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.

First image of the new Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 FE lens mounted on the Sony A7III

Digitalcamera.jp shared the first image of the new Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 FE lens mounted on the Sony A7III. Here is the google translated text of their first impression:

-With a development announcement, the 70-180mmF2.8 is extremely compact, although it will be released next spring.
-If you look at the actual machine, it is compact enough not to think of F2.8. It feels even smaller than Canon’s “RF70-200mmF2.8L”.
-Weighs in the 800g range, this size makes it feel like you can easily carry it around.
-Furthermore, AF speed is quite high, so it seems to be useful for shooting moving objects. It ’s a very fun lens.

Here are also the images of the three new f/2.8 primes:

The 20mm f/2.8 will be released in January!

Sony a6600 review at Dpreview: “Amazing autofocus, acceptable ergonomics”

Dpreview published the full Sony A6600 review and concludes:

The Sony a6600 has an industry-leading autofocus system, is capable of excellent images and video, comes with very useful in-body image stabilization and has the best battery life of any mirrorless camera on the market at this time. However, its sensor is getting a bit long-in-the-tooth, and competitors have caught up or surpassed it regarding video quality and features, resolution and handling. But for family photography and even some sports and action, it’s easily worth your consideration.

Dpreview has selected the Sony A7rIV as the “Product of the year”

Dpreview conclusion:

Sony is one of the more divisive brands on our site, partly because of a perception that it gets more attention than other manufacturers. This perception stems from two factors: firstly, Sony has released an astonishing number of high-end products in the past handful of years. Secondly, they have tended to be very good.

Taken as a whole, the a7R IV is Sony’s best mirrorless camera yet. The enthusiast-focused a7 III continues to top the best-seller lists but if you want the highest resolution, the best autofocus system and some of the best video features on the market (not just in Sony’s own product lineup) the a7R IV is where it’s at. A true ‘flagship’, the a7R IV has undoubtedly benefited this year from no direct competition from Canon or Nikon, but it will take an unusually good product from either manufacturer to make the a7R IV look uncompetitive in 2020.

And by the way, the A7rIV is $1,000 off (!!!) at FocusCamera if you are eligible for their EDU program.