In the Field: Photo Blog by Richard Wong

Photography field reports by Richard Wong. Richard’s work has been published in magazines, books, advertising, and offers fine art prints of his work. Images may be licensed as rights-managed stock photos by contacting Richard directly at Richard@rwongphoto.com or (626) 422-6151. California stock photography, fine art prints, photo blog: www.rwongphoto.com

Canon 5D Mark II Wide Angle Lens Test

Posted on | June 7, 2009 | 10 Comments

Most camera and lens tests you see on the internet or in magazines are set up indoor shots in controlled conditions. While nice, it really has little relevance with “real world” photography so that is why I decided to publish this Canon 5D Mark II wide angle lens test between the highly-regarded but expensive and bulky Canon 24-70mm L lens versus the Tamron 17-35mm f2.8-4 lens which is a lightweight lower priced lens. Image quality / portability is everything for nature photographers. Unless a bird photographer, we don’t care about custom functions and auto focus. Barrel distortion, chromatic aberration, contrast, center and corner sharpness are what separate good lenses from average to the mediocre. A proper lens test would have to evaluate various focal lengths and apertures from f8 to f16.

So here are the results from my detail / sharpness test:

Canon 24-70mm L Lens, 24mm, f16, 1.6 sec, ISO 100

5D MKII, Canon 24-70mm L Lens, 24mm, f16, 1.6 sec, ISO 100

5D MKII, Tamron 17-35mm @ 24mm, f16, 1.6 sec, ISO 100

5D MKII, Tamron 17-35mm @ 24mm, f16, 1.6 sec, ISO 100

f16 Center Sharpness: These crops were from the center of the images, which the Canon 24-70mm lens is showing more detail in the rocks and higher overall contrast. This could make a big difference for large prints (16 x 24 and larger) and for murals. Most important if you have a picky stock photo agency then any image from this lens combination should pass quality control no matter how detailed the image. Also keep in mind that most images won’t place such a great emphasis on small details such as this forest scene.

Priced at nearly $1,000 less than the Canon 24-70mm lens, the Tamron 17-35mm lens is not bad at all when it comes to center sharpness though less capable of revealing the fine detail in the rocks. Neither lens has any visible chromatic aberration in the center of the image.

Canon 24-70mm lens detail crop

Canon 24-70mm lens detail crop

Tamron 17-35mm lens detail crop

Tamron 17-35mm lens detail crop

f16 Corner Sharpness: This is where the most obvious difference between the two lenses are. While both lenses are showing a fair amount of chromatic aberration in the corners, the Tamron lens looks like a blurry picture whereas the corner detail from the Canon lens is still looks like that of the same image for the most part.

Canon 24-70mm corner sharpness

Canon 24-70mm corner sharpness

Tamron 17-35mm corner sharpness

Tamron 17-35mm corner sharpness

Canon 24-70mm lens at 24mm, f8, .8 sec, ISO

Canon 24-70mm lens at 24mm, f8, .8 sec, ISO

Tamron 17-35mm lens at 24mm, f8, .6 sec, ISO

Tamron 17-35mm lens at 24mm, f8, .6 sec, ISO

f8 Center Sharpness: There isn’t much difference in center sharpness between the two lenses at f8 which one of the sharpest apertures for most lenses.

Center Crop of 5D Mark II, Canon 24-70mm @ 24mm, f8, .8 sec, ISO 100

Center Crop of 5D Mark II, Canon 24-70mm @ 24mm, f8, .8 sec, ISO 100

Center Crop of 5D Mark II, Tamron 17-35mm Lens at 24mm, f8, .6 sec, ISO 100

Center Crop of 5D Mark II, Tamron 17-35mm Lens at 24mm, f8, .6 sec, ISO 100

f8 Corner Sharpness: As for corner sharpness however, there is no contest. The Canon 24-70mm lens maintains sharpness throughout the frame. The Tamron is unusable for landscape photography at f8.

Corner Crop of 5D Mark II, Canon 24-70mm lens at 24mm, f8, .8 sec, ISO 100

Corner Crop of 5D Mark II, Canon 24-70mm lens at 24mm, f8, .8 sec, ISO 100

Corner crop of 5D MKII, Tamron 17-35mm lens at 24mm, f8, .6 sec, ISO 100

Corner crop of 5D MKII, Tamron 17-35mm lens at 24mm, f8, .6 sec, ISO 100

Conclusion: If you are a landscape photographer with any intentions of selling your work professionally then you should pay whatever money you need to in order to get a great lens. It doesn’t make sense to buy a $3,000 camera and worry about what the lenses cost. People often get this part wrong. It should be the inverse, buy the best lens you can afford then upgrade the camera whenever you have the money to do so. The greatest camera in the world can’t produce detail the lens is incapable of producing. Also, the income you will lose out on in marketable images is much more than the difference in what lens cost.

The Tamron lens is an awesome walk-around lens on crop sensor cameras such as the Canon 50D but on a full-frame camera the corner sharpness is just unacceptable at 24mm. The Canon 24-70mm lens is definitely worth the money but I would be interested in comparing it with wide angle prime lenses to see if this is really as good as it gets. I didn’t want the more versatile Canon 24-105mm IS lens packaged with the 5D Mark II because I knew that it would suffer from the same issues as the Tamron 17-35mm lens on a full-frame camera if not worse in some regards at the widest settings.

As for the Tamron 17-35mm lens, I will probably only use this lens on the 5D Mark II as an ultra wide angle for seascapes at f16 where fine details are less obvious or if I need to cut weight for a hike. I am also going to do a barrel distortion test at the beach in the near future with these same two lenses to confirm my conclusions from this test.

Category: Opinion
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Comments

10 Responses to “Canon 5D Mark II Wide Angle Lens Test”

  1. Brandon Hill
    June 7th, 2009 @ 4:24 pm

    Great review Richard. Even though I don’t shoot landscape, your detailed analysis was fantastic. Excellent conclusion too.

  2. Richard Wong
    June 8th, 2009 @ 12:54 am

    Hey Brandon. Thanks dude. For portraiture I’m sure that the corner sharpness wouldn’t matter as much but it is something to be aware of.

  3. Mark Zanzig
    June 10th, 2009 @ 1:05 pm

    Great review, Richard. I own the Canon lens, and I absolutely second your findings. Though we probably both have to admit that it is a bit unfair to compare the Canon to the Tamron. One of the few lenses that actually beat the Canon is the Hartblei series. That might be of interest especially to you. See http://www.hartblei.eu for details.

    Oh, and BTW, I shoot weddings regularly, and customers *are* picky. I wouldn’t want to give them portaits that are below standards.

  4. Richard Wong
    June 10th, 2009 @ 1:22 pm

    Thanks Mark. That is interesting. I had never heard of the Hartblei lenses. I’ll have to check them out.

  5. Jim Goldstein
    June 25th, 2009 @ 10:28 am

    Richard great write up. The difference is quite noticeable.

  6. Richard Wong
    June 25th, 2009 @ 1:40 pm

    Thanks Jim. Are you using the 16-35mm?

  7. Sha
    January 8th, 2010 @ 4:48 am

    good.But i like Nikon.Canon is Bad camera.canon company opening in 1930.But Nikon start 1918 then you tell which one is good http://www.nikon.co.in/

  8. Melinda
    June 3rd, 2010 @ 10:08 am

    Thank you. This is a huge help! I was debating between these two lenses for landscape photos. Your detailed analysis showed me things no other site has.

  9. Richard Wong
    June 3rd, 2010 @ 12:52 pm

    Thanks Melinda. I feel that the useful reviews are the one’s that are written with practical field use in mind. The lab test and tech stuff is irrelevant but that is usually what reviews are full of.

  10. LENSES TAMRON 17 35 | Electronics Find
    July 28th, 2011 @ 1:15 am

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