70-200 lens comparison....

I'm trying to decide between lenses here. I've been looking into the Canon, Sigma and Tamron 2.8 versions and it appears that the Tamron hangs better with the Canon than Sigma does. I'm not concerned with IS as much as I am with IQ.

Take a look at the tests...

http://the-digital-picture.com …omp=0&FLIComp=4​&APIComp=0

Both lenses are set to 200mm at 2.8. As I go through all the mm settings, the Tamron seems to stay with the Canon at the center focus point at every level. The Tamron slightly loses sharpness at 100mm on the corners, compared to the Canon. When I compare the Sigma tests, once the Sigma gets past 100mm it loses the battle to both the Tamron and the Canon.

I can pick up a Canon version for $1000 (used), or I can buy the Tamron brand new for $769.

From the tests done at the-digital-picture.com I can't really see any obvious advantages to the Canon, other than the white body and red ring.

Have any of you used more than one of these lenses to be able to give an opinion on how the perform in the real world?

Thanks. It is a really interesting chart. I went through some of my lenses and the accuracy is very close.

Pictures from a Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 lens, all at 200mm and f/2.8.

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Thanks DC fan, nice selection of action and low light. The focus point seems to be nice and sharp.

Owning the Tamron, I can tell you that, optically speaking, it is going to be one hard lens to give up; I can't imagine owning a better zoom lens. Equal maybe, but it's going to be hard to do better.

Here's the #1 downside to the Tamron: The auto focus. It is loud and slow. Normally spot on until it gets dark, but slow as a slug. I've shot professional soccer with it, but it struggled to keep up, while my friend with a Canon 2.8 non-IS was getting sick of hearing me complain!

I highly recommend it for portraits and such, but if you're looking to shoot sports, pop for either the Sigma or Canon.