Canon vs Tamron VC vs Sigma 24-70mm 2.8 Comparison Review

Pricing:
Canon 24-70mm: B&H | Amazon
Tamron 24-70mm: B&H | Amazon
Sigma 24-70mm: B&H | Amazon
/
Now that I ordered my Canon 5D Mark III I can start buying some really good glass. Since I am mostly a run and gun shooter, I don't have the luxury of time to swap out prime lenses out on the fly all day long, so that is why the first lens I want to buy is a 24-70mm f2.8.
Now I have used the Canon 24-70mm many times in the past and I really like it, but I got really excited when Lee Morris from Fstoppers.com turned me the new Tamron 24-70 VC lens that has VC or vibration control and is cheaper. The Canon 24-70 is $1,600 and the Tamron is $1,300. Lee had mixed results on which one is sharper so I thought I would give you guys another test.
I'm a bit biased already on this review because I really want to Tamron to win but that's is why my good friend James Drake from 5KInsight is here to keep things in perspective. James is real smart guy, and has a lot of experience using really expensive glass, you should listen to him if he if we disagree. The reason why I want it to win is the Tamron has image stabilization which is awesome for video. For it to win, it needs to be just as sharp as the Canon and have a good working vibration control.
I think a lot of people that shoot video are frustrated that Canon didn't give us a 24-70 with IS. I think Cannon lost an opportunity here and has left the door open for Tamron on this one. Important to note this is not the II version of the Canon lens that runs for $2,300.
So what I'm really hoping for in this test is the Tamron is to be just as sharp as the Canon because the 5D Mark III it is not the sharpest tool in the shed.
Right off the bat that Canon has a very stiff focus ring, I know from using my friends that is a couple years old the focus ring is a lot smoother than this one.
The all turn clockwise to extend the lens, however the Canon actually zooms when contracted which is backwards from the other two and all other lenses I have used. This can be frustrating.
Range of the focus ring and how well each manually focuses, Canon 120 degrees, Tamron 100 degrees, Sigma 85 degrees.
If there was an instance where in one test there was one lens sharper in the center but the other was sharper in the corner, I gave the win to the one sharpest in the center. When I had to spend more than 30 seconds trying to figure which one was sharpest I would call it a tie, sometimes it was so close.
For the most part they all tied in the middle f5.6 to f8 at both wide and tele.
Sigma did really well at f22 and f2.8 at 24mm.
The most glaring however was Sigma at 2.8 at 70mm.
Tamron won only once at f8 at 24mm but it had no glaring issues and way always ever so slightly behind the winners.
The Tamron VC is a lot quieter than my Canon 28-135 IS.
I am not an expert on bokeh, I used to think it was when you had more blades in the lens made prettier circles, but I am not seeing much ghosting or doubling of the blurry objects on any of them.
Where I need the VC the most is at 70mm and not so much at 24mm, I plan on buying L series glass for a 16-35mm some day.
Royalty free music byhttp://www.premiumbeat.com