Photography News issue 22

42 Lens test

Photography News Issue 22 absolutephoto.com

£ 1349

Specs

Sony Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 24-70mm f/2.8 ZA SSM

Aperture range f/2.8 throughout, to f/22 Format compatibility Full-frame and APS-C Field of view

Verdict A solidly made lens with a highly creditable optical performance only a tad behind the Canon and on a par with the Nikon. Price is on the high side.

84-34° (full-frame) 61-23° (APS-C 1.5x) Optical design 17 elements in 13 groups Diaphragm 9 rounded blades Autofocus motor Super Sonic-wave Motor Min focus 34cm (from sensor) Min working distance 15cm (front of lens) Max magnification 1:3.8 Weather resistant No Filter size 77mm Zoom lock No Accessories supplied Hood, soft pouch Size (DxL) 83x111mm (142mm at max zoom) Weight 955g Camera fittings Sony-A (E with adapter) Contact sony.co.uk 84-34° (full-frame) 59-22° (APS-C 1.6x) Optical design 17 elements in 12 groups Diaphragm 9 rounded blades Autofocus USM ultrasonic drive Min focus 38cm (from sensor) Min working distance 17cm (front of lens) Max magnification 1:5 Weather resistant Yes Filter size 82mm Zoom lock Yes Accessories supplied Hood Size (DxL) 88x109mm (140mm at max zoom) Weight 825g Camera fittings Canon, Nikon, Sony-A (without VC) Contact intro2020.co.uk Specs Aperture range f/2.8 throughout, to f/22 Format compatibility Full-frame and APS-C Field of view

Features Rich in features but no zoom lock, which it needs Performance Excellent, especially at short and mid-focal lengths Handling Heavy zoom action but mostly good Value for money Quality costs but buy this and you won’t be disappointed Overall A fine Zeiss lens out of the top drawer Pros F/2.8 quality at wide and mid-range settings Cons Price, minor handling niggles

23/25

24/25

23/25

22/25

92/100

Despite the sleek contemporary styling, the Sony Zeiss 24-70mm f/2.8 ZA SSM actually dates back to 2008, first introduced for the Sony Alpha DSLR and SLT cameras. It’s very well built, the heaviest on test at 955g, with the extending metal barrel adding a touch of class. Controls are perfectly smooth, with a nice light action to the manual focus ring. The zoom action is heavier, and you can feel it shifting some big chunks of glass. There’s no zoom lock, though it really needs one. The test camera was a Sony A7R full-frame mirrorless, with an LA- EA4 adapter joining everything

together and providing full functions, including phase-detect AF using Sony’s SLT technology. Autofocus drive is SSM (Super Sonic-wave Motor), very quiet and very fast, matching the best with 0.35 seconds in the near-to-far speed test. It focuses close, down to a MWD of 15cm to give a 1:3.8 magnification ratio at 70mm focal length, equalling Nikon. Optical design is 17 elements, with two of ED glass and two with aspherical surfaces. Sharpness is very high, if not quite the best. That accolade goes to Canon with Sony and Nikon in hot pursuit. The Sony’s most impressive sharpness characteristic

is exceptional performance at f/2.8 in the centre, running close to 90%MTF at short and mid-range focal lengths and only a little lower at the long end. It’s never less than Excellent. If there’s a weakness, it’s edge sharpness at f/2.8 that’s merely Very Good, but it jumps up to Excellent from f/4, and stays there. So while Canon takes the crown in theory, in practice there’s probably nothing in it, bearing in mind that at f/2.8 subjects that stray too far from the centre will most likely to be out of perfect focus anyway. Aberrations control is very typical of this class, with CA more noticeable at the wide end, reducing to 70mm

with an average of 5.7µ, rating Good. Distortion follows the usual trend of noticeable barrelling at 24mm, gradually transitioning to modest pincushion at 70mm, with an average of 1.3% rating Good. Vignetting too is par for the course, being significant only at 24mm f/2.8 with 2.4EV of corner shading, and that’s knocked in half by f/4. Overall, vignetting rates Good. This is a very fine lens from Sony. It’s a bit heavy, perhaps reflecting its age and reduced use of lightweight materials, but it’s very well put together and is sharpwhere itmatters. It’s pricey, but quality costs.

£ 740

TAMRON SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di USDVC

Verdict Tamron’s move into the premium lens market is serious as this high class optic shows. And it sells at a very tempting price too so demands to be looked at.

Features Boasts USD, VC and WR Performance Generally impressive with a couple of less good spots Handling Everything works really well Value for money In the shops for £750, so a bargain Overall Top set of specs, optically impressive and a great price Pros VC, optical abilities Cons Large filter size, not much else

25/25

24/25

25/25

98/100

Tamron has been building itself a premiumquality SP lens line recently, also listing an excellent 70-200mm f/2.8 VC and a promising new 15- 30mm f/2.8 VC. Then there’s this 24- 70mm f/2.8 VC that looks almost too good to be true at only £750, and it has VC image stabilisation, so it’s unique in the 24-70mm f/2.8 class. At 825g, its weight is about average for the class. Build quality is high, it’s weather resistant and feels solid with no wobble in the extended barrel. Controls are smooth, with finger- light manual focus and a more firmly weighted zoom ring. There’s a zoom lock that probably won’t get used.

Autofocus is by Tamron’s USD Ultrasonic Silent Drive, that is indeed (almost) silent and decently fast, too. It recorded 0.5 seconds in the near-to- far speed test, which is a tenth or so behind the quickest, but focus shifts like that rarely happen in practice so it’s very unlikely to be a problem. Image stabilisation is Tamron’s own VC Vibration Compensation system, using its proven tri-axial design, and claiming four stops of benefit (to CIPA standard). It checked out at close to that with 90% sharp images at three stops, and 70% at four stops. This is a very high performance, pretty much as good as

it gets, and in practical terms it means sharp handheld images can be had at around the 1/4sec mark. Optical design features 17 elements, with a liberal sprinkling of exotics – three of LDglass, twoXRand four aspherical surfaces. At 24mm, sharpness in the centre is extremely high right from f/2.8. The edges lag a little, but improve to Excellent by f/4. Much the same result is repeated at both 40mm and 70mm focal lengths, though to be critical the levels are slightly lower at f/2.8 and f/4. It’s an impressive performance though, delivering very high image quality at all focal lengths and apertures.

Aberrations control is up to par, with no major issues. There’s moderate CA throughout, averaging 6.8µ to rate Good. There’s the expected barrel distortion of 2.0% at 24mm, switching quite early to pincushion, reaching 1.6% at 70mm – rating Good overall. There’s 2.0EV vignetting at 24mm f/2.8, though at all other apertures and focal lengths it’s quite acceptable, rating Good. This SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di USD VC is a terrific lens from Tamron. It competes fair and square on all aspects of performance, plus it has a very effective VC and comes in at nothing less than a bargain price.