Tamron 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II VC HLD Review

Tamron 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II VC HLD Performance

Sharpness at 10mm is centrally outstanding from f/3.5 to f/8. It is excellent at f/11, very good at f/16 and still good even at f/22. Very impressive. At the edges, the result is very good from f/3.5 to f/5.6, excellent at f/8 and f/11, very good at f/16 and fairly soft at f/22.

15mm shows outstanding central sharpness from f/4 to f/8, remaining excellent at f/11, very good at f/16 and good at f/22 down to f/25. The edges are very good from f/4 to f/11, good at f/16 but soft beyond that at f/22 and f/25.

20mm again shows outstanding central sharpness from f/4.5 to f/8, becoming excellent at f/11, very good at f/16, good at f/22 and generally soft at f/29. The edges are good from f/4.5 through to f/16, but soft at f/22 and f/29.

At 24mm the performance shows excellent central sharpness at f/4.5, becoming outstanding at f/5.6 and f/8, very good at f/16, good at f/22 and becoming soft by f/29. The edges are very good from f/4.5 to f/11, good at f/16, soft at f/22 and very soft at f/29.

Sharpness has been concentrated firmly on the centre of the field, with some outstanding results. The edges do lag behind, as do apertures smaller than f/11. The lens performs better at wider apertures, so may be more suitable for low light users, or those interested perhaps in street photography. Using small apertures for maximum depth of field may well lead to soft edges.

CA (Chromatic Aberration) is corrected to an astounding degree at the centre of the image, at all focal lengths. The edges do display some visible CA, although this can be corrected in software. This can clearly be seen in several of the images shot for the review.

Flare resistance is excellent and even against the light there is no loss of contrast, nor are there any artefacts visible.

Distortion at 10mm is a fairly obvious -3.35% of barrelling. By 15mm this has changed to near perfect rendering, showing just +0.05% of pincushion. This does increase slightly as we zoom in, with pincushion distortion measuring +1.12% at 20mm and +1.30% at 24mm. It is controlled very well for such a wide zoom lens, which is fortunate as pincushion distortion in a wide-angle lens is not what our eyes expect to see.

There is no complaint regarding the bokeh of the lens. It has a very attractive overall rendering. Likewise the VC system, which easily delivers the promised 4 stop advantage.

Finally, the VC system once again is found to more than live up to its claims. Four stops are claimed, four stops can be expected without any hesitation. This may not be seen to be quite as relevant as in a telephoto lens, but will still be of value in low-light situations where the camera needs to be hand-held.  

Value For Money

The Tamron 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II VC HLD Lens is priced at £579.99, which compares with the previous version, the Tamron SP 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II LD AF Aspherical at £419 for Canon, Nikon or Sony A fit, or £377 for Pentax K fit.

There are few exact competitor lenses, but there is the Nikon AF-S 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 G DX at £729.

The nearest equivalent for most marques are the 12-24mm lenses, for example, the SMC Pentax-DA 12-24mm f/4 ED AL IF (£779), Nikon AF-S 12-24mm f/4 G IF ED DX (£979), Sigma 12-24mm Art DG HSM (£1649) and Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 II DG HSM (£649).

Thinking slightly outside the box, there are also the Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM (£499) and the Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L USM (£2699). The latter is, of course, a full frame lens but could be used on a crop sensor.

For more options have a look at the Top 5 Best Tamron lenses or Top 15 Wide-angle Landscape Lenses.

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