Lens for streetlife Canon 24-105 STM vs Canon 24-70/4L vs Tamron 24-70/2.8VC

dzunglv wrote:

I am currently using Canon 24-85 USM for my street photos (canon 6D) and I am actually happy with it. However, I still want the IQ to be improved a little bit. So I need IQ, lightweight and zoom range. Here are my photos so you can understand what I need: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dzunglv/

After a while of searching, I narrow down my options to 3 candidates:

Canon 24-105STM: lightweight, cheap and 105mm tele reach. Good IQ. However a bit slow at tele end (5.6).

Canon 24-70/4L: lightweight, great IQ. Great build for my eyes. Only reachs 70mm for tele and a bit expensive considering it is only 4.0 aperture maximum.

Tamron 24-70/2.8: VC, great IQ and 2.8 (I know I don't need 2.8 that much for street photos but It can be useful occasionally). However, the lens is a bit heavy. Also tele reachs only 70mm.

So, that is what I've found up to now. I also want to hear more comments from you guys about my decision, espescially from whom have used those 3 lenses.

Canon 24-105 STM - Slowest lens of the bunch. And your 6D doesn't take advantage of what the STM offers.

Canon 24-70 f4 L - Decent lens. Good IQ. Smaller/lighter than some of the others. Not a bad choice.

Tamron 24-70 2.8 VC - Pretty good lens. Heavy and large, but that's expected for an f2.8 model. Good IQ. I'm not a third-party lens person, but I tried it. My biggest complaint was that the VC took a second to kick in, sometimes causing a weird sort of motion blur. For this reason, it might be frustrating for street work, unless it is turned off... which defeats the purpose of having it in the first place. Also expensive.

Canon 24-105 L - Inexpensive for what it is, especially at your $600 price. Great range, good IQ, reasonably bright (f4 constant), stabilized, and fast AF. Probably the best over-all general range zoom for the 6D when factoring in price. It's an older design, but still made. And while it may not take awards in any single criteria, it's strength is in its sheer versatility. FIRST CHOICE.

By the way, I keep an old 24-85/3.5-4.5 around purely as a backup. Not the sharpest lens in the case, but it offers such a nice range and decent maximum aperture (not f5.6 like so many "kit" lenses), that it's an extremely practical lens to have on hand as a backup. Plus, it's so incredibly small and lightweight, I barely notice it in a case. A keeper even alongside better glass.