PhotoPlus The Canon Magazine – August 2019

106 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com

SUPERTEST

Centre Edge Corner

2500

2000

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1000

500

Sharpness

f/1/8f/2.8 f/4 f/5.6 f/8 f/11 f/16f/22

TAMroN SP 15-30mm

f/2.8 DI VC USD G2

New and improved, this is the second generation of

Tamron’s stabilized ultra-wide zoom

nique in this group,

the Tamron sports an

optical stabilizer or

‘Vibration

Compensation’ system.

Moreover, it’s an upgraded

version in the G2 edition of the

lens, with increased 4.5-stop

effectiveness. Useful when

shooting at dusk or indoors,

but zero benefit for long

exposures at night, where it’s

best switched off.

There’s little change in the

optical line-up, compared with

the original lens. It’s still based

on 18 elements in 13 groups,

with XGM (eXpanded Glass

Moulded Aspherical) elements

and several LD (Low

Dispersion) elements.

However, the G2 adds a third

‘AX’ (Anti-Reflection eXpand)

coating, which was developed

for coating curved convex

elements. Solid build quality

includes a set of weather-seals

and a reformulated, durable

fluorine coating on the front.

Unlike the other zoom

lenses on test, the Tamron has

a large zoom ring at the front

and a relatively small focus

ring at the rear. Despite being

narrow, it still enables precise

manual focusing and manual

override of the fast ring-type

ultrasonic autofocus system.

Performance

Like the Sigma 14-24mm

zoom, the Tamron delivers

minimal barrel distortion and

vignetting at its shortest focal

length, although it can’t match

the Sigma for maximum

viewing angle. Sharpness is

less impressive away from

the centre of the frame, and

there’s a little more lateral

chromatic aberration, coma

and astigmatism towards

the corners.

FeATUres

VerdIc T

01

The front element

has a fluorine

coating.

02

A new high-tech

coating for the G2

improves resistance

to ghosting and flare.

03

Compared with the

other zoom lenses

here, the position of

the zoom and focus

rings is reversed.

04

The manual focus

ring is narrow but

operates smoothly.

05

Weather-seals are

fitted, including a

rubber ring on the

mounting plate.

FeATUres

BUIld & hAndlIng

PerFormAnce

VAlUe

oVerAll

02

03

04

U

GET SET...

Here are the best camera settings to use for shooting stars

or a good starting point, set the

shooting/exposure mode to

Manual, and dial in the widest

available aperture of the lens with a

shutter speed of 30 secs. Also set the

White Balance manually to its Daylight

position. Next, select an ISO of around

ISO1600 and be prepared to increase

or decrease the value if the resulting

images are too dark or too bright.

Next up, you’ll want to switch off

image stabilization if available and rely

on the support of a sturdy tripod. If you

don’t have a remote controller, the

‘Mirror lockup’ function available in

most DSLRs works well with a

2-second or 10-second timer delay,

allowing vibrations to gently settle after

pressing the shutter button and the

reflex mirror flipping up.

F

£1279 /

$1299

As an alternative to ‘Mirror lockup’ and to optimize

accuracy, select Live View with manual focus mode

and use the camera’s LCD with max magnification

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