Bought the Tamron 15-30. Happy with it. Zoom ring longevity is iffy though.

Bought the Lee SW150 10-stop filter. Must have.

Bought the Haida 150 filter holder. I was going to make a sponge holder, but I know I'll eventually want a polarizing filter + 3-stop ND filter so I need the system.

I expected the $1300 cost (after taxes) for the Tamron 15-30. I did not factor in the $175 USD cost for the filter, and $150 USD cost for the filter holder. :/

With that all said... once the filter holder gets here, I can start having a lot of fun.

This post was edited by Canadian_Man on Jun 5 2016 06:55pm

i've heard the 15-30 is ridiculously sharp. i've been looking at the nikon 16-35 f4, but i'm hearing the 15-30 is sharper than the 14-24

Based on every review I've seen, the 15-30 beats or matches the 14-24 in almost every way. The 14-24 may perform slightly better at f14 and 24mm (looking at DXOMark's sharpness chart, the 15-30 drops in sharpness from about 24mm to 30mm past f8).

The distortion is a lot better on the Tamron 15-30 compared to the 16-35. I considered the 16-35, but the price difference was negligible. The 15-30 was $1240 Canadian, the 16-35 would've had to be about $800 for me to go with it over the 15-30. The other thing is I want to do star photos, and f2.8 will be important.

I think the only down side is the possibility of worse robustness/longevity, but who knows. That and a more expensive filter system.

This post was edited by Canadian_Man on Jun 6 2016 04:15am

How's the polariser? Have you used it yet?

Just have the 10-stop 150x150 filter and the Tamron 15-30. The holder is on the way. I didn't order a polarizer since it's nearly $200 USD (just don't have the cash).

I would love to have a polarizer, 3-stop ND, 6-stop ND, and a soft grad 2-stop or 3-stop filter. Problem is all that would cost me about $700 USD. Plus I would need to get an add-on kit for the Haida holder to hold 1 more filter (it only holds 2 for some reason), and a conversion kit to fit it onto 82mm filter threads, and step-up rings to connect that to 67mm (my 85mm 1.8G) and 52mm (my 50mm 1.8G) filter threads. With those conversion kits, I could fit my 150x150 filters onto any lenses (and if I got a Tamron 24-70 that's 82mm filter, or I could get a step-up ring for a Nikon 24-70 from 82mm to 77mm).

Once I receive the holder, I'll be doing beach long exposure shots here in Vancouver and on Vancouver island.

This post was edited by Canadian_Man on Jun 7 2016 06:37pm

where are you finding the 16-35 for $800??

I said that if it were $800, I would have considered it over the Tamron 15-30.

The cheapest price I know of the 16-35 is $1300 Canadian, or $1000 USD.

At $1237 + 5% taxes and free s&h, the Tamron was a no-brainer.

This post was edited by Canadian_Man on Jun 8 2016 09:55pm