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Tamron 70-180mm F2.8 VC VXD G2 Review | Tamron's GM Fighter?
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Sep 14, 2023
Photographer Dustin Abbott shares a definitive review of the Tamron 70-180mm F2.8 Di III VC VXD G2 fast telephoto zoom lens - an optical powerhouse that costs $1500 less than the Sony GM II. | This video is sponsored by Fantom Wallet. Visit https://store.fantomwallet.com and use code DUSTIN15 to get 15% off | Read the Text Review: https://tinyurl.com/70-180G2review | Visit the Image Gallery: https://tinyurl.com/70-180G2pics | Purchase the Tamron 70-180mm F2.8 VC G2 @ B&H Photo https://bhpho.to/3ZjKClb | Adorama https://howl.me/ckAgJIZeram| Amazon https://amzn.to/3PlI2H2 | Camera Canada https://shrsl.com/485tj | Amazon Canada https://amzn.to/3RncgMn | Amazon UK https://amzn.to/3LoKifc | Amazon Germany https://amzn.to/45QXn9k Check out the DA Merch here: https://bit.ly/TWIMerch | Become a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/dustinabbott | On the Web: http://dustinabbott.net/ | Sign up for my Newsletter: http://bit.ly/1RHvUNp | Instagram: http://bit.ly/DLAinsta | Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1nuUUeH | Flickr: http://bit.ly/1UcnC0B | 500px: http://bit.ly/1Sy2Ngu Follow Craig @ https://www.instagram.com/craigstoffersen/ Want to support this channel? Use these affiliate links to shop at: B&H Photo: http://bhpho.to/1TA0Xge Adorama: https://howl.me/cjU0LKdp3LN Camera Canada: http://bit.ly/DLACameraCan Sony Canada: https://www.thesonyshop.ca/?ref=abbott Amazon: https://amzn.to/3HrY64d Amazon Canada: https://amzn.to/3qG1p18 Ebay: http://bit.ly/DustineBay Into the AM Clothing: https://bit.ly/intotheAMda and use code DUSTIN10 for 10% off Make a donation via Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/dustinTWI ============================= Table of Contents: ============================= 0:00 - Intro and Concept 01:24 - Fantom Wallets
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0:00
Hi, I'm Dustin Abbott, and I'm here today to give you my video review of the Tamron 70 to 180mm F2.8 Vc VXD G2, or second generation lens
0:22
One of the few highlights of 2020 was the release of Tamron's original 70 to 180 millimeter F2.8
0:29
VXD lens, which provided a valid alternative at a much lower price point to the okay but not
0:37
exceptional Sony 70 to 200 millimeter G master lens. Now obviously since that point, Sony has
0:44
seriously upgraded the Gmaster into the incredible Mark 2 version. And so Tamron is following suit with their
0:52
own G2 version or second generation version of their 70 to 180 millimeter lens. This lens adds optical
0:59
stabilization, more features, faster auto focus, and a truly incredible optical performance
1:06
all for about $1,299 U.S. dollars, which is $1,500 cheaper than the GM Mark 2
1:13
So the question is, is this lens worth buying or even upgrading to, if you have the original
1:19
70 to 180 millimeter? Well, we're going to explore that right after a word from our sponsor
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for 15% off when you're ready to check out. This second generation lens boast a number of improvements over the first generation lens
2:17
when it comes to the overall build and feature set here. Now, it has grown a little bit
2:22
It has added on some weight. It went from 810 grams in the original version to 855
2:29
grams here or 30.15 ounces. But of course that still makes it by far the lightest
2:36
lens in this particular category. It's still about 200 grams lighter than the very
2:40
light Sony G Master Mark 2 lens. And so if you're looking to travel light, this is still
2:46
I think the best option out there. It is ever so slightly wider, two millimeters
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wider, a total of 83 millimeters now, and it is 7 millimeters longer at 156.2 millimeters. So that's
2:59
That's 3.26 inches in diameter by 6.2 inches. Now, I will note that, as you can see, it does extend a little bit
3:07
about an additional 25 millimeters, but that still makes it about 25 millimeters shorter
3:12
than what the G master is at 200 millimeters in length. And so this still is the most compact and lightweight option in the class
3:21
I'm presuming that they're going to drop and discontinue the Mark I lens
3:25
just like they did with the original 28 to 75 millimeters. A priority for Tamron has been sticking to a formula of a 67mm front filter thread
3:36
And they've done that with almost all of their lenses with only a couple of exceptions
3:40
And so we still have that 67 millimeter front filter thread here, which means that you can now share filters across a wide variety of Tamron lenses in Sony eMount
3:51
They've also added a number of new features here. That includes a custom button, a three-way custom switch, and a USB C port, which is weather sealed by
3:59
the way. All of these things work together in that you can use the connect the lens via the
4:05
USBC port and you can use Tamron's free lens utility software. Now that software allows you to do a
4:13
lot of things. You can directly apply firmware updates to the lens, but when it comes to these new
4:18
functions, you can also assign various functions to the three position custom switch. So basically
4:24
what that's doing is allowing you to have three different setups for how you're going to
4:29
have direct control on the lens itself. Now you can leave one of those options
4:34
to just be the camera default. And so if you typically have a Sony focus hold button
4:39
assigned to some function, just set one of those settings on that. And whenever you use the custom button
4:44
or the focus hold button, you will access that function. But you have two other things you can program in
4:49
And you can see here, there's a drop down of various things that you can apply to that
4:54
So that will not only change the behavior of what this focus hold or custom button does
4:59
But in certain instances, it will also change the behavior of the manual focus ring
5:04
And so you can make that an aperture ring, for example. You also have the ability through the Linge Utility Software to control the behavior of that focus ring
5:13
Namely, you can make it linear or nonlinear. And you can choose three different focus throw links
5:19
And so all the way up to a 360 degree focus rotation and as little as 90, you can set that all up there
5:26
So this obviously is very, very useful. adding a lot of direct control onto the lens itself
5:32
On the other side, there is a zoom lock because this is an externally zooming lens
5:37
I will note that the actual zoom action is very light and very easy
5:42
It doesn't feel all that different from an internally zooming lens because they really I think engineered that quite well Now I will also note that there are those that don love having an externally zooming lens because they feel like it doesn seal as well Tamron has offset those concerns by adding a number of seal points here There are 11 seal points as you can see from this diagram starting at the lens mount itself throughout the various switches and rings there up to the front where we have a floor ring coating that makes it easy to clean and also help
6:17
helps to protect that front element. So all told here, we have a nicely built lens
6:22
that adds on some more interesting contours. It's a better-looking lens, and I think a more functional lens
6:28
because there are those contours that make the actual rings fall to hand
6:32
and are defined a little bit better. So definitely an upgraded lens
6:36
so I will note, it still feels a little more plasticy to me than what the new G-master lens does
6:41
Howbeit, this is a vastly improved lens that feels more professional grade at this point
6:47
Now, we also have two different minimum focus distances. And so if you're at the 70 millimeter lens, you can auto focus as close as 30 centimeters and get a 0.38 times magnification
7:01
However, you can manually focus and get even closer than that and get up to about a 1 to 2 macro level or a 0.50 times magnification
7:10
On the telephoto end, you can auto focus as closely as 85 centimeters and you can get a magnification
7:17
of 0.21 times magnification. So lower, but because your working distances longer
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you also get a flatter plane of focus, and in some cases, a little bit better in result
7:28
Very useful, obviously, adding that near macro capabilities to the lens. Now, on the negative front, there is no tripod collar included
7:37
You can see that this middle section now occupied by these switches
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it's not really designed around adding a tripod color. Some people really prioritize that
7:46
But I will point out, as you can see here, this lens is lightweight enough that I didn't have any kind of issues aligning my test chart, for example
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There was no kind of downward drag, and even on this mini table tripod, which, by the way, people always ask me about this
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I always put a link to it in the description on my videos because people are really intrigued by this
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You can see here that there's no issue with any kind of creeping or down, and it's not going to stress that mount too much
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So probably not a big deal. However, I know that many people do prefer still having a tripod collar
8:17
A nice lens hood is included here, and while it's not as interesting to me, for example, as Sigma's hoods, which tend to be really well engineered, I will note that it does seem to be strongly made and a cut above just kind of the generic hoods you sometimes get
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Another negative here, however, is like the first generation lens, this lens is not designed to be used with teleconverters
8:38
Now, I will note from what I understand from various other third-party manufacturers
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This seems to be a Sony design to where they are limiting teleconverter use to only first-party lenses
8:50
So no teleconverters on e-mount if it's a non-Soni lens. So not really a Tamron problem, but a reality if you, the consumer, want to use a teleconverter
9:01
Now, unlike the first-generation lens, we do have Tamron's VC or vibration compensation
9:07
That is their optical stabilizer. There is not a CEPA rating on this that I've seen Tamron give
9:13
which tells me it's probably not a top-notch rating. However, it does help
9:19
The behavior here is not flawless. I do notice a little bit of drift after I let off the shutter
9:24
that sometimes the image will move a little bit. And I don't find that the viewfinder image just locks down and stabilizes quite as well as the best optical stabilizers
9:35
At the same time, I will note that I was able to get pretty good results
9:39
However, for example, this shot at 180 millimeters at one. fifth of a second, that's about five stops, you know, between the lens stability and whatever I'm
9:48
getting from the camera body. And so, you know, that's useful enough. And you'll also see from
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some of these video clips that I was able to get stable video footage and no real issue there
10:00
Tamron does note that at 100 millimeters and below, it actually uses AI to determine the best
10:06
behavior. So for video use, you're going to get better results if you shoot at 100 millimeters or less
10:12
in terms of the stabilization from the in-lens optical stabilizer. So let's talk about autofocus
10:19
As previously, we have Tamron's VXD drive. That stands for voice coil extreme torque drive
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In other words, it is their most high-powered autofocus system, and here we have got dual VXD motors on either side of the focus group
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to help to drive focus very quickly. It's essentially the same formula as what Sony is using on their lenses
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though Sony will go as high as quad, of their linear drive motors on their cameras, or their lenses, I should say
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Now, we had that system before. It is improved here, however, also with updated algorithms for the new AI tracking subjects
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that are included on Sony's most recent bodies. Byproduct in the real world use, I didn't have any problem tracking action
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For example, birds in flight, I was able to quickly lock on and track them through a panning
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sequence. I will note that we are continue to be limited at 15 frames per second on Sony's sport
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bodies like this alpha one here. It can shoot up to 30 frames per second with a Sony branded lens
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but only 15 frames per second with a third party lens. Now for many people that's not going to
11:26
affect them. For example, I'm filming on the A7R Mark 5. It can't even do 15 frames per second. So that's
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a non-issue for many of Sony's bodies. But if you're shooting an A9 or an alpha one, that could be a
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limitation to bear in mind My only negative when it comes to stills autofocus focus speed as you can see here is really good near instantaneous and that true not only at 70 millimeters which is easier but also at 180
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millimeters. It is still nearly about the same speed. I did occasionally see a focus rack where focus
11:57
went the wrong direction before it moved to where it went. And so instead of focusing forward
12:01
it would back focus and then move forward. Not a huge deal because focus is so fast, and maybe
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it will improve. Obviously, I've been reviewing a pre-release copy. Maybe the actual firmware will be
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updated a little bit more for the actual production release. And so that could help that a little bit
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further. I had very good focus precision, whether it was for inanimate objects. If it was for birds
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I got very good focus, like in this shot and a series of shots that I took of geese on the pond
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animals, whether it was Nala, whether it was a fox, various other animals. I got very good
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good focus. And then most impressively, I did shoot an extended portrait series with it
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and I got just perfectly focused results in all scenarios, different focus distances. I layered
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things in front. I shot at different focal links. It didn't matter what I did. Everything was just
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perfectly focused, and I could see that focus locked onto the eye, stayed locked on to the eye
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And for this video sequence here, you can see that as I moved around, that it stayed just locked on
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the models face, no issues at all with focus pulsing or moving around. So for stills and for general
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autofocus, just very, very good. I also found that my video focus pools were quite good. You can see
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that they're snappy, generally confident. I had one instance, as you can see in this final
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sequence, where it did rack the wrong direction, as I've talked about before, and so that took
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a little bit longer on that particular focus pull. Now my hand test did work well, as you can see
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here with good transition from the hand to the eye and as I approach the camera and moving
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they're close, you can see that focus locks onto my eye quite quickly and accurately there
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So in general, very good performance when it comes to video as well
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So let's talk about the image quality. I didn't know if this lens would be really improved optically considering the first one
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was quite good, but we do have a new optical formula that adds an additional element
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and an additional element group. It's got about seven exotic elements, as you can see from this breakdown
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And you can see comparing the MTF charts that the new MTF is just better still
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And it is one of the best-looking MTF charts that I have ever seen
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So does that translate into real-world use? Well, let's dive in together and let's take a look
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Okay, we'll start by taking a look at Vignette and Distortion. We have a really, really consistent pattern throughout
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so there's not going to be anything that's particularly interesting here, but where you're going to see is varying degrees of pincushion distortion and varying degrees of vignette
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All of it corrects very easily, as you can see here on the right, even with a manual correction
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The pincushion distortion being the lowest at 70 millimeters, it's a minus four
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Same is true of vignette, a plus 50. So right around two stops at a 115 millimeters
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I just chose a midpoint there. The distortion is grown to where it's a minus nine, and vignette is a plus 68 to correct
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Likewise, at 180 millimeters, the distortion is the same, and Vignette is a little bit heavier
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It's the heaviest there, so it's about three stops by the time that you hit 180 millimeters
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As you can see, it all corrects easily. Not really a big deal. I also saw basically no longitudinal chromatic aberration
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You can see that there is no fringing either before or after the plane of focus on this test chart
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Likewise, with this high contrast subject where there's lots of opportunity for fringing after the plane of
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to focus. You can see it's just completely neutral, really, really excellent performance there
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Likewise, when it comes to lateral chromatic aberrations that show near the edge of the frame
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we can see if we look over here at the edge here that everything is nice and clean. And just to give
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you a little bit of a preview, yeah, this lens is like fabulously sharp. So for our formal tests
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they're done on the 61 megapixel Sony A7R Mark 5, and I'm showing you results at 200%. Starting at 70mm
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If we look in the center of the frame at 200%, you can see flawless results
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It is just tons of resolution, tons of contrast. The mid frame looks excellent
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If we pan down here, it continues to look excellent. And right off into the corner, we can see great sharpness right there to the very edge of the frame
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Very impressive results. Here's a real world shot, 70 millimeters F2.8. And if we look in at the subject, you can see that the detail is just flawless there
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There is nothing to be concerned about. Resolution is just amazingly strong
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Now, when you start this sharp wide open, obviously there isn't a whole lot of room for further improvement
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because you're already near perfect. And that's what we see here at F4 results
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They don't really look terribly different in the center of the frame. Better in the mid frame, however, and down in the corner
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we can see just a little bit of more sharpness and contrast there as well
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F5.6 just shows a brighter, more. consistent result looking back here to the midframe not really much difference you're going to peak
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around f5.6 and start to decline after f8 due to diffraction your minimum aperture is f22 throughout the
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zoom range but as you can see diffraction has really taken off all of that bite that sharpness there
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the contrast and so i would shoot at a maximum of f11 if possible take a quick look at a real world
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landscape shot f5.6 and as you can see the detail is just
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just brilliant I mean all across the frame as long as we in the depth of field you can just see that it just perfect from side to side just amazing contrast and detail all throughout All these details are just really finely
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just delineated there. Now it would feel like we've seen the best yet, but if you go on to
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100 millimeters, you can see that if anything, there's actually even more punch there in the
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center of the frame. Likewise in the mid frame, it looks just a little bit better in terms of contrast
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and even down into the corners, the corners just look crisper and a little bit
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bit brighter there as well. We see the only vulnerability really in the middle of the zoom range
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around 135 millimeters. And as you can see in the center of the frame, even from our peak at 100
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millimeters, it's really not much different. And in the mid frame, it's only very slightly less
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but the corners aren't quite as good and they never really sharpen up to the level that we see
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here. And so that's really the only issue I can point to there. But for real world use, again
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going back to a portrait shot here, we can see that the detail at about 140 millimeters here
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is just, it's just gorgeous. I mean, so I don't think that there's any kind of real concern here
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I mean, the detail looks great, and as we look in this case, you can see great detail right down
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to the very edge of the frame there. Now, some lenses drop off towards the edge of the zoom range
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That is far from the case here. We can see that contrast just punches way up at 180 millimeters
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The center of the frame is just incredibly sharp. Likewise, we can see that the mid frame is as good as what we have seen, just really crisp
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Just look at all the detail and contrast compared to 135 millimeters
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And then also we can see that we've got that consistency back to where it is sharp right there into the corners of the frame
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Pop over on this side, and you can see that the queen is looking really crisp there by comparison to what there was at 140 millimeters
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Not that this is bad at all. For a bit of real world perspective, take a look at a look at the point
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at this fox at 100% magnification. Just look at how amazingly crisp that lens is. It's a really
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really impressive result. Likewise, in this portrait shot at 180mm F2.8, you can see that the detail
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on my subject's face is just flawless, just really, really gorgeous. Likewise, if we take a look at a
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landscape image, not only is the detail just really great here, but if we look just right off to
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the edge of the frame. You can see the detail all along there. I mean, let's just pop back out for a
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moment. Look at this is how much we're zooming into this image. And yet you can see just the fine
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detail on these cottages on the far side of the river. It's just really, really impressive how
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sharp this lens is. It also manages to have very nice bouquet and color. You can see in this image that
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there's a nice isolation of the subject here, very nice detail if we look at it at 100% magnification
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but at these various layers in this particular image, I think that they're handled really quite nicely
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get a little bit closer, and obviously the background starts to blur out even more softly
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And the closer you get, the more that that's going to be true. This image of Nala just really shows, you know
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all the things that are at work here. Obviously, depth of field is really small, but if you look at all the fine hairs around her eye
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and then this transition towards defocus, everything just looks really, really nice
20:59
Even if you get a little bit further out to where obviously you're not going to blow away the background in the same degree, but we can see focus on the subject. The subject looks really, really crisp. And then the foreground and then the background boca also look really, really nice there. So the lens is obviously capable of really great color and a lot of contrast pop here. We zoom into this image. I mean, you can make out the individual faces in the tour boat there. And obviously the colors look really, really crisp. Everything looks really great
21:29
This image, even though it's foggy, some trying to push through the mist there, but we can see if we look in that there's just really, really nice detail all throughout there
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The flare resistance is also improved here. We've got the Generation 2 B bar coatings, and so here I've put the sun just right outside the frame in a place where it sometimes affects things
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And you can see that contrast is just held up really nicely. We've got a beautiful image here
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So optically, this lens is really a standout. in the introduction, Sony really improved their GM lens. It's not the goldmaster for nothing
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But Tamron has made equivalent improvements to their G2 lens. So while it's not at the GM tier all
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across the board, I do believe it is a great second tier choice at about $1,500 less. We're talking
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about $1,29 U.S. dollars for the G2 Tamron, and we're talking about $2,800 for the GM Mark 2
22:26
We've got great optics, great autofocus, a good feature set here, and on the negative side, there's 20 millimeters less, no teleconverter use, and the VC is not as good as the GM's OSS
22:39
However, this is a great value lens. It is going to deliver equivalent image quality with just a few less bells and whistles
22:46
And for that reason, I think it's very intriguing if you're looking for a cheaper alternative to the G-master lens
22:53
And yes, I think there is enough here that if you can get reasonable, value in selling your original 70 to 180 millimeter lens, I think it might be worth the upgrade to this
23:03
lens because it does add a whole lot to the table. I'm Dustin Abbott, and if you look in the
23:08
description down below, you can find links to my full text review and also to my image gallery
23:14
There are buying links that are there as well. If you haven't already, please like and subscribe
23:18
Thanks for watching. Have a great day and let the light in
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