We’ve just received a production version of this lens and happy to report that the color fringing at 17mm is now well corrected. Contrast is better as well. I’ve owned two copies of the Fuji 16-55/2.8 and in terms of IQ there’s really very little difference between these lenses. The Fuji has slightly better center sharpness wide open at 35 and 55mm but is equal at f4. The Tamron is much better at 17mm (compared to the Fuji at 16mm), it has a wider range, very good VC, superior close focus capabilities at 2/3rd of the price. When you own a Fuji camera without IBIS, to me it would be a no-brainer: take the Tamron. In terms of build quality, the Fuji seems better, but both my copies failed miserably over time. Feels can be deceptive…
I have owned heaps of Tamron lenses for my canon system and they are amazing value and extremely good with IQ. But with Fuji especially with the new XH2s body it only has 2 dial wheels so without an aperture ring on the lens, it’s basically a nightmare for me to be able to adjust my settings quickly as I will have to dive into the menus to change Aperture, it’s just not the way Fuji cameras are meant to be used and takes the whole experience away, I think Tamron missed the mark by omitting a simple Aperture.
@@eliaspap8708 Most Fuji cameras have two command dials that include a push function. You can assign aperture control to one of these command dials. It’s a different way of working, but some even prefer this way of aperture control. Esp. for video. In fact, Fuji’s new zoom lens (the 18-120, designed for the X-H2S) doesn’t have an aperture ring either, nor do the XC lenses and the Sigma lenses for Fuji X. I guess for Tamron it was too costly to change the design.
@@jacobh5817 that’s disappointing about the 18-120, I noticed that also. They actually removed the click/push function on the XH2s dial wheels so that’s not possible anymore. Not that I used it anyway with XT3 or 4, I’m sure it’s easy enough to assign some custom button and yes there is a work around, but it means more muscle memory and fiddling about just for one or two lenses, all 9 of my Fuji lenses have an aperture ring even the Vitrox 13mm, and the latest one I am looking to buy next for example the 150-600 seems to be there. I just prefer to stick to a certain formula regarding ergonomics as my shooting style is quick and very spontaneous. Especially when doing wildlife.
@@enricospadavecchia4443 I don’t use Fuji (and the Tamron) on a regular basis. They’re here in the studio for whenever someone needs a camera during a workshop. For regular stills they’re both performing equally well in AF-S mode. The Tamron seems to hunt a bit less than the 16-55/2.8 in AF-C mode. At least on an X-H1 and an X-T3. I haven’t tried them for video work, but I’d guess there’s very little between the two lenses when it comes to AF.
Nice review as always, just IDK why we don't see a comparison in any third party lens review other than those are for Sony. In this case a neck to neck comparison with the Fuji 16-55 2.8 would have been nice.
Excited to see Tamron getting into the Fuji system with some excellent lenses (my 18-300mm is arriving today!). As usual we don’t need to go anywhere else to learn all about this lens's performance, thanks for the great review.
@mipmipmipmipmip It is a Planar design and it does have that Zeiss magic. Its sharper than the XF35, it has a wonderful and creamy bokeh and the design is pretty clean aswell! Only the missing weather sealing is a bit sad and the aperture ring turns a little too easy. Also well...the price sure is on a Zeiss level. But if you can find a used one in good condition, the crispy sharp pictures are really worth it! :)
@@BloodmoonPyke I have read, however you have actually used, the Zeiss lens, and the reviews were not particularly flattering. Oldish design, slow to focus were some of the negatives listed.From a purely personal perspective, the single feature of Zeiss glass that would appear to me is the colour rendering. How do you find that?
Thanks for the review. I bought Fuji 16-55 f2.8. It's one of the best purchases I made last year, after 23mm f1.4 and 33mm f1.4. I am happy with all Fuji lenses I purchased. They thrive to make the best lenses.
A zoom lens with all the features I've been waiting for on Fuji. This will be a very popular lens I feel. Any constant Aperture Zoom lenses from Third party makers will be, right? especially with Optical Stabilization built in. great review and product showcase.
I agree. Particularly as the more upmarket, longer focal length Fuji zooms are quite expensive. I have not closely followed the longer reach Fuji zooms, however I don't recall Fuji recently releasing new/upgraded longer focal length pro range type zooms. Yes, have clearly seen the many shorter ,much faster focusing more standard prime releases such as the numerous, newer designed 2.8 primes. It would be interesting to see the breakdown in the number of lens sales by focal length- would anticipate far more shorter focal lengths to be the top sellers. Fujifilm were bold, confident in owner brand loyalty, in opening up their system to Tamron, in particular, not sure what Sigma is doing?, quite unlike the negative approach of Canon and its heavy handed approach to keeping its RF mount closed. Seems very difficult to understand when the EF mount had been open for such a long time. Perhaps Canon believed it had clearly recouped the R and D + tooling costs of the EF system ?
Looking forward to a comparing video between this lens and XF16-55. For my personal, I have XF16-55 already so I will wait for a F/2 zoom lens from Sigma or Mark 2 from Fuji for upgrading.
I'm using Tamron 17-70 on my Sony A6000 and mostly I'm happy with the pictures. Unfortunatelly there is one flaw which might be caused by the connection of the lens and camera, but it is good to consider it and test it with your own camera if you buy the lens as soon as possible so you can decide if you wanna keep it or return it. Flaw: when I use autocorrection of vignette, sometimes my camera does poor job and there are dark and light stripes in corners. I decided to turn vignette correction off and on 2.8 the vignette is quite large and strong, but pictures look natural - unless you decide to edit the photos. It is very hard to get rid of sharp vignette in some cases when you increase contrast for example. When I realized this, I though my copy of the lens is broken, so I searched RAWs on web and I can notice that it is not just my certain lens, but it is for all 17-70 Tamrons. This might be better with newer Fuji cameras, but if u will buy the lens - test it as fast as you can so you can decide how crucial is it for your certain use - I can say that some of my portrait photos are quite ruined since there is no space for crop now etc. Don't get me wrong, I would probably still buy this lens again for my A6000, I keep using it despite of the flaws (vignette and low sharpness on f2.8 70mm) and call it as a "character of the lens" but I did not see anyone talking about this and if you enjoy advanced editing of your photos, be aware.
A bonus for Canadian buyers is an up to 10-year warranty for original purchasers. I have owned two 16-55's over the years, but the Tamron has some advantages for me, such as matching filter size with the Fuji 70-300, the slightly longer range, and the closer focus. A bit expensive but still about $400 cheaper new than the 16-55. Looking forward to it :)
Great review. Thank you! 🙏 It would be also interesting to compare this lens to Fuji's own 16-80/F4 of a similar price. And whether this lens is worth replacing Fuji's one with it.
I was wondering that too. The question is whether that extra stop is worth it. I imagine the image quality is fairly comparable, but you do lose the aperture ring with the Tamron and lower build quality by the looks of it.
@@europlatus With that 5x zoom, the lens is clearly for travel, hiking, cities etc. From my experience F4 was enough most of the time. Obviously having one additional stop is an advantage. Whether it's a big advantage-depends on what one uses the zoom lens for. For evening photography, I just don't use anything darker than F2 and switch to fujicrons-small size F2 primes. So, F2.8 is nice to have in my usecase but not must have. Especially considering that Tamron at F2.8 has not impressive corners and improves at the same F4.
@@MichaelBabich The 16-80 is smaller, lighter, better-built, has the aperture ring, and has weather resistance. Also, Fuji has the extra 1mm at the wide end (it does matter) and the extra 10mm at the long end (matters less but still). If you do landscape and often find that you're in situations you can't easily move around (on a mountain for example), you'd really appreciate the extra reach at both the wide end and the long end. Image quality wise, both are not the best but both are decent enough. The extra stop of light is definitely helpful in in-door situations, but I tend to switch to my f1.4 and f2 primes when I need more light or bokeh. Also worth noting is that the Fuji lens has a CIPA rated 6 stops of stabilization, and Tamron one doesn't get CIPA rated, but people say it's around 3-5 stops. If you can tolerate 1 more stop of shutter speed, then the Tamron lens being 1 stop brighter isn't going to make much of a difference. Unless you only want to own only 1 lens in the standard zoom range, I would go for the Fuji 16-80. Complement it with a 33mm f1.4 or 23mm f1.4 depending on your preference between the 35mm look and the 50mm look, then you should have 80% of common photography scenarios covered. Then add on a Fuji 70-300 telephoto zoom and the Viltrox 13mm f1.4 ultra-wide, you cover the rest of the common photography scenarios. What's even better is that all your lenses have aperture rings :P. If you do a lot of portraits, then get either the Fuji 56mm or the Viltrox 75mm f1.2, and you should have all that you need.
@@michaelmao6180 Excellent analysis and conclusion. I have the 16-80 f4 and 35 f1.4 and I concur: they are a perfect two-punch combo.I would only need the 70-300 and a fast 50mm to have all my bases covered, as you said. The Viltrox seems like a great recommendation.
Have just come across this. The usual practical and sensible review from Chris- as have been subscribed for years', don't understand how I missed it. As an owner of a XT20, XT2 and XS10, the question facing Fuji is , will this lens decimate potential sales of the 16-80 and 18-135? Very interesting.
Without wishing to be difficult, when you apply the cropping factor of 1.5, I find that the lens is just not wide enough for my purposes. The semi classic ff equivalent of 24-70 suits me perfectly. However, if the widest focal range suits others, then this is obviously a very good choice.
Thanks for the review, chris. That's what i've expected, IQ issues at 17mm. The Sigma 18-50/2.8 (smalles F2.8 Zoom, you've reviewed earlier - comes into this Dec. 2022 also to Fujifilm, Sigma needs to adapt the XF Mount protocol...it takes some time...) seems to be a better, and much cheaper alternative. I stay happily with my XF 18-55/2.8-4, it does all i want, has an aperture ring, is a native Fujifilm design, and only missing WR (weather resistance) here...
This is a good 2.8 zoom option for the XT3 finally. Since the XT4 and new XH2 have IBS, then I'd probably gravitate towards the fuji 2.8 (money no object) as it seems sharper across the board (especially if they roll out the higher mpx sensor).
Thanks Chris, I love the review as always! Are you planning on picking up an X-H2/X-T5 to test future lenses are 40mp? I'm curious whether this would hold up on the higher resolution sensors, and how it would compare to the 1st party lenses in that regard
Great review, especially showing video related features like focus breathing and parfocal. The image stabilization was covered but not the sound of the AF when focusing.
Hopefully Tamron will one day make an F2 zoom! F2.8 & F4 dime dozen, i do a lot of low light events, a 17-40mm F2 or similar would make me sell all my Full Frame gear.
The only thing stopping me from buying this lens is the lack an aperture ring, i wish there would be a way to program the focus ring to work as a aperture ring.
It's really silly to get hung up on it, this or the coming Sigma 18-55 f2.8 make a whole lot of sense versus Fuji's own options for a standard fast zoom. But no aperture ring is a deal breaker for me.
Nice review and nice to see a new option for Fuji users. Fuji’s own option, the XF16-80 f4 is still a good choice if you don’t need the 2.8, and a little cheaper I guess. Difficult choice if you haven’t either one of them and are in the market for new glass.
The 16-80mm is more expensive here then the Sony version of the Tamron. So i'd say the tamron is better then what Fujifilm has on offer for the money. The only issue for Tamron is that the bundled 18-55 F2.8-4 fills in the same role. And it doesn't have to be replaced for many shooters. Unlike the Sony kit zooms which are only useful as an book holder. So while an excellent addition and i welcome it fully i am not sure on potential sales.
@@ArteUltra1195 Extra 1mm wide, extra 10mm at the long end, plus an aperture ring and better build quality with the Fuji. The Tamron looks like a great lens, but not sure it's an easy choice, especially if they are similar prices.
@@europlatus The 10mm on the long-end is of little to no concern. One can always crop in and the tamron has more background separation at 70mm due to being F2.8. The build quality and 16mm at the wide-end still stands though
About 800€ for the Tamron vs about 1k€ for the Fuji 16-55. It is not that big of a difference I think. You get a better build quality with a metallic body, an aperture ring and better image quality for the money. It lacks OIS though. In my opinion the Tamron had to be at around 600€ to be the value alternative. At this price point I would take the Fuji every day.
@@bl00me18 If chromatic aberrations at 17mm are indeed the consequence of bad in-camera correction and not an issue in RAW, then Tamron seems slightly superior to Fuji in terms of image quality. They seem to be equally sharp and contrasty in the middle and Tamron is slightly sharper and more contrasty in the corners on the whole overlapping range. Granted, Tamron is soft at 70mm F2.8 but that's kind of a bonus focal range if you are comparing it to Fuji. We would need a more thorough review to fully assess all aspects of image quality (including bokeh, color rendition and overall rendering), but for now I don't think that Fuji has an edge in image quality. Now with regards to pricing, that will depend a lot on individual markets. In US it's $400 difference, while in some other markets it can be much smaller (like 200 EUR you mentioned)
@@djstuc where did I mentioned Fuji 16-55 is not a good lens, especially in terms of optics? It was great lens in 2015 when it was released, and the fact that still performs good when compared to modern APS-C zooms (like this Tamron) is a testament how good that lens is. If I were to point some negatives about 16-55 2.8, it would never be in areas of optics and AF, but in terms of weight, size, price and lack of OIS.
@@djstuc if you don't consider Fuji 16-55 as large, heavy, and expensive, and if lack of OIS is a pro for you (rather than con), then Fuji 16-55 is the best choice for you. For others that don't share a similar opinion, it's a good thing that there is an alternative that's smaller/lighter/cheaper, and has greater reach, OIS, and close-focusing capabilities, coupled with great image quality.
@@djstuc if I'm not mistaken, Chris mentioned that fringing on 17mm is caused by bad in camera correction and should not be a problem for RAW shooter. It's not happening on Sony version so that might be the case culprit. But even for JPEG only shooter, cross shopping between Fuji 16-55 and Tamron 17-70, it's choosing between having sharper and more contrasty corners through the overlapping focal range (where Tamron is superior) or better control of purple fringing on wide end (where Fuji is superior). It's matter of personal preference, but I would always choose sharpness and contrast because fringing can be fixed easily in post, while lack of details and contrast cannot. I don't understand your comment about shooting in the rain and image quality. Tamron 17-70 F2.8 is weather sealed lens, but even if it's not that does not have anything to do with image quality. Are you implying that lenses that lack weather sealing have poor image quality?
If they released it 2 months ago, I 100% would've bought it. Instead I had to buy the 16-80mm Fuji lens and ended up selling it because I was pretty disappointed.
The new 18-120mm is probably a direct upgrade in every way though. Internal zooming, same aperture and image quality, and doesn't spaz out when zooming in video
@@swaggyeggs Lenses of this size and design are not parfocal. The autofocus just tries to hold focus. Also, aperture diameter = focal length / fstop. So the iris has to change even at f2.8 while zooming. 17mm (6mm) vs 70mm(25mm). Fuji doesnt do it seamlessly.
Do you know when it will be available? Also, I just wanna say, I love your videos, when ever I’m looking at a lens in interested in, I come to you first to see your review on it.
great review, but quick question. is the lens changing exposure as you zoom in and out? i know that happens with the fuji native zooms but i didn’t think it happened with third party lenses :/
It's likely down to metering - If the camera isn't in manual mode or spot metering then it will adjust the exposure as the overall scene changes. Most of the Fujis are variable aperture zooms so if they ARE in manual, then exposure will change as the zoom (and therefore the aperture) changes.
The distortion at 70mm is noticeable when there are straight lines but can be corrected in still photos. Am I right in assuming the distortion can't be corrected on video (although maybe 70mm in aps-c is a little long for video.) Thanks for your excellent review.
I have this lens for around 2 weeks and was curious if someone could check that when zooming in and out, at around 24mm you can see the image jump a little bit, like go wider and then continue zooming again, not really visible in the demonstration in the video as that's done too quickly to notice.. interesting
I'm deciding between this and Sigma 17-50. Extra reach is nice but not a must for me. VC on the other hand can make it or break it for me. Anyone tested it on Fuji cameras that have IBIS? I know that Sony's cameras with IBIS are buggy with Tamron's VC.
i was thinking about getting myself an xf 16-80mm f4 lens, and then i just stumbled across this. owh the timing..!! looks like i'll be getting this instead. it's like my sigma 17-70mm f2.8-4 that i have on my nikon camera.
The tamron looks good on the test chart, but when i look at the stones, the the Fuji XF 16-55 for example shows much more details on the surface of the stones. Is this lack of micro contrast?
Today I received the new Tamron 17-70mm F2.8 for Fuji and so far I have mixed feelings. Image quality is great and the IS (VC) is great too and the handling is way better than expected. But - though the lens is known to have silent AF - my copy seems to be a noisy one. There is a very noticeable chattering sound when the camera is being powered on, when switching from viewing images to normal camera operations and when focusing. Plus, from time to time the focus is a little insecure too and switching from reviewing images back to normal camera operations takes a lot of time. I never heard of these issues before: Is this normal for this lens? Do I have a faulty copy? Is it a firmware issue? I'm shooting on an XT3 with Firmware 4.3 for the body and 1.0 for the Lens. Thanks in advance!
@spc3mky Everything is ok. It's just the aperture blades jittering when the light changes quickly. My 16-55 F2.8 and my 50mm F2 have the same thing, the 16-55 is a little more quiet, the 50mm F2 is even a little louder. So in short, it's nothing to worry about - I was only being paranoid. I'm using the lens for two months now and I'm really happy. Used it both for events for work and for travel. Pretty sure I'm going to sell my 16-55mm as soon as it becomes a viable option.
@@muttishelfer9122 tag me another apsc lens for x mount for that price with image stabilization, 😀 xD It must be a zoom lens similar to 24-70 (35mm) I'm waiting...
Hello Christopher, are you going to review the Nikon 24-200mm anytime soon? It's an affordable lens that I'm sure a lot of people are tempted by, but I personally don't want to risk buying it without watching your review first.
Hello I like your reviews, I would like to suggest how much you test APS-C lenses, that you test in your full frame camera in SUPER 35mmm format, to see the performance in photography, because in your full frame even with the 1.5x factor of the super format 35mm results in an image with enough pixels for many uses, thank you.
I've been thinking about this lens with a Sony A6400 for my video and photo use (product photos). It seems to tick most check boxes but I do like prime lenses more (sadly in your other review the Sony SEL35/1.8 OSS didn't do too well). So my questions are: 1) is Fuji X-E4 better vs Sony A6400 if I want to make movies with a film look (using their film simulation colour profiles)? 2) Should I avoid Fuji on the other hand because of their lack of image stabilisation (I have my eye on the 35mm 1.4)? 3) Does the Fuji have markers on the screen so you can choose to frame your video and edit to a wider aspect ratio?
Wondering if this would be a good replacement for the 18-55mm? Your description used words like average, decent, etc. which makes be wonder whether it's worthy.
Hello, how do I select the speed priority with this tamron with the xt5? If it doesn't have an aperture ring, how do I leave it on automatic? Thank you so much
I bought this lens for my Fuji X H1. Whenever i attach this lens the camera goes to program mode. How to fix this? And is there any way to set the focus ring to aperture ring ?
Hi ! Can anyone help me with some advice ? I am currently shooting some POV videos with my iPhone 11 Pro ultra wide angle lens which I understand is a 13 mm lens. My question is, if I get a full frame mirrorless, which lens should I get in order to replicate the image from the iPhone ( but better quality ) ? One important thing to consider is that I would like everything in frame to be in focus ( no bokeh ) and very good low light performance . Thank you !
So this isnt parfocal, which is pretty disappointing, but I guess that's pretty rare these days. What are my options if I want one for my xt4 and don't have the budget for a cine lens? I have the sigma 18-35 (adapted) but what if I need more reach?
Also looking for a viable zoom lens with a decent range. The new XF 18-120mm is parfocal but only f4. Might be worth actually testing it for myself though.
Did you noticed any problem when zooming with this lens, some weird Focus stuff? Even on manual, when i change the focal distance it simply blur everything and then when I stop focusing it comes back to normal. Just want to know if this is common among these, or it's a problem with my one
I don't think so. Canon R mount protocol is not shared with 3rd parties. Tamron & Sigma (or any 3rd len company) need time to reverse engineering. With current covid and global shortage of supply, it will time more time.
Maybe the lens is meant to be paired with the new Fujifilm XH2s (although because the lens has VC, you can pair it with XT30) Again, it's better late (to open the lens mount specs) than never
Isn't this the lens that has compatibility list that doesn't include the older bodies? (namely X-Trans II and I bodies) It's a shame because those cameras are still great and has the image quality to back it up. Artificial limits are really bad if imposed on newer products as it suggests buying and upgrading a capable "older" camera.