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Tamron AF 24-70mm f/2.8 SP Di USD VC (Canon EOS) - APS-C Review / Lens Test |
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Lens Reviews -
Canon EOS (APS-C)
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Page 1 of 2
Review by Klaus Schroiff, published June 2012
Special thanks to Christian Elsner for providing this lens!
This is a follow-up article from our full format review. Consequently we've reused some of the portions of the text here.
Introduction
Fast standard zoom lenses are certainly a hot spot in the product portfolios. So far this arena has been dominated by the original manufacturers although the third-party manufacturers tried to challenge the big boys every once in a while. Tamron did so as well with the SP 28-75mm f/2.8 XR but the lens had/has no differentiator other than its low pricing. As such it was popular among amateurs on a budget but it has been largely ignored by professionals. However, their latest offering is a different beast altogether - the Tamron AF 24-70mm f/2.8 SP Di USD VC. It features an image stabilizer (VC = Vibration Control), an ultrasonic AF (USD) as well as weather sealing. Obviously Tamron is pretty much convinced of the capabilities of their new baby because they do no longer want to compete by price - they are asking about 1100EUR/1300US$. Now this may still be "just" half the price of the new Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 USM L II but it is a magnitude more expensive than the old Tamron AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR and it's certainly no budget item anymore. As such it is also more expensive than the Canon EF-S 17-55m f/2.8 USM IS which is the king in the standard zoom land in the APS-C scope.
Here it behaves like a "38-112mm" (full format) so it's not as attractive as on a full format DSLR - at least for most users.
The build quality of the Tamron lens is on a professional-grade level. The lens body is mostly made of high quality plastics based on a metal mount. Both the zoom and focus ring operate smoothly. Unlike on previous Tamron lenses, the focus ring does not rotate during AF operations. The inner lens tube extends when zooming towards the long end of the zoom range. A flower-shaped lens hood is supplied.
As mentioned the 24-70mm f/2.8 features an image stabilizer (VC = Vibration Control). According to Tamron the VC offers an extra potential of up to 4 stops. Based on what we've experienced in the field it may be a bit less than that. The ultrasonic AF drive (USD) is both very fast as well as virtually silent. Full-time manual focusing is supported. The AF accuracy of the tested sample was generally fine.
| Specifications |
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| Equiv. focal length | 38-112 mm (full format equivalent) |
| Equiv. aperture | f/4.5 (full format equivalent, in terms of depth-of-field) |
| Optical construction | 17 elements in 12 groups inc. 3x aspherical, 3x LD & 2xXR elements |
| Number of aperture blades | 9 (rounded) |
| min. focus distance | 0.38 m (max. magnification 1:5) |
| Dimensions | 108.5 x 88.2 mm |
| Weight | 825 g |
| Filter size | 82 mm (non-rotating) |
| Hood | bayonet mount, supplied, petal-shaped |
| Other features | USD ultrasonic drive, Image Stabilizer, Weather Sealing |
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