Tamron SP AF 10-24mm F3.5-4.5 Di II LD Aspherical (IF)

So after the overwhelming majority voted that I go ultrawide with my next purchase (thaks for the replies by the way) my next question is which. Ideally I will go for the Canon 10-22 provided i can afford it. But I'd still like to consider other options. I've been strongly cautioned to avoid Sigma, and by Sean to avoid Tokina. My question is if anyone has experience with this Tamron, it fits best in my price range without waiting til the middle of next year. I used it briefly in the store today, has good build quality, accurate, fast and silent focus, but its difficult to do a good evaluation of IQ. Thanks in advance!

Tamron makes great glass. It, like other lens manufacturers sometimes assemble duds. It seems to be a fact of life. Even Canon seems to miss from time to time.


The last Tamron lens I purchased new, I took a print of a focus chart to a local store that had 2 copies and tested both copies. The first was terrible but the second was perfect. The owner and I were both suprised at the results.


Ask the owner to let you take some shots with the lens mounted to your camera. Take your tripod in/or use timer to test the IQ on a target scene or focus chart. You will be happy you did. Do not evaluate with handheld slow shutter/high ISO shots. Always evaluate a lens non handheld/low ISO.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mattsartin

I've been strongly cautioned to avoid Sigma, and by Sean to avoid Tokina.

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I must say that there was at least one other person in this group who purchased the Tokina 11-16--and they were extremely pleased with it. However, considering I had two copies of the lens and both were no good, I can only relay my own personal experience. If it's possible to get your hands on a Tokina and test it before you buy (and the results are good), then you should consider it money well spent. The zoom range is very small, but the lens is built like a tank.

I've used a friend's Tamron 10-24 for a few shots. It seems like very a decent lens, but I didn't do any scientific testing.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"]I'd take a Sigma over a Tamron lens any
day of the week. I had the sigma 10-20 4-5.6 and it was a solid lens.
My lens saw all kinds of weather and dust and thousands of pictures
later it was in perfect shape when I sold it. I bought it from Amazon
where I did not get to do any testing with it before I had it in my
hands. If you get a bad copy of a lens from amazon they will
reimburse you to ship it back to them and replace it. I sold my
lens because I did not need it anymore because of my 5DII purchase.
Sigma now even produces a 10-20mm F3.5 EX DC HSM lens just like the
Canon. Looks like the sigma 10-20 4-5.6 has all good review at the
Adorama website and is less expensive then the Canon plus you get a
lens bag and a quality lens hood with it. It was a great investment
for me while I had it and did not even lose that much in the sale two
years later. In the beginning when photography was more of a
hobby/interest I bought a Tamron 2.8 lens where I can say I've never
though about or bought one again once I returned it. After years of
buying a lot of lenses I've now adopted the attitude spend a little
more in the beginning as later down the line you will be glad that
you did.

Sean do you ever find yourself wishing you had a wider aperture or are you satisfied with f/3.5-4.5?

I have been using the Tamron on my 450D now for sometime. Quality of build is 3 1/5 out 5, overall use is 4 out of 5 and over all picture quality is 3 1/5 out of 5. Have used the the Canon also, which produced slightly overall better quality picture (4 out of 5) and quality of build is a bit better.


Friends of mine have Tokina and Sigma and they are nowhere as happy as I'm with my Tammy. Price wise (in Aust OZ) the Canon is 40% and Tokina 30% more expensive than the Sigma &amp; Tamron. Good luck choosing the right one. What the heck go for the Canon. LOL