Tamron 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II VC HLD

£449/$499 It goes large on zoom range

Even though many photographers only tend to use ultra-wide zooms at or near their shortest focal length, there’s still something to be said for a generous zoom range. There’s quite a lot of overlap with a standard zoom lens, so you won’t need to swap between lenses too often.

A major upgrade over Tamron’s original 10-24mm lens, this lens has an HLD (High/Low torque-modulated Drive) autofocus system. It’s faster, quieter and improves handling, as the focus ring no longer rotates during autofocus. Image stabilisation is added and build quality is improved, adding weather seals and a fluorine coating on the front element.

Performance

Lab results proved lacklustre, but it was a different story in our real-world tests, with excellent sharpness and minimal colour fringing.