Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD; 70mm @ 0.5m; F/4; ISO 100; 1/250s.
Last weekend I put the Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD through its paces for a child portrait session. Working space was tight, which made this lens ideal for the task, with its wide angle and short telephoto capabilities.
Using flash is a superb way to reveal the true resolution of a lens, with all motion blur eliminated by the instantaneous burst of light. Coupled with the D800, it didn’t matter which focal length I chose: the 24-70 showed a staggering level of detail, revealing tiny hairs and specks of dust that I simply couldn’t see at the time. The Tamron lens will outresolve smaller sensors easily, so if you’re working with a 12-16MP sensor, you’re never going to have issues with soft images with this lens as long as you use good handling techniques and nail your focus.
Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD; 48mm @ 1.3m; F/6.3; ISO 100; 1/250s.
Happily, this wasn’t an issue either. Using a high resolution, full-frame camera makes it very easy to see if you’ve missed critical focus, but after two hours of shooting I only discarded two shots for this reason (and those were down to poor placement on my part). The autofocus on this copy of the lens has proved to be incredibly reliable, and I’d have no hesitation recommending the Tamron 24-70 SP to any professional studio photographer.
Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD; 736mm @ 0.8m; F/6.3; ISO 200; 1/250s.
I was up with the birds this morning, and headed up Mam Tor to catch a sunrise. It didn’t quite work out, as it was one of those mornings where daylight appeared without the dramatic entrance. However, it did give me the opportunity to see how the Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD fared up for landscape use.
The first and most obvious point which affects its use is the size of the large front element. With an 82mm thread, it’s larger than all of its current competitors (which all have 77mm threads). This also means that my filter set won’t work with it until I can pick up a suitable adapter. This isn’t a failing (you’d always have to make sure that you had a relevant filter ring), but it does mean I’m not able to check for things like vignetting at present. However, the large front element means that small rainspots are less likely to show up in the final image, because they take up a smaller area of the image (though this is off-set by the increased liklihood of them reaching your lens.
In order to make the most of the dynamic range, I had to really work hard to nail my exposure, since I couldn’t reign it in with filters. However, I needn’t have worried. In spite of some challenging lighting, I was pleased with many of the results of the trip.
Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD; 35mm @ 16.8m; F/3.2; ISO 100; 1/400s.
I went out to one of the local historical sites at Wath-Upon-Dearne the other morning. This is a site that I’ve photographed before, but not for any of the lens in the past. The last time I used a 24mm prime, so it was interesting to see the differences when compared to a modern zoom lens at the same focal length.
Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD; 24mm @ 11.9m; F/3.2; ISO 100; 1/400s.
Nikkor 24mm f/2.8 AIS; F/8; ISO 200; 1/10s.
Both lenses were rated at F/2.8. However, the prime is a 1984 model Nikkor AIS lens, which means it’s manual focus. First and foremost, this means that it has much smaller physical dimensions than the Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD. This meant that I was unable to perfectly replicate one of the shots I took the last time (shown above), as the Tamron lens was too wide to fit between the bars of the gate (although there was a gap which allowed for similar results around the back of the kiln). However, there is much more blue lens flare in the shot from the older lens. VC in the Tamron lens helps to maintain a steady shot, even at an awkward angle, and the auto focus also meant that it was a little easier to get the shot I wanted.
This got me thinking about one of my earlier observations about the lens, namely the size of the auto focus ring. It’s quite a skinny little thing, and when I first saw I wasn’t too convinced. However, with the resolution of my new camera (the 36.3MP D800), I’m finding that my ability to focus manually can’t always be relied on without the use of live view. Thankfully the autofocus is very precise. It would have taken me an age to get the manual focus right on the shot below, because of the low light levels.
Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD; 24mm @ 11.9m; F/4.5; ISO 100; 0.8s.
In short, it’s not the issue I thought it was, because I’m using the motors more than ever to ensure critical focus. If you’re a manual focus fan, then you may not like the size of the focus ring on the Tamron 24-70, but if you are using a high resolution sensor, or one without an anti-aliasing filter, then you may find that it’s right that the zoom ring takes priority on this model.
Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD; 24mm; F/3.2; ISO 100; 1/200s.
The other thing to note is that there is no longer a great gap in image quality between zoom lenses and their equivalent primes. Ive found that the Tamron zoom has a better ability to cope with high contrast than the older lens (largely to do with modern coatings). The only real benefit with the AIS lens here was the difference in weight, but if you have to carry two or even three lenses where one zoom lens will do, then this becomes incidental.
Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD; 35mm @ 1.4m; F/3.5; ISO 100; 1/100s.
That’s how long it’s taken me to fall in love with this lens. It’s that good.
When I said goodbye to my D300 and moved to full-frame, I think I found it harder to come to terms with the realisation that my 17-55 was going to have to follow. It was my preferred walkabout lens for a number of years, and was very crisp, but after identifying my upgrade path, I had to trade it in. So when Intro 2020 asked me if there was another lens I would like to try, the Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD was right at the top of my list. It has a full-frame coverage that almost matches that of the 17-55mm DX pairing, and throws in the added bonus of image stabilisation.
I caught myself smiling while opening up the box when it arrived the other day. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve been so excited to use a lens before. My first observation was that it’s a chunky monkey. The lens feels robust, and is heavier than it looks. The barrel is almost a uniform diameter, which makes it very comfortable to grip. There are some nice little design touches like an asymmetrical focus ring and chamfered edges to the zoom ring and barrel which makes it feel like a premium product, and the lens hood clicks into place firmly. I’ll be sure to include some photographs of some of these details in a future post. The model number is the A007, which is probably what made Tamron use a spy theme in the above ad campaign. If not, it’s an amusing coincidence…
I didn’t waste much time in getting out with the 24-70mm either, heading out to Rivelin Valley again. The weather took a turn for the worse a couple of hours in, so straight away I can confirm that the “drip proofing” works. No adverse affects at all, even though I was initially concerned about water seeping in through the telescoping barrel.
The 24-70 proved its versatility during the course of my walk. The argument over whether to use primes or zooms has, in my opinion, been academic for some time. The quality of modern zooms far outstrips that of older prime lenses, so nowadays it’s really just down to the weight. Of course, when the weather is poor, the additional weight of a zoom lens seems inconsequential. Two prime lenses will quickly amount to more than one zoom lens.
My early findings are that vignetting is apparent when shooting wide open, but it’s hard for me to see this as a major problem when it’s so easily corrected at the first step of my raw workflow. Furthermore, I don’t often shoot subjects where it would be an issue anyway. Regardless, it goes away pretty quickly when stopping down even moderate amounts. What is also very obvious is that the sharpness across the frame is excellent, even when shooting at very wide apertures.
I’m really looking forward to using this lens a lot over the coming months. It really is a beauty.
Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD; 70mm @ 13.3m; F/9; ISO 50; 1s.
Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD; 24mm @ 11.9m; F/9; ISO 50; 1.3s. Tripod mounted.
Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD; 24mm @ 11.9m; F/18; ISO 200; 4s. Tripod mounted.
Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD; 24mm @ 4.5m; F/1; ISO 200; 1s. Tripod mounted.
Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD; 24mm @ 0.7m; F/3.2; ISO 1000; 1/60s. Tripod mounted. Compare with the shot above, taken at the same focal length but moving in closer for this shot. The effect on depth of field is quite pronounced.
Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD; 70mm @ 1.1m; F/6.3; ISO 100; 0.8s. Tripod mounted, cropped by 50%
Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD; 24mm @ 3.2m; F/11; ISO 50; 8s. Tripod mounted.
My wife and I took up our friends’ invitations to come and join them in the Yorkshire Dales this weekend, and had a wonderful, though very wet, day walking with them and checking out various waterfalls and rivers throughout the day.
When it’s raining, the Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 SP Di VC USD has a real advantage. It’s a weather sealed lens, and thanks to its large, deep hood, it’s fairly easy to keep raindrops off the front element as well. It can take a brief shower without causing any concern. Mind you, some of the weather we saw this weekend was considerably more severe. When it’s like this, I use the Hydrophobia camera jacket by Think Tank. It just gives a bit more piece of mind (It also makes you blend into a crowd more; I’ve noticed people tend to assume you’re carrying a bag or coat rather than a camera).
When approaching Hardraw Force, the 70-200 turned out to be an excellent choice. The normal viewpoint at the foot of the falls was not as appealing to me, due to the lack of vegetation and resultant colour on the walls of waterfall. Standing a distance back allowed me to take in more of the plantlife, while avoiding including too much sky, which was bright, but very overcast and completely lacking in detail.
The 70-200 has excellent bokeh characteristics, giving a pleasing separation from the foreground trees and a painterly backdrop. And since there was considerably more water coming down the falls that day, the greater working distance and deep lens hood helped to control some of the spray in the air. Not going for the obvious choice of a wide angle lens means I’ve come away with a shot that’s quite different to the typical view of one of England’s more famous waterfalls (having once featured in Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves).
This wouldn’t have been possible in a single shot with a DX format camera, but with a full frame sensor, the 70-200 appears to be a much more versatile lens, and the edge sharpness of the Tamron is just excellent.
If I want to get even wider with the 70-200, then the low distortion means that panoramic stitching is a fairly painless process. This was a three-shot effort to take in a bit more of the shadowplay on the hills and fields, and the fainter double rainbow.
I met up with Rotherham Open Arts Renaissance this morning for a photo walk around town. We started off in the Imperial Buildings, before heading towards the indoor markets. I’ve never really used a long lens for this sort of thing before, so it required a different mindset, generally involving looking for details, moments or use of colour when deciding what to shoot.
It’s always worth spending time getting to know your gear, and adapting how you visualise a shot. For instance, I chose the right focal length and set up the lens using the barrel indicators before even lifting the camera for this shot.
This meant that I was able to shoot candidly, even though the Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 SP Di VC USD can appear quite intimidating for portrait work due to its large size. Interestingly several of our group were asked to stop taking photographs, but I was missed by security, despite having the largest camera and lens combination. I reckon this is only because I wasn’t walking around with the camera stuck to my face, preparing my shots mentally and being ready before the moment.
After leaving the markets, we headed up towards Clifton Park. This is certainly more my comfort zone, and I came away with quite a selection of autumnal shots. Thanks go to ROAR for hosting and enjoyable morning. Hopefully we’ll do something similar soon.
the days zoom past 
