New vs Old: Tamron 15 - 30 2.8 Ultra Wide Angle Lens

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In this video we pit the new Tamron 15 - 30mm G2 2.8 ultra wide angle zoom lens up against the older SP versions of this lens. We compare the sharpness, vignetting, fringing, vibration compensation, and overall distortion to figure out if the G2 is a worthy upgrade.

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[momchilminkov]

Conclusion - if you have the old lens - keep it, no need to upgrade. If you are planing to buy a new ultra wide lens - spend the 100 extra dollars, even if it's for better video stabilization alone.

[PTEredmond]

I just got a d850 the other day (upgrade from 7100) and am looking at this lens mostly for night skys, city streets and indoor stuff. Your video even 6 years later is quite helpful. Thx :)

[Smoothblue]

Yes. I have the Tamron 85mm G2 and the Tamron 24-70mm G2. I have been very interested in this lens.

[crollinsphoto]

I love the Tamron family. I left Canon lenses long ago due to poor quality and always was a Tamron user. I finally tried the Canon 24-70 2.8 I and as I figured, sorry I spent the money, very poor quality and suffered back focusing like was reported by other users and Canon support could not fix it after 3 times of sending it back so then I went back to Tamron 24-70 and 70-200 G2 and never been happier. I can now hand hold the 70-200 2.8 VC thru ceremonies at weddings with no tripod (no flash) with excellent results. Great review as always Patrick.

[djtoman]

My biggest take away from this video is that the new lens delivers incremental refinements that don't concern me, and that I might want to look on the used market for the 15-30 SP lens for my Nikon bodies.

[mofi]

the point is, the lenses are the sharpest at f4-f5, 6 in the corners it's 5, 6 > so the test at f8 reduces the resolution in the center.

[elram]

Holy bananas with the G2's stabilizer!!! 😱😱😱👍

[randydietmeyer]

I used the original 15-30mm for just over a year for my real estate photography and it served me pretty well, except that it is really much closer to 16mm on the wide end and that little bit did make a difference in many situations, especially in smaller homes. For the past few months I've been using the Sigma 12-24 and it is MUCH more useful for what I need it for. I still take the Tamron on me when we go on vacations since it does have VC, where the Sigma does not (which for work isn't an issue since I do almost all shooting on a tripod).

The vc on video sold me. I was about to get the SP as I found a good deal on a used one, but damn... the vc on video was too good

[defg]

Thanks for a very useful video. I too had both the Tamron 24-70 & 70-200 2.8's G2 version. I added, great deal, the original SP 15-30 2.8 to my D850 - literally the day before Tamron announced the G2 version :( great timing :( so, I've been considering an upgrade. after watching your results, and as I will shoot little video with this lens, I won't be upgrading. Thanks again for some very helpful info.

[johannilsson]

I am missing a bit of conclusion here. I'd say for photography go with the old one that is available at a lower price( I see a price difference of about 300€). For videography go with the G2

[withmeuntiltheend]

Not going to lie; I really enjoy my G2 but I find that the low light AF on it is pretty terrible. I have an older Tamron lens that never exhibited such a problem. Thought it was just the lens, sent it back and got a new one but the problem persisted. Not a huge deal for me, but wasn't super happy about the issue.

[nickmomot]

Thanks for this, I recently got the SP version because it was really discounted a few weeks ago and was wondering how much I was missing out on by not getting G2

[jonathanavila]

I have shot the SP version for the last couple years for real estate photography. One test that would have been nice to show is sun flaring when shooting into the sun. the SP version is notorious for pretty bad flaring. I heard the G2 has better coating and different hood that may help. Let me know if you have witnessed any changes to flaring when shooting into the sun or direct light source.

[bradena.]

Correction for earlier comment about Tamron - Tap-in console. Sorry, more explanation needed. What I should have said was the Tap-in console hooks to the bottom of the lens with the usb cable going to the computer for firmware updates - not a separate usb port.

[obsidian]

I need this glass...I need to finish off my TAMRON TRINITY!!!

[joewall]

Really comprehensive review mate, class job

[matthewbaken]

Considering the sharpness difference between opposing corners, you my need to consider having your camera body’s mounting plate recalibrated. They do get out of square over time, and a reputable camera repair company should be able to perform this task.

[josh]

Pair this with the Tamron 70-200 f/2.8 VC G2 and you will have the perfect do anything pair of zooms for the same price as a single Nikon 70-200 f/2.8E lens. That main problem I've always had with Nikon wide zooms is that the 14-24 is not long enough to replace a 24-70 really and the 17-35 and 16-35 f/4 aren't up to the same level optically. So if you want the best optics and wider than 24 you had to run 3 lenses and be changing them even if you have 2 bodies and if you wanted to run 2 lenses and not change them you had to compromise the wide zoom performance to do it. Tamron's 15-30 solves this problem. But Nikon should really do it themselves. one of the most popular wedding/event kits is a 17/16-35 and 70-200 setup. But given the 24-70E and 70-200E are out the 14-24 is probably the next lens to get updated. it will be interesting to see if ends up being a 14-30 to better compete with Tamron or if they stick with 14-24.

[tomthetank]

any suggestions for train and milky way use with a nikon d500? look at this or another? thanks