Tamron 10-24mm F/3.5-4.5 Di II VC HLD - Review 2022

An ultra-wide lens is a useful tool for photographers who want to capture photos with a dramatic, all-encompassing perspective. If you shoot with an APS-C SLR, the Tamron 10-24mm F/3.5-4.five Di Two VC HLD ($499) is an appealing entry in the category. Information technology has a solid zoom range, offers paradigm stabilization, and boasts all-weather structure and a fluorine front glaze. It'southward less expensive than similarly positioned lenses from Canon and Nikon, but has to compete with compelling budget alternatives like the Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.five-v.6 IS STM ($299.99) and Nikon AF-P DX Nikkor 10-20mm f/4.five-five.6G VR ($309.95), both of which offer stabilization, but have narrower maximum apertures and shorter zoom ranges.

Blueprint

The 10-24mm is a short, squat zoom. It measures iii.2 by 3.3 inches (Hard disk), weighs fifteen.5 ounces, and supports 77mm front filters. It'due south non quite an internal zoom, the front element juts out and pulls in as you adjust it, merely the movement is merely nearly a quarter of an inch—you lot may not fifty-fifty notice the change in length. The lens ships with front and rear caps, and a reversible hood. It's bachelor for Canon and Nikon cameras.

Tamron 10-24mm F/3.5-4.5 Di II VC HLD : Sample Image

The lens boasts a tough polycarbonate build with rubberized focus and zoom rings. There's an o-ring seal at the lens mount, and internal seals to prevent dust and moisture from entering. Additionally, the front element is coated with fluorine, which resists smudges and water, making the lens easier to make clean.

Because of the build and price, the 10-24mm is more probable to end up on a college-finish camera like the Nikon D500 or Canon EOS 80D. Yous won't desire to use the lens with a full-frame model, as information technology merely covers APS-C epitome sensors—that's a DX photographic camera, if you're a Nikon user. In full-frame terms, the lens covers a fifteen-36mm field of view.

Focus is capable at distances every bit short as 9.4 inches, measured from the camera sensor. This lets you lot go up shut and personal with a subject, and when working toward the long end of the zoom range you tin can blur out the background behind a close subject. Accept a wait at the flower above, shot at 10mm, and the 1 below, at 24mm, to get an idea of both the field of view and bokeh yous tin go when working toward the minimum focus distance.

Don't look a lighting-fast transition from close focus to locking onto a distant subject. While the 10-24mm lens locks on speedily if it'due south already in focus or close to it, moving from one farthermost to the other is a slower process. I clocked it at about 0.four-second when paired with the Nikon D7500, which is a little slower than nosotros'd await with an ultra-wide lens. It'south non a concern for shooting static subjects, simply you can run into issues if you lot're using the lens for pictures or video of subjects moving quickly toward or abroad from the camera.

Videographers will capeesh the integrated image stabilization system—Tamron calls information technology VC, short for Vibration Compensation. It keeps handheld footage free of jitters. It also makes it possible to get crisp shots of static subjects when shooting still images at longer shutter speeds. You get image stabilization with the budget options from Nikon and Canon, the slower and shorter EF-South ten-18mm and AF-P 10-20mm, just non with the two lenses that compete with the Tamron on more even ground: Canon's EF-Southward 10-22mm f/3.v-4.five ($649.99) and Nikon's AF-S DX Nikkor 10-24mm f/3.5-iv.5G ED ($899.95) both omit the feature.

Paradigm Quality

I ran lab tests on the 10-24mm with the 20.9MP Nikon D500. At 10mm f/3.five the lens scores 1,890 lines per flick tiptop on Imatest'south standard middle-weighted sharpness evaluation. That's a good, but not swell, outcome. Center sharpness is potent at f/three.5, 2,770 lines, but as you move away from the center epitome quality drops, and edges are noticeably blurred at just 700 lines. There's some improvement at f/5.6; the overall score improves to 2,243 lines, which is in the very skilful range for a 21MP camera, with strong quality at all just the farthermost edges of the frame.

Edge softness is typical for such a wide lens when shot wide open up. Narrowing the discontinuity will internet better results, so if yous're shooting wide landscapes you'll want to shoot at f/8. The boilerplate resolution jumps to an splendid 2,820 lines and even the very edges of the frame prove improve than ii,200 lines, a very strong result on its ain. The boilerplate scores stays almost the same at f/11, ii,871 lines, only we see the best border performance here, 2,661 lines.

You may be tempted to shoot at f/sixteen, but at that place's actually a step dorsum in overall resolution when the diaphragm is narrowed to that point. The average score crops to 2,351 lines and edges prove but about 2,100 lines. Avert f/22 completely, the boilerplate is a mere 1,592 lines.

Midway through the zoom range, at 17mm, the maximum aperture is f/4.2. The lens puts upwards solid numbers through nearly of the frame broad open, two,343 lines, but with the aforementioned blazon of edge softness we see at 10mm—1,020 lines here. Stopping downwardly to f/5.half dozen bumps the edges to 1,300 lines and the average score to a stronger 2,548 lines.

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But again, f/8 (2,791 lines) and f/xi (2,646 lines) are your best bets for shooting images that are crisp from corner to corner. Edge performance is stiff at both settings, hovering effectually 2,240 lines. At f/16 the overall score takes a pace back, ii,046 lines, and the tendency continues at f/22, 1,392 lines.

Zooming all the way to 24mm narrows the maximum f-stop to f/4.5. But you get strong overall functioning wide open, 2,327 lines, with edges that are merely a niggling soft at 1,680 lines. At f/5.6 results are better overall (2,370 lines) and at the edges of the frame (2,000 lines), and once once more at f/8 you get strong functioning across the frame—an average score of 2,695 lines with the periphery lagging backside past only near 100 lines.

Yous can comfortably shoot at f/11 (2,738 lines) and internet the sharpest results. Simply once more, skip f/16 (2,282 lines) and f/22 (one,528 lines), as the aperture is so narrow at both settings to cause light to besprinkle every bit it makes its mode to the prototype sensor, cutting into accented image quality.

Sharpness is important, but information technology'due south not the only mensurate of performance. Imatest also measures butt distortion. This type of upshot, which makes straight lines appear to curve outward like the hoops of a barrel, is something that you lot deal with when shooting with a lens that's as broad as the 10-24mm. At 10mm it shows about five.9 percent, which is very noticeable.

It would certainly be possible to design a zoom of this blazon that shows less curvature, just it would be bigger and heavier, and probable much more expensive. One of the downsides to shooting with a third-political party lens is that your camera won't be able to compensate for the result automatically, as it could if you use a Nikon lens on a Nikon photographic camera or a Canon lens on a Canon camera, merely software tools tin besides straighten those lines. Adobe includes a contour for this lens in its Lightroom CC photograph application; information technology removes the distortion with a unmarried click, although doing so does slightly narrow the field of view.

Distortion is not an result at 17mm; the lens shows a negligible 0.8 per centum of the butt multifariousness. At 24mm you go about 0.9 pct pincushion baloney, which makes straight lines appear to curve slightly inward. It'south generally more distracting than barrel distortion, but 0.nine percent is inside our ane percent tolerance.

Dimmed corners and edges are also something you often see with a lens this wide. The 10-24mm is non immune. There's a 3.6-end drop (-3.6EV) from center to corner when shooting at 10mm f/three.five. It's reduced to -2.5EV at f/4.6 and -2EV at f/8, but never drops below our -1EV tolerance. The Lightroom lens contour corrects this result, making edges appear as bright as the center when shooting an evenly lit scene.

The vignette result doesn't go away completely as you zoom, but information technology does lessen. At 17mm f/four.two y'all get a -1.7EV drib at the corners, which drops to well-nigh -ane.3EV at f/8 and -i.1EV at f/xi. When zoomed to 24mm you get a modest darkening at the edges, -ane.3EV, at f/4.five and f/5.6, but it is within our -1EV tolerance at narrower settings.

Conclusions

Photographers seeking an ultra-wide zoom should consider the Tamron 10-24mm F/iii.5-4.5 Di II VC HLD when shopping. It's less expensive than comparable glass from Canon and Nikon, delivers potent, but non impeccable, paradigm quality, and includes optical stabilization for still and video capture. It has some of the same optical shortcomings you lot become with about reasonably priced and sized ultra-wide zoom lenses, but you'll need to utilize corrections to images yourself—because it's a third-political party lens, you don't take admission to in-photographic camera correction data. If you're willing to live with that, or with some distortion, yous get a lens that'southward capable of capturing wide, dramatic images, is usable in all types of weather condition, and sports optical stabilization, all for most $500. If yous're on a tighter budget, consider instead the stabilized Canon EF-Due south 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM or the Nikon AF-P DX Nikkor 10-20mm f/4.5-5.6G VR, both of which sell for around $300.