Buying Advice : Canon 70-200 L Non-IS USM or Tamron SP AF 70-200mm F/2.8 Di LD [IF]

Hello All,

I currently own a Canon 600D (T3i) and i am a hobbiest only and mainly take landscapes and city pictures during travel and occasionally use for other occasions for personal use. I currently use a CANON EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM lens and love the sharp wide angle photos it produces and for objects at a distance I use a Tamaron 18-270 PZD Canon F3.5/6.3. I have been using these for about 3 years now and after taking thousands of photos under different conditions I'm pretty sure I am prepared for the next level now.

Canon 80D has been luring me as it looks perfect for a non-professional yet achieve something close to professional level. As I researched, upgrading lens may be a better option than the camera body. Canon 80D isn't cheap either.

Coming back to lenses, I am so far happy with my wide angle CANON EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM lens but not at all satisfied with the Tamaron 18-270 especially not getting crisp pictures and a lot of noise even when taken with tripod and appropriate settings. Probably its time for my first L lens now. I am debating over Canon 70-200 L Non-IS USM or Tamron SP AF 70-200mm F/2.8 Di LD [IF] but again considering the Tamaron's performance of 18-270 I am tilted towards Canon. But I can get Tamaron f2.8 at almost same price for Canon f/4, so is that something which should impact my decision when it comes to landscape photography. I read lot of reviews for Canon 70-200 f/4 and most say the photos are very sharp. The IS option is quite expensive and beyond budget for a hobbiest me and f2.8 is probably very heavy and way out of budget. However, Tamaron f/2.8 has been able to get some great reviews so I am unable to decide. Suggestions?

24-104 IS L. Get it used.
And then 6D. It is not very expensive now, if used. 5D MK2 is even less expensive these days and will works fine for landscapes.

Thank you for the advice. But 24-105 looks pretty expensive as well. I don't see the used one here but new one seems way too expensive. Although I understand I need to have a few lenses , one for ultra wide shots, one for far distant objects such as 70-200, and one for everything else in between. Besides I also like to shoot far distant objects and hence the interest in 70-200mm. Which one would you advise among Canon 70-200 L F/4 NON IS or Tamaron 70-200 F/2.8. Should I be really worried about f/4 of canon vs the f/2.8 which Tamaron provides, although more of my shooting is done in better light as opposed to low light.

F4 non IS it is then. The ISO ceiling on the 80D is more than good enough to compensate for the lack of one stop. It's cheaper and ligher, so winner winner, chicken dinner

that sure sounds like a delicious dinner. while I agree, this is more of a learning curve and I definitely want to upgrade from canon600D but I cannot afford both a new lens and 80D at the same time. So either one has to wait. If it comes to that choice , what will the advice from the professionals?

Not a pro but, ef 70-200 f2.8 if it's body or lens, and yes I own one

professional might be the wrong word, I wanted to say those who are more experienced . Does going for f/4 rather then f/2.8 will make a huge difference when it comes to landscape and occasional low light one? The price is quite high for f/2.8 and I read almost everyone says its too heavy for all day use.

your 18-270.... I googled the aperture to see where the changes are:
f/5 59-90
f/5.6 91-237

So just from a performance issue, you gain a stop for most of the range (91-200) by going to the 70-200 f/4 (and a little less for 70-90)
Optically, you would gain a lot
if 1 stop sounds good to you, this could be your option

If you were to go to a 3rd party 2.8 option, you'd pretty much gain 2 stops, and I'm pretty sure any current/previous generation 3rd party options should be optically better than this superzoom
If 2 stops sounds better, this could be your option

Don't underestimate stabilization (IS/OS/VC/ETC) for the 70-200 range. Its not a must, but is definitely good to have... don't rule any of those options out unless you really can't make the budget work for one

Have you considered 7D mk I second hand or refurbished? Great value for money. Works superb with Tamron 70-200 / F2.8.

Thanks for the very detailed analysis. This makes it easier to decide. Getting 2 more stops for a 3rd party does sounds good but I am still not very sure if the overall optimal performance will be as good as a Canon f/2.8 although that is totally out of the budget.

I think the major question that comes is that whether a canon f/4 can compete nearly with a 3rd party f/2.8, even though its a one stop ahead.

The IS option does sound good, but is quite expensive than the non IS one. Perhaps can't I overcome it by using a tripod during low light.

In all fairness I haven't yet considered 5D , 7D (Any mk I, II etc). I don't think as just an an enthusiast I want to go up that range unless I turn professional. So In my research, I am hoping to reach the saturation point at 80D which seems to have pretty much everything and still gave a taste of professional touch. 5D, 7D might be too soon in my journey (owning a 600D),I believe unless I experiment more with the lenses.

The Canon 70-200 f/4 non IS is a fine lens, especially for what you described what you'll be using it for. On the used market it's very affordable. In good light it can be used for anything from sports, landscapes, portraits and even wildlife (limited reach) all handheld. In lower light the loss of a couple stops won't make much difference for your landscape needs as you can use a tripod. You don't have to worry about capturing a moving subject.
I own it and use it all the time for daytime sports (softball, lacrosse, motorsport) and it has produced nice results even in lower light situations (albeit with a 6D) but also nighttime panning at lower shutter speeds with a 1D III.
For those on a budget looking for their first L lens, you can't do much better than this one.

Thank you. Its great to hear from your experience. This is what I am hoping to achieve with my first L lens. For light, will make use of tripod wherever possible. I think the 80D will have to wait for a while.

Thank you all for your thoughts and suggestions. I finally decided to buy neither of the two lens and ended up ordering 24-70mm f/4 L USM lens, and can't wait to start using it. I went through pictures of my recent trips and I realized that only 10% of the photos were taking with zoom of over 100-150mm. So decided 24-70mm L series is good for now, and eventually 70-200 mm will have to wait for sometime and finally will move to a 3rd new lens of anywhere below 24mm for wide angle.
Cheers!