Tamron 24mm f/2.8 Di III OSD review

In October 2019, Tamron released 3 Sony E-mount full-frame prime lenses, the 20, 24 and 35mm f/2.8, that featured similar dimensions and an identical filter size. After reviewing the Tamron FE 20mm f/2.8, we are now looking at the 24mm, mounted, like the Sony 20mm, on the A7RIV and A7III, to see how it behaves in front of two different sensor sizes.

Again, this is not a technical review full of test patterns and indigestible figures, which requires special equipment – even though sometimes you have to go through this to illustrate some optical defects. Instead, I would like to show you how the lens performs in the field and what you can expect from it.

The images shown on this page are RAW images processed with DxO Photolab 5 software, set to standard color rendering with optical defect corrections enabled, except for images that are used to show these defects as well as illustrative images that can have personalized processing.

The characteristics of this 24mm are quite similar to the 20mm of the brand, which you can find on our blog as well as on their official website.

Available at a price of 350€, the 24mm f/2.8 from Tamron is now down to 200€. A very aggressive price, even for a 24mm f/2.8 aperture. Sony’s full-frame 24mm business is fairly busy, with a Sony GM f/1.4, a Sigma f/2 or f/3.5, a f/1.8 and especially a Samyang f/2.8. This price drop is probably due to the Samyang, priced around 250€, and which Tamron wanted to compete with, in the same way they lowered their 35mm at the same price to compete with the Samyang.

If you are looking for all the lenses dedicated to Sony full-frame cameras (noted “FE”), feel free to discover our bible here!

Against the Samyang, as against the old Nikon AF-D I used, its weight and size are not particularly reasonable. But you have to consider that the Tamron has, unlike the Nikon, an AF engine and a magnification ratio of 1:2, unlike the 2 others. Its optical formula is also more complex, which suggests better results – the Samyang and the old Nikon having many flaws, especially in the corners.

A 24mm focal length on a full-frame camera is the ultimate wide-angle lens, appreciated by many landscape, reportage and even street photographers. This is the starting point for most standard zooms such as the 24-70 and 24-105mm, and a must for all wide-angle zooms, from 12-24 to 16-35mm through 14-24 and 17-28mm. By the way, we have just published the review of the Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8, an interesting wide-angle zoom lens to consider if you are looking for a quality and versatile lens.

Its f/2.8 maximum aperture is not very wide, but that’s the price to pay to avoid a higher price. So it won’t be the lens of choice for low light situations or to reduce depth of field. However, for those who like to maximize depth of field using apertures around f/5.6, this will be a great choice. Although some zooms covering the same focal length offer the same aperture, their price is not the same and they are also much heavier and bulkier. Personally, I often carried a small 24mm f/2.8 with me on my trips. Moreover, with recent mirrorless cameras, the sensor stabilization often compensates the small aperture for still handheld subjects, allowing 1/5th of a second exposure times.

This 24mm offers exactly the same design and grip as the Tamron 20mm. It has a plastic body but good quality construction, without any high-end comfort as there is no AF/MF switch, no aperture ring and no customizable AF button. Tamron’s LD lenses and BBAR coating effectively reduce chromatic aberration and flare. The 7-blade circular diaphragm provides smooth, round background blur, although the best lenses have a 9-blade diaphragm or more, but for a f/2.8 prime lens, this will usually be good enough. Especially for a landscape lens, since it will be used at small apertures with a large depth of field, and therefore little bokeh.

Its weight and dimensions are similar to the 20mm reviewed previously on our blog, so it is also light and compact, although the Samyang is even more so. Compared to my old Nikon, it is less compact but paradoxically lighter (the Nikon had a more metallic design). So it will also balance well with Sony full-frame bodies, including the A7C and APS-Cs on which it will provide a 35mm field of view. Its all-weather construction ensures that you can take it with you in all conditions, as Tamron is used to doing in recent years.

Have a look at the Sony 20mm review for a comparison image with this one.

The focus ring is wide and nice to handle, but not as fluid as the Sony 20mm. The lens is compatible with Sony’s DMF function, which allows you to resume manual focus on the fly after using AF without having to go through a menu. However, you will have to go through the menu to use the lens only in manual, since there is no AF/MF switch, or assign a shortcut for this function on the body.

There is no aperture ring, so you have to use the camera to change it, which will be a limitation for video use.

In AF-S mode, the lens is not very fast. It also makes a little noise. It is clearly not at the level of the recent Sony G and GM, probably due to the aging OSD technology which is not adapted to hybrids. Unfortunately, Tamron chose to put this OSD system on its 3 Sony prime lenses, so they are not particularly fast. However, it’s comforting to think that with a 20 or 24mm full-frame lens, you won’t be shooting action images but rather still subjects where fast AF will not be a necessity.

In AF-C mode, however, the lens is compatible with Eye-AF and Fast-AF functions. Nevertheless, the lens still lacks responsiveness and tracking is not the fastest. In reportage situations, this will be a handicap and it will be better to look at Sony, Sigma or Samyang, even though this will be more of a problem with the 35mm than with this 24mm.

One thing to note: the lens is not compatible with the aperture silent mode. Sony bodies offer an option for the aperture to open or close in real time depending on the aperture setting (for example, if you set the camera to f/8, the aperture goes to f/8 and keeps that setting). Since smaller apertures allow less light to penetrate and reduce AF performance, in standard mode (and in AF priority on some bodies like the A7RIV), the aperture opens wider if necessary to assist focusing. For example, if f/8 is not bright enough for AF, it will open to f/4 while focusing and then close to f/8 at shutter release, causing noise. So this Tamron 24mm can’t be used in silent mode.

In short, while AF on a 24mm is not a critical point for most uses, in cases where you will be looking for a fast and responsive 24mm for reportage or video, this Tamron will not be the best choice. For classic landscape, architectural or manual focus use, its other strengths largely make up for this flaw.

The quality is very good, and especially homogeneous, on the whole image. We have sharp details on the entire field from full aperture, even at 100% on 61MP, although the edges at full aperture suffer a bit more – where the Samyang and the old Nikon (which already had trouble on a 24MP sensor) seem to be much less comfortable.

For focus breathing (framing that gets tighter as you move closer to the minimum focus distance, often undesirable especially for video), it is important but only starts to become really noticeable from a focus distance below 40cm, for focus distances beyond 40cm it will be insignificant.

By focusing on a close subject and thanks to the short minimum focusing distance, we can appreciate a round and soft bokeh at large apertures, even if we have to be careful with the camera’s shadows.

Sharpness at 100% on A7RIV:

Sharpness at 100% on A7III:

The optimal range of this lens will be between f/4 and f/8, even f/2.8 to f/11 on the 24MP of an A7III, for example. Beyond that, diffraction will blur excessively the details. At full aperture, the image remains excellent but some defects like vignetting are at their maximum.

The distortion is important and will require a correction, provided by the camera in JPEG or by a processing software.

Vignetting is very present, which is a bit unfortunate when you see the diameter of the lens compared to the diaphragm, but this is not unusual on modern mirrorless lenses. There will be a significant vignetting at full aperture which will be reduced by closing the diaphragm, but without ever totally disappearing.

Chromatic aberrations can be visible but disappear quickly with the software correction of the camera or a processing software, like Lightroom or DxO Photolab (the one I use).

Tamron’s BBAR coating does an excellent job here again, as on the brand’s 20mm, to the point that I see no reason to include flare-related images.

Coma and astigmatism are well controlled, making this lens suitable for Astrophotography despite the limited aperture at f/2.8. The improvement from f/2.8 to f/4 is negligible.

When closing the aperture, the light sources take on a 14-pointed star effect, but it is not very defined.

At 1:2 ratio, since Tamron E-mount lenses offer this possibility, the image quality is much worse, which is not surprising for a lens that is not originally macro. It will be better to close at f/5.6 to have detail in the center and at f/11 for the edges which are very soft. f/8 will be more appropriate regardless of the camera to use this feature with the 24mm Tamron.

Here are the results in the center of the image, at 1:2.

And at the edge, still at 1:2.

In the 24mm world, there are many alternatives: from f/2.8 to f/1.4, from 200 to 1500€ and from 100 to 450g… Without considering zooms! I’ll just mention the most interesting prime lenses and zooms in my opinion.

• The 24mm f/2.8 from Samyang is the most direct competitor with a better compacity, but is slightly more expensive. However, it has inferior optical performance and does not have a 1:2 macro ratio.
• The 24mm f/1.8 from Samyang performs better but is also more expensive (about 500€) than the f/2.8 version. It is not heavier or much bulkier than the Tamron, has a larger maximum aperture and a quick release button for Astrophotography. A great choice if you can afford the price difference.
• The 24mm f/2 from Sigma, recently released, prices around 600€. It offers a very good image quality, but, above all, a better build quality than Tamron and Samyang, with a customizable aperture ring and AF button. However, its metal construction implies a higher weight.
• The 24mm f/1.4 GM from Sony, the current high-end choice, and for some the best 24mm ever made. Its price is also high-end: around 1350€, justified by its build quality, its optical performance, its AF and its features (clickable aperture ring, AF/MF switch and customizable AF button).
• The Sigma 14-24mm, 24-70mm f/2.8 Art Sigma and 17-28mm f/2.8 Tamron zooms. The Sigma’s are well designed, top of the line, with customizable AF button and AF/MF switch, but they are heavy, while the Tamron is more plastic and simple but also lighter.
• The 24mm f/2.8 G from Sony, released at the same time as the 40 and 50mm f/2.5 G, designed to offer a light and compact 24mm with a high-end construction, clickable aperture ring and customizable button, featuring excellent AF and good image quality for 620€ even if the Tamron seems to be a step above on this point.
• For those using Sony APS-C cameras, which use the same E-mount as the full-frame and can therefore be combined with this 24mm, it offers a good option as well since the only prime lens of the same focal length is the much more expensive 24mm f/1.8 Zeiss. There are however other lenses offering an f/2.8 aperture and covering the 24mm focal length for these APS-Cs, in particular the Sony G 16-55mm and 17-70mm f/2.8 from Tamron, but especially the Sigma f/2.8 18-50mm which costs less than the other zooms and a bit more than the 24mm Tamron, but offering a much more versatile focal range.

For video, the 24mm f/1.4 from Sony is probably the most interesting of all these options considering its max aperture, its very good AF and its clickable aperture ring, but the f/2.8 G version will also be interesting for this use if the f/2.8 aperture is enough for you.

As a conclusion, Tamron offers a nice option for Sony camera users. Anyone who used to carry a full-frame 24mm f/2.8 on their Nikon or Canon DSLR knows what I’m talking about: a fairly light, versatile, compact 24mm with good image quality can be a great companion for photographing your travel memories.

For its price, I don’t really see any reason to prefer the Samyang, which is not as good in my opinion (if you want a pancake lens, you might as well switch to a smaller format or an expert compact). But if you really want to stand out from the f/2.8 zooms or have a 24mm with a good AF for photojournalism, it will be better to pay a little more and look for the f/1.8 Samyang and f/2 Sigma.

I hope you found the review useful and that it helped you decide what to buy. By the way, if you liked the review and would like to support our blog and our work, please don’t hesitate to go through the links in this article to buy the lens. It’s a simple way to help us, without it costing you more, and to encourage us to write more articles!

If you want to keep reading, I invite you to have a look at the full Sony 20mm f/1.8 G review, a very high quality wide-angle lens for full-frame cameras.

See you soon,

Sylvain (and Alex)