Tamron 24mm FE review by Marc Alhadeff: “outstanding lens for its price”

Marc Alhadeff tested the brand new Tamron 24mm f/2.8 FE lens. I know that on paper the specs are a bit boring. But the performance is excellent! Here is Marc’s conclusion:

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The Tamron 24mm F2.8 Di III OSD M 1:2 (450 euros) is an outstanding lens for its price. It is part a set of new Prime lenses with all a short focusing distance , a 1:2 magnification ratio, a F2.8 aperture, same length, same weight. It delivers very similar results to the Sony 24mm F1.4 GM (1600 euros) for a fraction of the price although obviously only being a F2.8. Its sharpness is mostly outstanding on the Sony A7RIV and the results in term of color rendition / background blur are excellent

Pros

Outstanding sharpness across the whole frame on A7RIV
Very compact and light : discrete and going well for video on a Gimbal
Low price
Very good background blur and color rendition
Good resistance to flare
Very short focusing distance allowing to reach 1:2 magnification
Fast and reliable AF

Average

Good build quality (but much lower than GM)
Vignetting is moderate (to be corrected in a future Lightroom Lens profile)
Moderate chromatic aberrations
The Bokeh Balls show 7 sided shaped polygons as of F4 and no more a ball like at F2.8

Cons

Lot of distorsion (to be corrected in a future Lightroom Lens profile)
Noisy AF in Video
Only F2.8

Unless you need a faster lens than a F2.8 , the Tamron is an absolute must have and a bargain for a A7RIV or A7RIII for still photography. If you shoot mostly video the small size of the Tamron will be a key plus on a Gimbal but you should avoid to record audio in the body in silent environment as the lens is quite noisy. If you only have a A7III with only 24Mpix and have already the Tamron 17-28mm F2.8 you won’t see a lot the difference in sharpness

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Links:
Tamron 20mm  f/2.8 at Adorama, FocusCamera and BHphoto.
Tamron 24mm  f/2.8 at Adorama, FocusCamera and BHphoto.
Tamron 35mm  f/2.8 at Adorama, FocusCamera and BHphoto.