Help choosing a lens

[yeahhtrue]

Hi guys,

I've been shooting with a Canon Rebel XS for about a year now and I'm looking to get a new lens. My question is, how big of a difference is there between a Canon lens and a similar Tamron (or even Sigma) lens?

For specifics, a Canon 24-70 f/2.8 is listed on Amazon for almost $1300, while a Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 (the closest Tamron makes to that Canon lens, I think) is only $500. I'm sure the Canon lens is better, but is it really worth an extra $800? Or are those lenses not as similar as I'm thinking they are?

I'm trying to decide between a lens in this range or a fast prime lens or two, but I'm on a pretty tight budget, so I don't want to go blowing an extra $800 on something that really isn't worth it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Here are the lenses, for reference:
Amazon.com: Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM Standard Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras: Camera & Photo: Reviews, Prices & more

Amazon.com: Tamron AF 28-75mm f/2.8 SP XR ZL Di LD Aspherical (IF) for Canon Digital SLR Cameras: Camera & Photo

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum.

I would also think that the Canon lens is 'better'...but the real questions is just how much better...and from what I've heard, it's pretty close.

Not long ago, I saw a review from someone who tested a lens, I think it was the Tamron 28-75mm F2.8...and when the photo was printed out at 8x10, there was no decipherable difference between it and a print from the Canon lens.

I'm sure that someone could find a difference, probably by zooming in to 300% in Photoshop...but is that really a 'real world' test...I don't know.

 

[yeahhtrue]

Thanks for the quick reply! I kind of figured that it couldn't possibly be THAT much better of a lens to justify spending another $800, especially when I just shoot as a hobby. I think I'll stick with Tamron. Now I just need to decide if I want the 28-75mm or a couple of faster primes instead...

 

[Dao]

Whether it worth the extra cost varies from person to person. As you can see both are popular lens, so a lot of people buy them.

I borrowed the Tamron version from a friend before. The build quality is like my Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8. So Canon version for sure is better as far as build quality concern.

According to the review site (photozone, I believe), the Tamron 28-75mm works quite good with the APS-C camera in terms on optical quality. However, the border performance on the Tamron version is not as good as the Canon on Full frame camera.