[Music] Hi I'm Dustin Abbott and I'm here today To give you my findings after some Months of research trying to determine Which is the best third-party fast Aperture standard Zoom for Fuji X Mount Now up for consideration here today are Two non Fuji lenses this is the Sigma 18 To 15 mm f2.8 DN lens on my right and Then the Tamron 17 to 70 mm f2.8 VC lens Here on my left now obviously also Worthy of consideration particularly if You're wanting to work on the premium End of the space is Fuji's own 16 to 55 Mm F2.8 it does run considerably more Expensive than either one of these Lenses but obviously also has some Strengths to offset that it's a little Bit more premium in build and Design and I probably will do a little bit of a Revisiting in the future for one thing I Want to see how that works on the 40 Megapixel sensor of my Xh2 now I've been doing Fuji reviews for Years at this point but it was only in 2023 that I bought my first Fuji camera I'd always been using those that have Been loaned to me before and so as a Byproduct when the I reviewed the xh2 I Felt like it was the camera that that Checked enough boxes for me personally That I would like to own one and thus I Had to start considering about having a
Bit of a Fuji kit myself to actually Have lenses to use on the camera and so That began this kind of Journey of Exploration trying to determine which of These lenses kind of made more sense for Me as I explored them I reviewed them Both in 2023 and both of them have Strengths we're going to see today both Of them have some weaknesses today's Episode is brought to you by Phantom Wallet the minimalist modern wallet that Is now even better with the new Phantom X that is crafted from aluminum right Here in Canada it is 22% smaller and 35% Lighter while still making it easy to Access your cards and money when you Need them thanks to their unique Fanning Mechanism you could even customize your Wallet due to its modular design with Accessories like a money clip cash Holder ID display and even chipolo and Air tag tracking integration visit Store. fanom wallet.com to check out Their unique sizes Styles and finishes That span from aluminum to Wood to Carbon fiber and use code Dustin 15 for 15% off when you're ready to check Out so let's talk about a couple of the Shared strengths between the two lenses They both have a maximum apture of f2.8 Throughout their respective Zoom ranges That's very useful and it is one Advantage over the 18 to 50 millimeter Ois lens coming from Fuji which you know
Runs roughly the same as these when it It comes to the price point falling kind Of right in between them and so that is One advantage that they both have they Both are significantly cheaper than what The Fuji 16 to 55 MIM is and so that is A probably a primary reason why a lot of People might consider them over the Fuji There's a little bit more of an Advantage for the sigma in the regards Of uh also being much much smaller and Lighter we'll get to that in just a Moment so we've discussed a few common Strengths how about a couple of common Weaknesses both both of these lenses Have no aperture ring or on lens Controls and so the Fuji options will Have an aperture ring so that's one Thing that both of these are missing the Other thing I noticed on both of them When uh testing the zooming in and out While shooting video I noticed that both Of them did some really obvious and bad Warping and also some very noticeable Focus adjustments during that video Zoom So some shared weaknesses one basically As bad as the other so let's talk about Some reasons to choose the sigma that I Have found as I have been researching First of all the sigma is very obviously Much much smaller it's these lenses Don't even hardly seem like the same Class of lens and frankly the sigma Seems a whole lot more like an apsc Zoom
Than what the Tamron does which seems Like a not even small fullframe Zoom so The sigma is 61.6 millim or 2.4 in in Diameter the Tamron is uh is 3.28 in or 83.3 mm in diameter they're really Different in length the sigma being only 76.8 mm or 3 in in length whereas the Tamron is 106 mm or 4.17 in in overall Length so obviously if you're wanting to Travel uh Compact and you have maybe a Compact bag you're wanting to travel With the sigma is going to fit in much More spaces and is a much smaller lens Carry similarly it is much much lighter It is only 285 G or 10 oz compared to 523 G or 18 Oz for the Tamron and by the Way the Fuji lens is heavier still a Little bit more premium build but also It's a fairly sub chunky and substantial Lens itself now price-wise is a third Area of win for Sigma it is only $549 at retail compared to $799 for the Tamron and so that's a you Know a fairly significant difference of About $250 in price between the two I Found that at wide apertures that the Sigma showed a little bit better flare Resistance both of these lenses aren't Perfect when it comes to flare Resistance but the sigma felt like it Was just a little bit better the sigma Also has the opportunity of unlocking Higher magnification in fact here you Can see that it has a higher
Magnification both on the telephoto end But but more importantly on the wide end Where it hits a maximum magnification of 0.36 times now that's not always Entirely useful because you got to get Very very close to your subject to Achieve that but even on the telephoto End it has a little bit better Magnification the tamon the maximum you Can achieve is 0.21 times so signif the Sigma has some significant Advantage There I also found when doing my chart Test and shooting the lenses side by Side that the sigma has a slightly Sharper Center and mid-frame performance Uh both wide angle and then through the Middle of the zoom range up until the Telephoto in and so a little bit Stronger performance there now when I Talk about some of these Optical Differences I will demonstrate them in Detail if you want the the breakdown at The end of the video so stay tuned for That if you want the Deep dive into the Optics I also found that it had slightly Better telephoto performance wide open Uh fairly close in the center and Mid-frame but actually a little bit Better in the corners which was kind of A reversal of what we'll see otherwise It also exhibited slightly lower Vignette and when it comes to the Autofocus side of things I found that The sigma focused faster and quieter you
Can see in these back-to-back Focus Tests that there is just less pulsing as The the Tamron pulses a little bit more As it locks onto the subject the sigma Was just kind of smoother going back and Forth and this and it was also quieter In operation not that either of them has A lot of focus sounds but the Tamron is Fairly clattery when it comes to the Aperture blades opening and closing During focus and so you hear a little Bit of clatter from that so the sigma Was quieter as well as being a little Bit faster and more confident I also Found during the focus pulls on the Video side of things that there was less Visible stepping and so the focus pulls Were just a little bit smoother and more Confident now when I went to something Like doing my hand test in that case I Didn't really see a radical difference Between the two lenses autofocus was was Pretty good actually from both of those In the transition from the hand to the Eye and vice versa and so overall you Can see that they perform quite well There but I would give the autofocus Edge in general to Sigma because it does Have some significant advantages in a Few areas that the Tamron did not Exhibit so how about some reasons to Choose the Tamron now obviously Tamron Went with a much larger lens for the Simple fact that they kind of gave you
Everything this is a bigger Zoom range With that large maximum apture than what You're seeing on any of the competing Lenses so to go all the way from 17 to 70 mm means that you're going to get a Little bit more uh width on the wide Angle of things you can see from this Comparison shot that it is there is a Difference it's not radically obvious in The shot but you can see a much more Noticeable difference if we zoom into The telephoto range so let's give it two Points here because it gets both extra Width on the wide angle but it also gets More telephoto zoom and so that gives it Just an allaround uh Advantage if your Priority is to get as many focal lengths As possible covered in one lens the Tamron does that while keeping that Constant maximum apture of f2.8 which is Impressive and it's the reason why the Lens is so Big the lens also comes with tamron's VC Vibration compensation which is their Optical stabilization system whereas the Sigma does not by the way neither does The uh the Fuji 16 to 55 millim so if You happen to be shooting with one of Fuji's bodies that doesn't have inbody Image stabilization that's going to be a Really obvious difference between the Two now I did my test on my Fuji xh2 Which does have effective inbody image Stabilization so frankly I didn't really
Notice much of a difference between the Two when it came to those things because Of the good you know inbody stabiliz Ation but if you happen to be shooting On one of Fuji's many bodies that Doesn't have stabilization that's going To be a huge Advantage for the Tamron Particularly if you want to do some Handheld video Capture the Tamron has better weather Ceiling it doesn't just have a rear Gasket but it has seal points at the Rings and up to the front flooring Coating on the front element and so it Has a more thorough weather sealing Throughoute oras the sigma has only a Weather sealing gasket just at the lens Mount no internal seals and so that is a An area where it is set apart and has a Little bit more of an upscale design Element there it also exhibits lower uh Chromatic aberration uh particularly of The fringing variety not that either of These lenses is terrible but I did Notice doing a lot of side bys side Comparisons and as you can see in this Example the sigma is definitely showing Some fringing whereas the Tamron stays Almost perfectly neutral and so its Control of chromatic aberration is a Definite strength for the lens I also Found that up until the extreme Telephoto end that the Tamron had Obviously sharper Corners when I did
Side by-side comparisons although the Tamron goes wider than what the sigma Does surprisingly it is the one that has The lower levels of distortion and so Another win for Tamron there is that it Does control Distortion throughout the Zoom range but particularly on the wi And better than what the sigma does and Finally because it I would say that the Quality of the bouquet is similar across The two lenses but the Tamron certainly Has the capability of producing more of It for the simple reason that it has That extra 20 mm of focal length so at a Variety of distances it's going to be Able to provide more separation from the Subject as you uh you know tap into Beyond the 50 mm range and So that Obviously is going to make it a little Bit more advantageous particularly if You're shooting you know portager or Things like that where you're wanting to Separate your subject from a Background so in conclusion both of These lenses exhibit a really radically Different approach to the standard Zoom Formula uh it's obviously that in this Case often you know you have two lenses That are very similar in a lot of Details that's not the case here at all So Sigma has chosen a very different Formula than what Tamron has here and I Think that what lens is going to be best For you really depends on whether kind
Of what category of the Market you fit Into and so if your idea of traveling With apsc and you bought into apsc to Stay nice and compact the sigma is the Really obvious choice there um I would Argue that it is the better size match For most apsc cameras you know and Really including my xh2 which is about The largest of Fuji's bodies and so in This case I would say that it is the More natural pairing for most of Fuji's Cameras and if you're looking for a General purpose stand standard Zoom that Is a nice fit maybe you want to travel With the lens you know obviously go for The sigma it is the the compact kit is a Nice travel option for that reason Tamron has obviously gone for maximum Utility the biggest Zoom range plus Having that image stabilization built in So I would say by the Tamron if number One you don't have inbody image Stabilization in your body your camera Body and you don't intend to upgrade to One of Fuji's camera that has that Anytime in the near future or if your Priority includes maybe doing Portraiture or weddings where you're Going to be able to maximize the Telephoto end of the zoom range a little Bit more and you value that versatility Maybe even for shooting events to where And lower light conditions you don't Have to stop at 50 mm but you have that
Additional 20 mm of reach which can be a Serious Difference Maker both of these Lenses do have value and frankly when it Comes to the optical performance there's Not really really a big standout by from One to the other they both have some Give and take some strengths and Weaknesses there and so I think that at The end of the day you need to buy which For which lens suits your actual typical Priorities and needs and because they Are such radically different lenses in Terms of size I think that makes it a Pretty obvious choice for you now if you Want more information on either one of These lenses in the description below I Do have links to my full reviews on both Of them along with buying links if You've already made your choice but if You want a deeper dive in to how they Compare optically stay with me as we Dive into the optical performance and How they come out [Music] Head-to-head okay for the sake of Consistency across these comparisons I'm Going to keep the sigma on the left the Tamron is going to be on the right we'll Start by taking a look here at our Vignette and distortion You can see that there is a significant Amount of barrel distortion on the sigma At 18 mm the Tamron also has some Barrel Distortion but you can see it is a much
Milder amount and thus the framing Original framing was tighter because There's extra room that's left on the Sigma to correct for that Distortion Correcting the sigma took a plus 24 very Significant amount to correct for that Distortion manually and you can see that Vignette was a plus 92 so I had to move The slider most of the way by comparison The Tamron only required a plus six Though you can see it's a little bit of A complex pattern so it didn't perfectly Correct it but removing the main body of The Distortion manually took a plus six Whereas the vignette I had to max out The sliders at plus 100 so a little bit More vignette on the Tamron versus the Sigma now if we take a look at this Comparison here we can see that if we Zoom in and look at our focal point here On this old camera then we're looking Towards this defocused area you can see That there is some significantly more Amount of green fringing on the various Textures for the Sigma versus the Tamron And so that's an area where the Tamron Certainly gets the win you can also see Something similar on my chart here that If you look at the results of the sigma On the left there is significantly more Fringing as we transition out of focus So taking another look at the framing Here on the left you can see 's a little Bit more showing on the Tamron versus
The sigma down here at along the bottom Of the tub you can see that there's more That's present there on the Tamron if You look at the towel more present on The Tamron and if you look up here at The ceiling there's a little bit more of A transition between the top of this and The top of the frame but you'll probably Also agree that this is fairly minuscule And if I didn't point out those areas Probably the average lay person wouldn't Notice the difference the difference in Magnification on the telephoto end Though is much more obvious and you can See looking at the right that the Tamron Is showing a much more magnified image In this portion of the well in all Portions of the frame but particularly Here this kind of stands out and you can See looking it here that the decoration Is not even completely in frame whereas There's lots of empty space before you Even get to that decoration on the sigma So that's our primary difference in our Framing now obviously Boke is somewhat Subjective I've done my best to equate Framing here as much as possible trying To make things equal it's it's a little Bit hard to do because the way that each One of these lenses registers focal Length is not identical and so you can See there is a few millimeter difference Between the two but if we look towards The defocused areas here you can see
That the Tamron is exhibiting just a Little bit more uh bouquet there and the Other issue uh that I would say makes The Tamron just a little bit better is The fact that there is some fringing in The bokeh Highlight specular highlights From the sigma that are missing from the Tamron at the same time however the Tamron is showing some concentric Rings Here you can even make out in this image That you're not seeing the same way on The sigma so a little bit of give and Take there again it's not like one of Them is just amazingly creamy and the Other is is terrible they're really not All that different now if we do a Comparison at 18 mm versus 17 mm so on The Y end I'm going to show you these Results at 200% magnification and this Is a 40 megapixel body you can see in The center of the frame that the sigma Definitely has an advantage here there's Just uh more uh contrast and Detail in The uh various textures here more Information there if we move to the Mid-frame area you can see that that Advantage remains and the sigma Definitely looks sharper in the Mid-frame popping down to the corner However and the opposite becomes true And the Tamron has better Clarity and More detail there and that's true if we Look here over on the left side as well See the Tamron continues to look better
And uh very obviously better here in This uh down in this corner now what's Also interesting to me is that really These results stay quite constant uh if You stop The Lens down now I would say In the center of the frame the Difference is not as noticeable but it Still does favor the sigma that has a Little bit better Clarity a little bit Better contrast in the mid-frame results Are more similar now and I would say It's here that Tamron has made the Largest strides and it is just as good Maybe even arguably a hair better than What the sigma is down in the corners Obviously the difference is not as Pronounced here now as what it was wide Open but you can still see that Tamron Is better overall there looking at this Zone they're close but I would favor Tamron and off into the corner it's Still you know fairly obviously the Tamron that is the one are they're Looking at the mid-frame up here the Results are very similar but I would Favor Tamron so I will will say this Maybe Tamron has a slight more capacity For improvement when sto down than what Does the sigma so if we grab a point in The middle of the zoom range and that Course that's not identical with both of These because there's more zoom on the Tamron but roughly the center of the Zoom range and we pop in again here at
F2.8 we can see that the mid-frame Results are actually quite similar Contrast is very very similar amount of Detail is very similar looking at the Mid-frame results again very very Similar slightly more maybe for the Sigma but not a significant advantage And once again the Tamron retains the Ability to have better Corner Performance so uh kind of your takeaway There is how important are Corners to You because they if they are important To you if you're maybe you're thinking About landscape photography the Tamron Might be just a little bit better Because it is a little more consistent In its sharpness across the frame as on The wide end stopping the lenses down Doesn't make a radical difference the Sigma continues to look a little bit Better in the center of the frame uh the Mid-frame results still slightly favor The sigma not a big difference but a Little bit one there and the corners are Looking much better for the sigma but The tamron's corners are looking really Quite fantastic and so that is Definitely the strongest Corner Performance we've seen over in this Zone I slightly favor the Tamron and down Into the corner again it's Tamron there Move moving up um very very slightly Tamron and then in this upper left Corner as well you'll see that the
Tamron result looks a little bit better Now if we jump to the telephoto ends of These zoom lenses we're going to find That in the center of the frame uh there Is there's not a whole lot to Distinguish these two they look very Very similar the mid-frame we can see That they're similar but I think there's Just a little bit better contrast for The Tamron now ironically here it's the Sigma that that is actually a little bit Better in the corner at the telephoto in Versus the Tamron kind of a reversal of What we saw everywhere else and so That's actually true on both sides of The frame even if we look up here Towards the corner and as before Stopping down to f5.6 doesn't really Change the calculus very much we can see That both lenses look good though I do Think that there is a little bit more Improvement for Tamron than what there Is for Sigma but the corners are still a Little bit better for the sigma and That's true if you look on uh all the Different areas of the frame that we Have looked and so there's a fairly Consistent performance there across the Frame now one area in the discussion of Flare resistance that didn't make it Into the previous uh portion is that I Also slightly favor the Sunstar result From the Tamron the sigma has a lower Blade count seven blades whereas the
Tamron has a higher nine blade count so As you can see that re results in just a Little bit more interesting Sunburst or Sunstar effect with a little bit more Defined arays there and so I do favor That and so at the end of the day there Is some give and take between both of These lenses some wins some losses and Hopefully this gives you a better sense Of which one performs more to your taste Thank you for sticking around to the end As always have a great day and let the Light In
