Jman13
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So, as I've added an EOS RP to my stable, I'm filling it out with affordable, but decent options to give me a base kit for RF mount reviews going forward, and because I've been intrigued with what Canon is doing now in the mirrorless space.
One lens that unfortunately doesn't exist for the RF mount as of yet is an affordable, good quality wide-angle zoom. Your options are the RF 15-35mm f/2.8 for $2,300, or...well, nothing. So that means adapting. I wanted small and light, since I'd also have an adapter attached, and looked at things like the 16-35mm f/4L IS, which looks to be good, but is still a bit pricey at $1,000, and is also not all that small. The 17-40L is small and reasonable in price, but having owned it years ago on my 1Ds II, I also know that it is not very good at the edges on modern sensors.
And then I came across writings of the Tamron 17-35mm f/2.8-4 OSD, and it seemed to really fit the bill. Very compact, light weight (the lens plus adapter is lighter than the 16-35/4L by itself), and from the reviews I saw, quite good optically. I searched here and there are literally zero threads about this lens.
Anyway, I picked one up today, and after a quick shoot about just doing some random test shots...I have to wonder why? This lens is really, really good. I'm wondering if people are mistaking it for the old 17-35/2.8-4, which wasn't very good.
And it's faster than all the other cheap options too.
- f/2.8 from 17-20mm
- f/3.2 from 21-24mm
- f/3.5 from 25-30mm
- f/4 from 31-35mm
It's very sharp, with good sharpness to the edges from wide open, and the corners sharpen up very nicely when stopped down a bit. Distortion is moderate, flare resistance is pretty darn good, CA control is pretty good, color and contrast are excellent and even the bokeh is pretty good when shooting close up. Optically, there is absolutely nothing to complain about given the price, and frankly it performs more in line with $1,000 UWA zooms I've used than cheap ones.
The only real downside I can see to the lens is that the focus motor is coupled to the focus ring, so that spins when focusing, which is a bit outdated for a lens released in 2018, but I'd rather have them skimp out on the focus motor (especially since it's reasonably quick and very accurate) than the optics. This'll fit the bill perfectly for me.
Some quick samples from today:
http://www.jordansteele.com/2020/statehouse.jpg
http://www.jordansteele.com/2020/cbus_rr.jpg
http://www.jordansteele.com/2020/capitol_flowers.jpg
http://www.jordansteele.com/2020/rr_spur.jpg
http://www.jordansteele.com/2020/capitol_square_geometry.jpg
100% crop from extreme corner on above shot (17mm):
http://www.jordansteele.com/2020/tamron1735_crop.jpg
Edited on Jul 27, 2020 at 10:18 PM · View previous versions
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