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11-26-2012, 02:12 PM   #1
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Tamron 10-24 & 28-75 for everyday use?

Hi, I'm considering an upgrade from kit lens 18-55 to two lenses mentioned in title
I found 55mm at kit lens to be a limitation for me, so I would like lens a little longer, ~70mm seems fine to me, options in this range are Pentax 17-70/4, Sigma 17-70/2,8-4 and mentioned Tamron. I put Pentax away from the list first. I very often shot indoors (child) without flash at longest range of kit lens and I have to go with ISO to 6400 which is not a huge problem with K-30, but I would rather stay lower, and f/4 (even at wider end!) doesn't sounds very appealing to me and it is not a huge leap from kit. It is also the most expensive from the three (but marginally).
Sigma is a little better in my eyes, not F/2.8 across the range, but it is capable of limited macro, that is nice bonus. However, I have read a lot of complains about OS draining battery (which is not that large on K-30..) and it is now discontinued and to be replaced by what? I couldn't find any info about successor. The "old" version is still available here though
And the winner in my eyes of the three is Tamron - f2.8 across the whole range, macro, but 28mm at the wide end. So the 10-24mm zoom is a must, but I'm telling myself that I would surely get it sometimes (or right away when spring hits and hikes are on list). It is also nice that both tamrons uses the same filter threads.

I looked at ~1000 images from each lens on flicker, but it is hard to see any difference in IQ at all, but I'm no pixel peeper and I'm pretty OK with kit lenses IQ ATM.

Thank you for any kind of imput

11-26-2012, 02:17 PM   #2
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I have the Sigma 17-70 F2.8-4: it's AF is kinda slow-ish, and it's not really sharp at F2.8. The DA 17-70 is supposed to be a bit sharper overall because it's a constant aperture lens. I do like my Sigma 17-70, but I have been using it less and less.

The Tamron 28-75 is supposed to be quite sharp, and I do not doubt it's much sharper than my 17-70. In addition, the screwdrive AF is going to be faster than my Sigma's HSM (the 17-70's HSM, that is). The Tamron 28-75 is probably sharper wide open than your 18-55 at F5.6.

In addition, the Tamron 10-24 is quite a good lens, and I am of the philosophy that the 10-15mm range is really different than 15-20, and you only get that sense when you actually have an UWA lens.
11-26-2012, 02:33 PM   #3
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The Tamron 28-75 is a great sharp lens. I haven't tried the 10-24.

For everyday use I prefer a short all-in-one such as the Pentax DA18-135.
11-26-2012, 02:38 PM   #4
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Yea, 18-135 might be good, I should have picked it up with the K-30, but I didn't and I would not justify to myself buying it for full price that is 50% more that Tamron.

11-26-2012, 03:03 PM   #5
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The 10-24 is a great lens, and under-appreciated IMHO. It has the added advantage, that I never see mentioned, of being faster than the Sigma (10-24 and it starts at 3.5 and tops out at 4.5 which is the start for the Sigma).
11-26-2012, 03:51 PM   #6
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To me, the 28-75mm f2.8 is the best kit upgrade there is. f2.8 all the way through is WORLDS apart from the f3.5-5.6 of the kit lens, and stopped down to f4, the Tamron is so sharp that you'll be able to crop an image by 2x easily, and thus you've got a 28-150mm not a 28-75mm. Plus it's only $420 new, $310 or so used.
The Tamron 10-24mm is also a great lens, not quite as good as the premium Sigma (f3.5 constant) or the DA 12-24mm but it has zoom advantages over them both and a massive price advantage.

If you can afford those 2, they do make a great combo (I use that same except sub in the Sigma 10-20mm f3.5).
11-26-2012, 11:55 PM   #7
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I use the sigma 10-20 with the tamron 28-75. Have done so for about 6 years now. The 10-24 would better bridge the gap, so if you like it go for it. It makes a good low end for a complete kit.

I Fons that when I travel in cities especially, the need for something longer than 75-80mm is just not there, and I leave longer lenses at home, or drop a 135/2.5 into my bag just in case

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