Re: Official: Tamron 35-150mm F/2-2.8 Di III VXD (Model A058)
ruthenium wrote:
I cannot help thinking how this new lens compares to the existing walkabout/travel lens: the 24-105 F4 G?
1) I know that the Tamron is priced as the GM glass (e.g. the same as Sony 24-70 F2.8GM); it is Canadian $2,600 vs 1,550 for the 24-105 F4 G.
2) The Tamron is not wide enough: 35 vs 24 mm at the widest
3) The Tamron is much heavier: 1165 g vs 663 g
4) The Tamron is considerably longer: 158 vs 113 mm
5) The Tamron is not stabilized
6) I don't believe that Tamron can be sharper than the 24-105 F4 G in the F5.6 - 16 range.
The only considerable advantage on the Tamron side is the F2-2.8 aperture. Which promises bokeh. However, why would a bokeh enthusiast use the walkabout lens? What are the typical F/stops used on a walkabout lens >80% of the time?
The remaining questions:
How the contrast of the Tamron compares with the contrast of the 24-105 F4 G?
How the color fringing of the Tamron compares with that of the 24-105 F4 G?
Ghosting and flare?
The final thought: if the rumors of the Sony 24-70 F2.8 GM II are correct, and if this is going to be priced like the existing mark I lens, wouldn't it make more sense to spend CAD$2,600 on the Sony vs. the Tamron?
If I had the 24-105, I'd be happy to do a comparison of the two lenses for you, but alas, I never bought that one. I don't know honestly what would be a comparable lens, since this 35-150 is so different from anything else out there. Clearly the unique focal range didn't sell like hotcakes enough in EF or Nikon F mount for other manufactures to mimic Tamron. Based on the 28-75G1 being the top selling lens, probably safe to say that most zoom users want a lens that reaches down to at least the high 20s on the wide end. And if someone needs their mid-range zoom to have 24mm, that makes it an easy decision to pass on this one and get a 24-70 or the 24-105. That being said, I'd wager that Tamron is unlikely to have invested and manufactured this lens if they didn't have solid sales research based on their EF/F mount versions that there will be enough sales to make the venture worthwhile. Or perhaps they don't expect high volume and priced it with a high return per item. I would agree though that I think it is weird that they are marketing it as a travel lens when it is clearly more suited for event and portrait photography.
I would say, without having owned it, that the 24-105 is likely a better "walkabout" lens in the sense of carrying a lens all day around your neck when you don't know what you'll be shooting ahead of time. I feel like that term is usually described as a lens/camera combo people use while on vacations or excursions with the camera in hand while visiting locations where they may be shooting architecture one second, then a portrait, maybe some street photography, and then a landscape the next. I think the Tamron lens that is more comparable with the Sony 24-105G for that purpose is the 28-200.
I see this generally geared more for the niche of event photography. I'm not using it for that, but I think that is really what the lens is best suited for if an event photographer wanted to go wider than the typical 24-70/70-200 with a 16-35/35-150. My main interest in it is to be able to have a 2 lens kit while backpacking that covers 16-35/35-150 and a three lens kit when closer to the truck that covers 16-35/35-150/200-840.
Edited to add: Regarding the rumored 24-70II, all of our financial situations are different, and while I applaud those that can easily purchase the new 70-200II and rumored 24-70II for the penultimate IQ from those zooms, my wife can see the value in a lens with a different focal range - I'd be sleeping in the back lawn if I tried to replace my perfectly good Sigma for a lens with the same focal range and undoubtedly marginally better attributes. I'm sure it's going to be a phenomenal lens with record breaking sharpness etc., but I don't think my wife would every agree with that expenditure when the Sigma 24-70 and Tamron 28-75G2 are already so capable.
Nov 02, 2021 at 10:15 AM
Previous versions of photosbyjaron's message #15755414 « Official: Tamron 35-150mm F/2-2.8 Di III VXD (Model A058) »
