AFFORDABLE STANDARD ZOOMS

We test a fab four of best-buy standard zooms for mirrorless full-frame cameras

There’s no beating the versatility of a standard zoom lens for everyday shooting, and for many, the preferred option is a ‘trinity’ zoom with a 24-70mm range and a constant aperture of f/2.8. It’s not always an affordable option though, with Canon, Nikon and Sony lenses for full-frame mirrorless cameras costing upwards of £2,000 / $2,000, and on relatively lightweight bodies they can feel a bulky mismatch. However, the good news is that they aren’t the only option.

Tamron brought something different to the market with its 28-75mm f/2.8 standard zoom for Sony mirrorless cameras. Naturally, it’s not so generous in its wide-angle coverage as a 2470mm lens, but it adds a few millimetres at the telephoto end while retaining that f/2.8 constant aperture, and it does so in a compact and lightweight build, and at less than half the price of a trinity lens. Nikon recently adopted the same formula for its Z 28-75mm f/2.8 zoom, while Tamron has released an improved Generation 2 edition of its lens with intriguing new features.

If you want a high-quality but lightweight alternative for a Canon EOS R camera, the best current option is the 24-105mm F4 L. This gives you the bonus of greater telephoto reach, but it’s naturally an f/stop slower than trinity zooms. It knocks around £1,000 / $1,000 off the price of the Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS USM, but doesn’t save you much in size and weight.