more competitive price &ndash; is enough to seriously consider the Tamron as your everyday zoom lens if you need something that works with full-frame and want a true pro lens.</p>
<p>
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<h2>
Which 24-70mm f/2.8 should you buy?</h2>
<p>
If you&rsquo;re in the market for a no-compromise zoom, the good news is you have plenty of choices. For traditionalists with a large budget, you certainly will not go wrong with the <a href="www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/520637-USA/Nikon_2164_AF_S_Zoom_Nikkor_24... target="_blank">Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S Lens</a> model or the <a href="www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/843008-USA/Canon_5175B002_EF_24_70mm_f_2_... target="_blank">Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM Lens</a> version. They&rsquo;re both big, heavy and expensive though, so if you&rsquo;re worried about any of that, you&rsquo;ve got a couple other good options. The <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/845350-REG/Tamron_SP_24_70mm_f_2_8... target="_blank">Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 Lens</a> we&rsquo;ve reviewed here gives us very little in quality and gains excellent vibration reduction and a major cost savings. Finally, if you don&rsquo;t want to break the piggybank, the <a href="http://www.nikondigital.org/content/content/sigma-24-70-another-pro-valu... target="_blank">Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 Lens</a> is the least expensive of the three, providing great value at a slight loss in build and image quality.</p>