Why is the 24-70mm range so popular?
The 24-70mm range is incredibly popular among professional and amateur photographers. This versatile lens size covers all the most common focal lengths. In a professional setting such as a wedding, you can instantly go from portrait to group shot; where with primes you would have to change lenses. In a more amateur setting such as the street, a lens that lets you take a wide shot and then narrow in on something particularly interesting makes photography a more fluid and enjoyable experience. High quality 24-70mm lenses give you that versatility and keep the image quality very close to what you would expect from a prime lens. To boot, they also have a decent aperture (2.8) right through the focal range. The downside of this lens type is the weight; typically around 850 grams. Being a great general-purpose lens, you will be carrying it on your camera all day, so the weight could be a strain and take some getting used to. Another problem is image stabilization, out of the four manufacturers we are looking at, Canon, Nikon, Tamron and Sigma; only Tamron sell an IS lens. Let’s look at how they are different in the image quality and the one you should get based on their quality and price points.