I’m going to keep this short and not too technical. I’m really not good at committing to this blogging thing. Fine. No more talking about it. Just feel like I need to talk about these Tamron lenses - they’re spectacular.
With the Nikon kit, I got both of their standard new SP G2 zooms in the 24-70mm and the 70-200mm. Now, having used them for a wedding, a landscape travel session, shooting wildlife, and a bunch of different portrait sessions, I think I have a pretty good feel for them. I know nobody needs to be told how sharp these guys are. They’re razor sharp, at really any focal length in their range. I think the thing I’m most impressed with in the day to day use of them is the incredible stabilization. Hand held shots that normally would have had some shake or motion blur just don’t happen as often.
I think the biggest challenge of these lenses was the perception of Tamron. Coming from using Canon bodies and lenses for forever, I always thought that Tamron lenses were just cheap lenses that Nikon users had to use because Nikkor lenses were slow to be updated and didn’t offer a whole lot of features. I thought they had to be junk - seriously. I know it’s not about the gear and a good photographer will get a good shot with or without the gear - blah blah blah. The fact of the matter is that nobody complains about good gear. It just makes everything easier and having quality glass means you can rely on it, focus on the other parts of your shots, and know that you’re going to get the sharpness you need without necessarily having the extreme conditions that yield DXO Mark scores. I really thought they wouldn’t be as good as they really are. I’ve been super super impressed.
Canon’s L line of lenses are incredible - and I think that these Tamrons compare favorably. I don’t really see any need to spend double the money to get Nikon’s in house lenses. I got both the 24-70 and the 70-200 for less than the cost of one of the Nikon branded ones - and I’d argue that these are even better. I’d even say that they should be an alternative to the Canon L lenses.
If you’re in the market for some standard zooms - I can’t more highly recommend these Tamron lenses.
