We've got ourselves the brand new Tamron 70-200 F4 and we're gonna see how it
stacks up against the competition but don't forget that Canon have just come
out with a brand new 70-200 f4 and it promises to be way better than the original
and Nikon also have a current 70-200 f4 on the market let's see how all three of these
lenses compare against each other
Welcome back DPReview TV viewers it's Chris Niccolls here from DPReview coming to
you from the Calgary Stampede and we've got Kyle Marquardt with us as our
special guest thanks for coming talk to me Kyle
I take phones commercially I do guiding as well a lot of stuff in the polar
regions yeah usually not as hot as this hey I'm not always in the Arctic or the
Antarctic but thanks for joining us pretty heinous weather crazy day we're
riding sidesaddle on this horse because it burns our thighs now today we're
looking at the Tamron 70-200 F4 brand new lens this is in Canon mount
but I've asked you along because of course we got three lenses to test here
so I need help so thank you for coming so what are you using here today well
I'm pretty familiar with this lens I actually still have the original version
of this everyone else I know that has one of these gets it because they need a
70-200 they want to be sharp all the time they don't care about F2.8 but but
like this is important you want something lightweight well you know
we're also talking about a you know not just a size difference but also a cost
difference as well all right I mean that this is a great professional lens it's
affordable but the Tamron promises to be even more
affordable now you're rockin the 5DSR today this is a high-res body I've got
the Nikon D850 because we are also testing the Nikon 70-200 F4 I do
also want to mention guys at home that we're not doing a Canon versus Nikon
that's not really the idea here what we're doing today is is the Tamron a
great viable choice whether you're gonna buy a Canon system or a Nikon system do
we go with this or do we stick with the OEM glass I don't think anyone talks
about Canon versus Nikon do they all the time
stop it
all right so we were testing these lenses out we were playing with the
sun star so at F16 F22 at F32 I prefer to do F16
okay because past that you get a little bit of diffraction softness
and this guy has a nice sun star yeah the Canon and Nikon
look pretty similar right we'd get a little bit on the edge it's tough
to make it work yeah I do feel the Tamron maybe it's a little more prone to
flare but that can be interesting in your photo or can wreck it it would depend
funny thing is it's a 70-200 I don't typically shoot those at the
Sun get a Sun star with usually a wide angle so always ultra-wide
alright so we've come inside not just to get out of the sweltering Sun light but
also because the low-light gives us a good test for image stabilization now
the Tamron 70-210 advertises four stops of VC the Nikkor with their VR system four
stops as well and the Canon claims five we're gonna do a bunch of tests
comparing notes and see how they all come out so I guess the decision is do
you want butts or do you want heads normally I'd go for the butts but testing
the lens we've got a little bit more detail on the head so let's go for that I
appreciate you making that sacrifice so Kyle let's just preface our findings
first by saying this is not a scientific test but it's real world and we're
shooting here in low-light situations so your Canon lens has five stops of image
stabilization what did you find you know at one eighth of a second I was getting
typical performance I was expecting about in 10 one in 15 shots is
really really going it is really pushing it I wouldn't do any trustworthy
images at one eight but fifteenth of a second and
that a four stop equivalent no problem was pretty doable
Tamron I was struggling I was struggling at one fifteenth ok interesting
with the Tamron and the Nikon we were getting four stops sort of as
the rating for the image stabilizers in them i was fighting with the Nikkor
VR four stops advertised no problem I was getting 15th of a second I could maybe
even push to 1/8th I mean it was it was very very respectable yeah okay it's
time to talk about close-up capability on these lenses now first off the Canon and
Nikon very similar minimum focusing distance is you know these are no macro
lenses by any stretch but they do a pretty good job now the Tamron we
actually have talked about because this kind of a mixed bag it does give you the
extra focal length and it does have a better minimum focusing distance so this
is what I was shooting with the Canon but with the Tamron
I had to move in about a foot however we're finding at DPReview when they
did test this lens is soft at 210mm and it's also soft at its
minimum focusing distance so this is a problem you can get better macro but
resolution's not going to be the best benefit yet it's gonna be a little bit
hazy yeah but that being said it's actually pretty fun to play with you
just have to be aware but yeah if you want that tack sharpness you're gonna
have to move that one foot back and then zoom out just a little bit
you haven't had a pineapple whip I've never had a pineapple it oh they're so
good I guess we're getting pineapple with yeah they taste like pineapple oh
it does taste like pineapple so good so I just want to mention how the Tamron
70-210 puts the zoom collar at the front of the lens and the manual focus closer
to the rear and that's gonna be opposite from both the cannon and the Nikon now
when it comes to the Nikon 70-200 F4 it operates the way that any Nikon lens
does it's very familiar but that Tamron with the reverse it takes a little bit
of getting used to at least it focuses the same as the Nikon now if you're a
Canon user going to that Tamron everything's gonna be backwards and I
feel that's gonna take you know a lot of time just get used to now of course Kyle
has been hogging the lens so I haven't really gotten a chance to play with it
too much but I imagine he's having difficulty Chris was whinging about the
focusing ring being opposite on these two I don't find that to be much of a
problem but I guess Chris is just unadaptable creature of habit I know
we're not testing autofocus tonight I mean it's not really the venue for it
but basically what we found at DPReview is that the Tamron lags a little bit
behind the Canon and the Nikon okay just slightly I think if you're doing
extreme sports or wildlife you notice a difference but otherwise it's not really
making a big impact are you finding any problems with the
autofocus with the Tamron I wasn't really having a whole lot of
problems with the autofocus but when I'm working I need to get the shot I almost
always have the focus limiter okay I'm almost only shooting something
fairly far away right and then I'm often switching between stabilization mode 1 and 2
stabilizer in position 2 for panning shots you have birds flying by you animals running by
right want those panning shots well I mean basically your only option here is
going to be shutting it off not getting any stabilisation
yeah yeah it's important to note the Nikon in the Canon do give you those
capabilities and yeah if you're shooting wildlife and sports again more reason why
if that's a serious pursuit for you you might be better off with the original
manufacturers yes okay so looking at bouquet we shot the merry-go-round I
mean again this is subjective stuff right everybody's have a different look
but I found the Nikon in the Canon and the Tamron actually all very clean not
getting onion rings or anything like that nice circular shape circle yeah
however I know if you agree but I actually found the Tamron was more
circular from the center to the edges and the Nikon and Canon got cat's eyes
shape pretty quick like that even just out of the center part of the frame my
internal bias was prepared for the Canon to have the best bokeh right and
once this other Tamron run it's just a no-brainer that it's nice and smooth
I prefer that
hey everyone it's Jordan to talk about some
things that are important if you're using these three lenses for video and
right off the bat I'm very concerned about focus breathing with these now the
Tamron on exhibits by far the most of it but you have to remember too it has the
widest focus range but still if you're pulling focus on that lens it's gonna
look like a zoom the Canon and Nikon are actually surprisingly well controlled
for that as well I usually shoot manual focus when I'm working with these so how
far across the barrel the focus ring goes is really important to me the
Tamron actually has the nicest one 180 degrees around the barrel Canon is
quite a bit shorter but still very usable about 120 degrees Nikon is the
shortest so kind of the least optimized for video if you're a Nikon shooter
looking to shoot video I would definitely look at the Tamron if you're a
Canon shooter I'd lean towards the Canon lens obviously ah so good isn't it yes
whoo I'm having fun the light's just getting good yeah I'm getting thirsty
got myself a root beer oh nice okay I guess you'll have to do
that yeah well then should we let you go shoot should we start taking some pictures and get
the light while we can see what we can get all right
all right so I just want to give you a quick summa ry of our findings on the
Tamron 70-210 F4 and how it compares to the other lenses we tested and again we
don't have a lab but this is just from the experiences we've found however
first off if you go to DPReview.com check out the full review on the Tamron
70-210 F4 it actually has very good comparisons to the Canon as well and you
know just to summarize what we're finding excellent image quality overall
on the Tamron but the Canon is a better lens not only overall but also wide open
however overall as you saw the bokeh was pleasing you know vignetting minimal
chromatic aberrations well handled they did a great job now unfortunately there
aren't any comparisons versus the Nikon 70-200 F4 but we did a lot of testing
with that lens just ourselves at the Stampede grounds and a day before as
well and basically this is what we're finding the Tamron and the Nikon are
very very close optically it's really hard to pick a clear winner between the
two and considering the price differences again that's a big plus for
the Tamron all right Kyle well I think we're done
first off thank you for doing double duty and managing both lenses I
appreciate no problem now you know as a final aside I mean on the Tamron the
real big benefit here is the lower cost right yeah
you're saving quite a bit of money especially considered when you stack up
against the Nikon what do you think for value for the dollar if this is back in the
day when I was buying my 70-200 I would take a close look at this one right now
it is a very simple body design I mean the hood is pretty chintzy but did you
find it was you know cheap feeling or like in a build quality was poor I
mean I could tell it's plastic right but as far as yeah but as far as plastic
goes it doesn't feel horrible like I'm squeezing it and playing with it it
doesn't feel like there's a lot of give ok we're talking about the Tamron versus
the original manufacturer so the Tamron versus the Nikon unless you
needed the focus limiter and the auto focusing features
I'd really have a hard time going to the Nikon when the Tamron's on the market
for so much less money yeah but I think with the Canon it's a different story I
mean the new 70-200 F4 from Canon is optically the best out of the bunch it
does give you some appreciable benefits over this if you don't mind paying
the extra premium yeah if I were shooting professionally that extra bit of performance
that a little bit better of stabilization and you know it nicest
sharp little bit faster autofocus that would matter to me sure that would
matter but if for a fun lens you just want something you're going on holidays and
you want something basic don't wanna be changing lenses all the time the would be a
great well-made workhorse for you yeah yeah thank you so much for joining us
tonight really appreciate your help hey beautiful
photos check out Kyle's stuff go to kylephoto.com check out his photos and also
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hopefully you found this useful and we'll be back very soon with another
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