The excitement was palpable from the moment that Tamron first introduced the idea of their newest lens, a lens that busts genres and gives Tamron another “world’s first”.  That lens is the Tamron 35-150mm F2-2.8 Di III VXD (internally called A058, as we’ll refer to it for brevity in this review).  Let’s give you a little help with what all of those letter mean in the name in case you don’t speak “Tamron”.  Di III is the designation that Tamron uses for mirrorless mounts (in this case Sony FE).  VXD refers to the focus motor employed here (Voice-coil eXtreme-torque Drive), which is currently Tamron’s most premium autofocus system.  Traditionally the two major professional full frame zooms are the 24-70mm and 70-200mm F2.8 lenses, a pairing that Tamron has long had on other platforms.  I’ve shot plenty of weddings and events with a 24-70 on one camera and a 70-200 on the other.  The new 35-150mm is a genre-buster first in that it combines the heart of both of those zooms into one, going from 35mm:

…to 150mm:

There’s no question that this is an incredibly versatile range, and, while it doesn’t go quite as wide as a 24-70 or quite as long on the telephoto end of a 70-200, it does enough of both to be a majorly useful wedding, event, and portrait lens.  Add to this that it is the first zoom lens beginning at a maximum aperture of F2 on Sony and you have a lens that has a lot of photographers licking their chops and thinking about how they could combine multiple lenses into one professional “do-it-all” lens.  Tamron first developed this unique focal range in 2019 for Canon and Nikon DSLRs in the form of 35-150mm F2.8-4 VC OSD lens (my review here), and that lens really exceeded my expectations optically while being held back by a subpar autofocus system.  It also had the misfortune of coming out about the time that interest in DSLRs was waning in favor of mirrorless systems, where almost all of Tamron’s more recent development has been.  The A058 is a completely different animal, however, as it is professional grade to the hilt and, at $1899 USD, is (to my knowledge) easily Tamron’s most expensive lens on the market at the moment.

The Tamron 35-150mm F2-2,8 VXD isn’t a small or cheap lens, but after spending some time with it, I remain very interested in this lens.  It does have a few flaws (as we’ll see), but I’m not convinced that it has any fatal flaws. You can check out my thoughts as to whether or not the A058 should be on your radar in either my text or video reviews…or just enjoy the photos below!

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Thanks to Tamron USA for sending me a retail loaner copy of this lens. As always, this is a completely independent review.  The opinions here are completely my own.  *The tests and most of the photos that I share as a part of my review cycle have been done with the new Sony Alpha 1 which will serve as my benchmark camera for the foreseeable future (my review here).

A058 Build, Handling, and Features

Photos taken with the Tamron 35-150mm F2-2.8 VXD

Gear Used:

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