Tamron / Sigma Wide angle - telephoto

[Johnboy2978]

I've been considering my next purchase in gear, and I have it narrowed down to either a second alien bee 800 or a decent zoom lens. I have a kit lens 28-90 that is okay, but not very sharp and is rather on the slow side f/3.5. Looking for something in the same focal range to replace it with and was wondering if anyone had any comments of either of these. I've been checking reviews and they seem pretty similar in terms of quality. Anyone have an opinion for or against either of these?

Tamron Zoom Wide Angle-Telephoto AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di LD Aspherical (IF) Autofocus Lens: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...403&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

Sigma Zoom Wide Angle-Telephoto 24-70mm f/2.8 EX DG Macro DF Autofocus Lens: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...968&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

 

[MPowerM3]

Ive been eyeing the Sigma myself, played the Tamron once in the store, it was a nice piece. Yet to see a Sigma in my hands, and i'll the chance on friday to shoot with a 24-70 2.8 L glass from Canon, that will make up my mind if Im spending the money or not.

BTW, sigma4less.com has the sigma (obvisouly) for about 50 bucks cheaper then B and H.

Let me know/us how you make out.

 

[sothoth]

I recently purchased the Sigma 28-70 f/2.8 and like it. It was, like you, purchased as a modest upgrade to the kit lens. Yours has a little more functionality than mine but they're pretty similar optically. Having said that, the difference with Tamron isn't that significant either, other than the macro, which Sigma has but Tamron doesn't.

My local photo shop doesn't stock Sigma lenses, saying they're a "B" grade lens, however I disagree at least from my personal experience with each. For their recent models, I think Sigma is comparable to Tamron overall (some lenses are a little better or worse but their whole lineup is fairly similar). I tend to like the color and contrast a little better with Sigma and have never seen the problems they're supposed to be plagued with, including poor QC and poor compatibility with Canon cameras (among others) since they reverse engineer the electronics for the autofocus (etc).

Some people prefer Tamron for the lighter lenses. However to me, lightweight always feels just plain cheap. I know that's not too logical, but I can't seem to get that feeling out of my head when I try them in person. Tamron is usually less expensive than Sigma, which is always nice.

If it were me I'd get the Sigma for the macro. Other than that, you should try them both and see if you like one better in person. They're not too different in much of a substantive way, as far as I can tell.