I'm looking to buy a tele zoom, and was set at the amazing Canon 70-200/2.8 II, mostly for shooting indoor/concert type photography. But since its such an expensive lens I thought I'd check if there are any alternatives.
After reading up on lenses, the Tamron 70-200/2.8 Di VC stood out. According to DxOMark it has even slightly better optics than the Canon, and reading through user reviews it seems to have a fast and accurate AF. At ⅔ of the price.
Can anyone shed some light on these two lenses? Is the Tamron comparable? Preferably someone who has used both or done a bit more research than I have :)
Answer
The thing you have to look at with DxO is the individual data, not the overall "DxO Mark Score" that seems to weight things like minor differences in T-stop heavier than things like significant differences in sharpness. Even at DxO The Canon tested a bit sharper overall than the Tamron, especially wide open on the long end which is where most 70-200mm zooms tend to be used the most. Distortion and Chromatic Aberration are fairly close between the two in the shorter focal lengths, but at 200mm the Canon clearly outclasses the Tamron at f/2.8. The fact that the Tamron transmitted 0.2 T-Stop more light than the Canon wide open is what gave it a higher overall score. It is quite possible that the single copy of the Canon lens DxO tested was not perfectly calibrated, and the Tamron copy was.
Other reviews I've seen put the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2./ L IS II even further ahead of the new Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 SP Di VC in terms of sharpness, contrast, and color. Look at this comparison at The-Digital-Picture. Most technical gurus that have looked at both lenses place the Canon "II" well ahead of the new (as of 2013) Tamron and Sigma offerings, which in turn are both better than the older 1995 designed Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L and even the 2001 Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS.
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