Tamron 11-20mm F2.8 RXD for Fuji X-mount Review

Dustin Abbott

June 19th, 2023

In 2022 Fuji began to really open up their platform to third party development, and that has opened a floodgate of both new and “ported” lenses from Tamron, Sigma, Samyang, Viltrox, and more. It was that move along with the excellent camera design of the Fujifilm X-H2 (my review here) that triggered my first Fujifilm camera purchase (I had always borrowed Fuji cameras for previous reviews). I had previously reviewed the Tamron 11-20mm F2.8 Di III-A RXD on Sony E-mount in 2021 but I’ve been interested in revisiting the lenses on X-mount for two primary reasons: 1) to see how autofocus performs on a new platform and 2) to see how the lens’ optics survive the very pixel dense 40MP Fuji X-Trans sensor on some of their new cameras. This really pushes the envelope of lens performance, as that high resolution exposes any optical shortcomings in a big way! I won’t be doing an entirely new review, so there will be some redundant parts in this article, but I am going through and updating the content in key areas that are specific to the performance on Fuji X-mount. The Fuji platform is different from the Sony E-mount “lens” that I viewed the Tamron 11-20mm RXD from before, as there are more premium options on Fuji and a higher standard for what features are expected there. Can the Tamron 11-20mm F2.8 Di III-A RXD compete in the Fuji X-mount arena?

Tamron loves its initials in their lens names, so let’s sort out that alphabet soup. Di III is their designation for a mirrorless lens design, and, in this case, the addition of -A at the (Di III-A) refers to their development for APS-C mirrorless. RXD refers to the focus motor, which is similar to the linear motors employed on many of Fuji’s better lenses.

There are few legitimate alternatives to this lens on the Fuji platform, as while there are a number of quality wide angle primes, there are only a couple of wide angle zooms. The first is the premium XF 8-16mm F2.8 (my review here). That lens is large (15mm wider and 35mm longer), heavy (2 1/2 times as heavy as the Tamron), and expensive ($670 more). The focal range does have some overlap, obviously, and the maximum aperture is the same, but there are few similarities outside of that. A more direct competitor is the Fujinon XF 10-24mm F4 OIS, though unfortunately I have not reviewed that lens. The XF 10-24mm is more similar in focal range, size, and price ($999 vs $829 for the Tamron), though it has a maximum aperture of F4 rather than F2.8. That lens does have OIS (optical stabilizer) and an aperture ring along with a larger zoom range, while the Tamron offers the larger maximum aperture, lower price, superior focus system, and (on paper) a superior optical performance, particularly on the telephoto end. Here’s a look at how the raw specs of these three lenses compare:

So is the Tamron 11-20mm RXD a worthy addition to the Fuji platform? You can watch my conclusions in my video review, or just read on to find out…

Thanks to Tamron USA for sending me an loaner of the lens. As always, this is a completely independent review. I have used both my personal Fujifilm X-H2 (my review here) and a loaner of the X-S20 for this review.

Tamron 11-20mm RXD Build, Handling, and Features

The Tamron 11-20mm RXD certainly hits a sweet spot for size and weight for a wide angle zoom. It feels reasonably compact on my larger X-H2, but also fits just fine on the much smaller X-S20 without feeling front heavy. It is 2.9″ (D) x 3.4″ (L), or 73 x 86.2 mm. Like most of Tamron’s mirrorless lenses it has a 67mm front filter thread which allows filters to be shared across almost all of Tamron’s other options for the platform (excluding the much larger 150-500mm, obviously!) The weight is only 11.8 oz (335 g), making it the lightest of the wide angle zoom options despite having the large maximum aperture.

There’s no question this is an extremely useful focal range, giving you framing options from very wide (16.5mm full frame equivalent):

to somewhat tighter framing (30mm full frame equivalent):

This will enable you versatility in composing your wide angle scene and covers most of the classic wide angle options. While the depth of field is more equivalent to a full frame F4 lens, the F2.8 aperture will always have the light gathering capability of an F2.8 lens (regardless of whether attached to APS-C or Full Frame), meaning that the 11-20mm RXD has the advantage of being able to have more in focus at larger apertures but all the light gathering potential of an F2.8 lens – which can be a big help in low light conditions.

As has been Tamron’s design philosophy thus far, the design language is clean, modern, and without distractions. That’s the nice way of putting it. The glass half empty approach is to note that there are no features on the outside of the lens. No AF/MF switch, no aperture ring – just the zoom and focus rings. That wasn’t unusual on Sony in the past, but the aperture ring has been a very common design element on Fuji.

The position of the two rings on the 11-20mm is reversed relative to the 17-70mm, which is unfortunate for those who will buy both lenses to use as a kit. The closer (and wider) of the two is the zoom ring. The zoom ring has a rubberized, ribbed texture, is easy to find by touch, and moves smoothly through the zoom range without any sticking points. The inner barrel will extend about 2cm at the 11mm position, and is fully retracted at the 20mm position.

While many would prefer an internally zooming lens, thus far all of these Tamron zooms have been externally zooming, though they must be doing a fairly good job of sealing the lenses, and I’ve heard little anecdotal reports from buyers about getting dust inside of them. The inner barrel extends smoothly and without any wobble.

The second ring (nearer the front of the lens) is the manual focus ring. You will have to select manual focus from within the camera, though this is common on Fuji cameras and is fairly simple if you have a body that has the Focus Mode lever or button on the front. This (like all mirrorless lenses) is focus-by-wire, meaning that focus input on the focus ring is routed through the focus motor to move the elements. Manual focus feel is fairly light and without a lot of tactile feedback. Typical manual focus aids are all available, as Tamron lenses on Fuji function largely like native lenses.

Tamron has included a shallow, petal-shaped lens hood with deep ribs inside that disrupt stray light bouncing around. It’s plastic and lightweight, but the quality of the plastics is apparent by feel. It doesn’t feel as cheap as some hoods that I see. It feels like it could take a few bumps without cracking. Due to the wide-angle nature of the lens, the lens hood is fairly wide, so it doesn’t reverse completely flush along the sides of the lens for storage.

The lens’ housing is a nice grade of engineered plastics with a satin finish. There’s a platinum-colored accept ring right near the lens mount. Nothing fancy on the outside, but the lens “look” is clean and it looks nice mounted on the camera.

As noted, however, the good stuff is inside. There’s a rubber gasket at the lens mount that is the outer evidence of the weather sealing inside, and this is diagram from Tamron shows that there are a total of seven seal points in the lens. This is capped off by a nice fluorine coating on the front element, which not only helps protect it from scratches but also makes it water and fingerprint resistant and thus easier to clean.

Tamron’s recent trends regarding MFD (minimum focus distance) hold true here, as the lens sports two different MFDs for wide (0.15m/5.9″) and telephoto (0.24m/9.4″). Both are pretty close, frankly, with the 11mm position requiring you to be nearly on top of your subject (the length from the sensor to the end of the lens WITHOUT the hood is 12cm, leaving you only 3cm of working room to your subject. If you leave the hood on, that length grows to 14.5cmm, leaving you a few mm of working room. It will be almost impossible to avoid shading your subject with the lens attached, so remove the hood to give you a bit more working room. Even so, I found it almost impossible to properly light my test chart even moving my lights right in, as this is what MFD looks like:

Should you be able to get that close, you get as high as a 0.25x (1:4) magnification figure, which looks like this.

Being able to pull off shots that close in the real world are rarely going to happen, so I consider that 0.25x figure to mostly be marketing. You can still get a reasonable magnification by backing up a bit, though. My preference is just to use the 20mm position or somewhere in between. The telephoto end gives you a better working distance and better results in terms of sharpness, but unfortunately the magnification figure drops to a much more pedestrian 0.13x, though even that figure is better than the Fuji 8-16mm (0.10x) and only slightly lower than the Fuji 10-24mm (0.16x). The magnification at 20mm looks like this:

You’ll note that the 20mm position gives a nicely flat plane of focus, meaning that real world results are nice and crisp:

The telephoto magnification figure is a bit lower, but achieving the result will be much simpler in the field and probably much more satisfying in the process. I find a nice compromise is to shoot somewhere around 16mm, as you can get closer than 20mm, achieve a higher magnification level, but without being right on top of the subject like at 11mm. This shot shows that you can really fill the frame fairly well by using this technique:

As is common with wide angle lenses, Tamron has reduced the number of blades from nine to 7 rounded blades. A lens like this is less about bokeh and more about being able to produce nice sunstars, and the seven bladed aperture produces a cleaner looking sunstar.

Tamron touts the flare resistance of this lens, but I don’t necessarily find that a great strength for the lens, and the shot above shows why.

The Tamron 11-20mm RXD is a simple lens in terms of design and features, but at the same time I’ve had no long term issues with Tamron lenses just like this one. They’ve held up fine and get the job done, though I do miss some of missing features.

Autofocus and Video Performance

The Tamron 11-20mm F2.8 has Tamron’s excellent Rapid eXtra-silent stepping Drive (RXD), and this is the first time I’ve used it on Fuji rather than Tamron. For stills, it is pretty much flawless, with fast, quiet focus on either the X-H2 or X-S20 bodies that I used for the review.

This is a far cry from some of the older Fuji lenses I’ve used, with noisy focus motors that were slow and rough. Quality of focus is more akin to the newest Linear Motor equipped lenses. I had no reservations in focus when taking photos.

Eye Detect works fine (as it does almost universally now), though with a wide angle lens like this you have to be pretty close for the eye to occupy a large enough part of the frame to show active tracking. If you are close enough, however, the “stickiness” of the box on the eye is fairly good and will follow the subject around. I tested with both humans and also a sequence with Nala at a variety of focus distances and angles.

Video focus pulls were less stellar, however. While focus breathing was minimal, there is some visible stepping in the actual pulls; the initial focus move, a split second pause, and then the final adjustment. The results from my “hand test” were a little better, as the focus adjustment was more confident when moving back to the eye.

More subtle focus transitions during video capture were smooth, and I felt the lens did a nice job transitioning from subject to subject. I got a lot of nice clips with the lens.

What I did find was that sometimes shooting with a smaller aperture and a backlit scene resulting in some pulsing in and out of focus. In once sequence I was capturing flares through the leaves and focus went completely out several times due to a lot of light hitting the sensor. Another clip with some pulsing came when I was up on a cliff while hiking and shooting a big landscape scene over a river. Stills focus was fine, but my video clip pulsed in and out some (all points active) as if the camera/lens wasn’t quite sure what to focus on.

In general, however, I felt my focus experience was great (particularly for stills). And, to be fair, the video performance is better than just about everything I’ve seen until this most recent generation of Fujinon lenses, so Tamron’s RXD focus system and the transition to Fuji focus algorithms seems to have largely been successful here.

Tamron 11-20mm F2.8 RXD Image Quality

The 11-20mm RXD sports an optical formula of 12 elements in 10 groups, with 5 of those being exotic elements (molded glass aspherical, hybrid aspherical, and Low Dispersion). Here’s a look at the optical design and MTFs:

If you understand MTF diagrams, you will note that these are very good looking MTFs for a wide angle zoom lens. Tamron does its MTFs wide open, and the surprising thing about the 11mm result is that there is actually a bit of dip in resolution near the mid-frame position with the corner resolving better than the mid-frame area (though contrast is must lower in the corner relative to the mid-frame). The 20mm result shows a more typical slide towards the edge of the frame. On a 24mm Sony sensor I found resolution to be fantastic, but Fuji’s 40MP sensor in my X-H2 is the most demanding sensor I’m currently testing on for any platform. It is is possible to get very nicely detailed images even on the X-H2’s sensor, however…even at F2.8:

Here’s a look at the vignette and distortion at 11mm:

We can see both moderate barrel distortion and vignette. The distortion is fairly linear, so I could get a reasonable result even with a manual correction of the distortion (I used a +9), and vignette was also manageable. I used a +79 and moved the midpoint over to zero for a nicely clean result. It did seem that I saw a bit more vignette on Fuji than I did on Sony, but that could be just a quirk of testing. Tamron seems to enjoy full in-camera correction support on Fuji, so use the standard profile in camera for JPEGs and Video for a cleaner still result. As always, RAW images will require using the correction profile in your editing software to get a nicely clean end result. Here’s a look at the in-camera corrected JPEG image.

As is typical for a lens like this, the distortion pattern flips to a pincushion style distortion at 20mm, though this distortion is even more linear and easier still to correct for. Vignette was also quite a bit lower. I’ve seen a lot of otherwise good lenses derailed by distortion or heavy vignette, but that’s not the case here; this is a very good result. Everything is easily correctable and none of the flaws extreme.

I watched for chromatic aberrations but saw little evidence of them. Longitudinal chromatic aberrations (fringing before or after the plane of focus) are minimal in this difficult shot of white blossoms transitioning out of focus, and the specular highlights (bokeh balls) are clean in the background.

I could see trace amounts of lateral chromatic aberrations on my chart (fringing in dark to light transitions near the edge of the frame) if I magnified to 200%, they were too insignificant to see in real world use, and a one click correction either in camera in (for RAWs) in software will clean those up nicely:

Let’s move on to resolution and contrast. I do my examinations at 200% magnification, as this clearly shows lens strengths and flaws for you to see. First, here’s my test chart:

We will start with F2.8 crops (near 200%) at 11mm from the center, mid-frame, and extreme lower right corner.

The center looks great, the mid-frame good, but the corners aren’t nearly as sharp. That’s the challenge of such a high resolution sensor on APS-C, though it’s not quite so dire in the real world. I compare results at 200% here. Out in the real world at a more typical 100% magnification things look much more reasonable (11mm, F2.8):

The corners improve a little when stopping down, but never to “wow” levels. This real world shot looks good, however, with good detail in the both the center of the frame and the bottom corner.

The lower resolution sensor point of the X-S20 is a little gentler. Here’s a shot that I felt really popped for color, contrast, and clarity at 11mm, F2.8:

I found that the 11-20mm RXD really hit its stride in the center of the zoom range, with more capacity for really crisp detail even in the corners when stopped down…even on the X-H2.

This is where I would shoot for optimal sharpness, which is truly excellent anywhere in the frame in a real world shot, whether in the foreground or background.

I’m also impressed with the performance at 20mm, which is nicely even across the frame by F4, though still very good across most of the frame even at F2.8. Midframe performance in particular stands out as excellent.

Close results at 20mm, F2.8 hold up well even on the X-H2:

At landscape apertures the lens delivers beautiful, highly detailed results.

While you don’t turn to wide angle lenses for bokeh, the quality of the blur is reasonably good here. This image at 20mm, F2.8 has a fairly nice transition to defocus.

I also think this image looks fairly good, as did others where the background was defocused.

Flare resistance is a bit of a mixed bag. The lens does well with the sun right out of frame, and sometimes directly in frame, but I found flare resistance better at large apertures than smaller apertures, where some ghosting artifacts can come into frame (see the vertical shot of the crimson maple leaves).

Coma performance is quite, with night sky images looking clean other than a bit of “star-stretching” in the corners.

Overall, however, we’ve got a very good lens optically. It’s a good wide angle zoom range, and can produce a lot of great looking images. If you compare the MTF charts to the older Tamron 10-24mm VC lens, the newer zoom is far superior optically

The Tamron 11-20mm F2.8 RXD will definitely bring an intriguing new option to the Fuji X platform. There’s a lot of good optically, and little major issues. You can check out more photos by visiting the image gallery page here.

Conclusion

The Tamron 11-20mm F2.8 Di III-A RXD is a welcome addition to the Fuji X-mount stable of lenses. It gives shooters a wide aperture, wide angle zoom option without resorting to the much more extreme Fujinon XF 8-16mm F2.8 LM WR lens. The Tamron is a far more practical lens, however, weighing a little over a third as much and costing less than half as much.

The 11-20mm F2.8 RXD has a nice (if plain) build with thorough weather sealing, good autofocus, and strong enough image quality to survive the demanding 40MP sensor of the X-H2. It is compact, lightweight, and handles great. Not a lot to complain about, really.

If you are looking for a reasonably priced, relatively compact wide angle zoom for your Fuji camera, the Tamron 11-20mm F2.8 RXD is a very nice option. It’s not as feature rich as some Fuji lenses, but delivers very strong value relative to competing lenses. A lot of Sony shooters have loved the 11-20mm RXD, and now Fuji X-mount photographers can get in on the action. Great times for the Fuji platform!

Pros:

Great wide angle zoom range
Maintains F2.8 aperture
Relatively compact and lightweight
Good build with weather sealing
Fast, quiet, and accurate autofocus
Shares a 67mm filter thread with other Tamron lenses on Sony
Exceptional optical performance
Good coma control
Strong aberration control

Cons:

No aperture ring
Corners at 11mm never got incredibly sharp
Focus hunted a bit during certain video situations

Gear Used:

Purchase the Tamron 11-20mm F2.8 RXD @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

Purchase the Fujifilm X-S20 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Purchase the Fujifilm X-S10 @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Purchase the Fujifilm X-H2 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

Purchase the Fujifilm X-T5 @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Find it Used at KEH

Want to support this channel? Use these affiliate links to shop at: B&H Photo | Amazon | Adorama | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Ebay | Make a donation via Paypal

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Keywords: Tamron 11-20mm F2.8 RXD, withmytamron, X-Mount, X, Fuji, Fujifilm, X-H2, weather sealing, B060, Tamron 11-20 RXD, RXD, F2.8, 11-20mm, Di-IIIa, Sony, E-mount, Tamron 11-20mm Review, Tamron 11-20 review, Review, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Photography, Astrophotography, #letthelightin, #DA, #weather sealing

DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Tamron 11-20mm F2.8 RXD (X-Mount) Gallery

Dustin Abbott

June 14th, 2023

In 2022 Fuji began to really open up their platform to third party development, and that has opened a floodgate of both new and “ported” lenses from Tamron, Sigma, Samyang, Viltrox, and more. It was that move along with the excellent camera design of the Fujifilm X-H2 (my review here) that triggered my first Fujifilm camera purchase (I had always borrowed Fuji cameras for previous reviews). I had previously reviewed the Tamron 11-20mm F2.8 Di III-A RXD on Sony E-mount in 2021 but I’ve been interested in revisiting the lenses on X-mount for two primary reasons: 1) to see how autofocus performs on a new platform and 2) to see how the lens’ optics survive the very pixel dense 40MP Fuji X-Trans sensor on some of their new cameras. This really pushes the envelope of lens performance, as that high resolution exposes any optical shortcomings in a big way! I won’t be doing an entirely new review, so there will be some redundant parts in this article, but I am going through and updating the content in key areas that are specific to the performance on Fuji X-mount. The Fuji platform is different from the Sony E-mount “lens” that I viewed the Tamron 11-20mm RXD from before, as there are more premium options on Fuji and a higher standard for what features are expected there. Can the Tamron 11-20mm F2.8 Di III-A RXD compete in the Fuji X-mount arena?

Tamron loves its initials in their lens names, so let’s sort out that alphabet soup. Di III is their designation for a mirrorless lens design, and, in this case, the addition of -A at the (Di III-A) refers to their development for APS-C mirrorless. RXD refers to the focus motor, which is similar to the linear motors employed on many of Fuji’s better lenses.

There are few legitimate alternatives to this lens on the Fuji platform, as while there are a number of quality wide angle primes, there are only a couple of wide angle zooms. The first is the premium XF 8-16mm F2.8 (my review here). That lens is large (15mm wider and 35mm longer), heavy (2 1/2 times as heavy as the Tamron), and expensive ($670 more). The focal range does have some overlap, obviously, and the maximum aperture is the same, but there are few similarities outside of that. A more direct competitor is the Fujinon XF 10-24mm F4 OIS, though unfortunately I have not reviewed that lens. The XF 10-24mm is more similar in focal range, size, and price ($999 vs $829 for the Tamron), though it has a maximum aperture of F4 rather than F2.8. That lens does have OIS (optical stabilizer) and an aperture ring along with a larger zoom range, while the Tamron offers the larger maximum aperture, lower price, superior focus system, and (on paper) a superior optical performance, particularly on the telephoto end. Here’s a look at how the raw specs of these three lenses compare:

So is the Tamron 11-20mm RXD a worthy addition to the Fuji platform? You can get my thoughts by watching my definitive video review or reading the text review here…or just enjoy the photos!

Thanks to Tamron USA for sending me an loaner of the lens. As always, this is a completely independent review. I have used both my personal Fujifilm X-H2 (my review here) and a loaner of the X-S20 for this review.

Photos of the Tamron 11-20mm RXD

Photos taken with the Tamron 11-20mm F2.8 RXD

Gear Used:

Purchase the Tamron 11-20mm F2.8 RXD @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

Purchase the Fujifilm X-S20 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Purchase the Fujifilm X-S10 @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Purchase the Fujifilm X-H2 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

Purchase the Fujifilm X-T5 @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Find it Used at KEH

Want to support this channel? Use these affiliate links to shop at: B&H Photo | Amazon | Adorama | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Ebay | Make a donation via Paypal

Buy DA Merchandise https://bit.ly/TWIMerch

Keywords: Tamron 11-20mm F2.8 RXD, withmytamron, X-Mount, X, Fuji, Fujifilm, X-H2, weather sealing, B060, Tamron 11-20 RXD, RXD, F2.8, 11-20mm, Di-IIIa, Sony, E-mount, Tamron 11-20mm Review, Tamron 11-20 review, Review, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Photography, Astrophotography, #letthelightin, #DA, #weather sealing

DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8 FE Review

Dustin Abbott

May 31st, 2023

Viltrox has been crushing it. The last two lenses from them that I reviewed were designed for APS-C, including the Viltrox AF 13mm F1.4 STM, a lens I considered perhaps their best yet in my review. That was, until the next lens, the Viltrox AF 75mm F1.2 STM for Fuji X-mount, which took Viltrox to a whole other level. The 13mm largely followed the previous Viltrox formula, but with improved performance and better optical glass. The 75mm added all kinds of features, including weather sealing and improved physical controls while also delivering perhaps the finest optical performance I’ve seen from a short telephoto lens designed for APS-C. My excitement for Viltrox lenses has definitely increased…and their latest has only fueled that enthusiasm. They have returned to the full frame space, and their newest lens is a premium wide angle prime that delivers in every way. The Sony E-mount Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8 delivers features and performance that feels much like a Sony G Master lens.

Viltrox has added a host of features to the new 16mm, including weather sealing, the option to declick the aperture, two custom function buttons (more on that later), and, in a feature not seen since the Zeiss Batis series, an LCD screen on the lens that serves a variety of purposes.

But the lens does not just impress on a feature level. This is a very wide angle lens (105.6° angle of view) that also happens to have a larger than average maximum aperture of F1.8 – that’s 1 1/3rd stop faster than the typical F2.8 zoom that covers this focal length. It manages to do this while retaining a moderate size (103mm in length) and weight (550g) while delivering an exceptional optical performance.

The Viltrox 16mm does not carry their new “Pro” badge, but frankly it feels like it should. This is a professional grade lens in both features and performance and will easily be perceived as being a very strong value. The MSRP as it comes to market is $549 USD (though if you buy it from the Viltrox store and use code DUSTINABBOTT you can get 8% any Viltrox product, including this lens), which makes this lens an absolute bargain. We’ll break down the strengths and weaknesses in this review, though I’ll warn you that there are far more of the former than the latter. If you prefer to watch your reviews, you can check out my definitive video review…or just keep reading.

Thanks to Viltrox for sending me an evaluation copy of the 16mm F1.8. As always, this is a completely independent review. *The tests and most of the photos that I share as a part of my review cycle have been done with the Sony a7IV along with the Sony Alpha 1 which will serve as my benchmark camera for the foreseeable future (my review here).

Viltrox 16mm F1.8 Build and Handling

It is almost scary how quickly Viltrox has progressed as a lens maker. As noted in the intro, Viltrox is really leveling up in terms of lens design, and that shows up here in the design and features of the AF 16mm F1.8. Viltrox lenses have always felt a little more premium than their price points suggests, but this is the first of their full frame lenses that really checks all of the boxes of what we expect from a premium lens. In many ways the Viltrox 16mm looks a lot like a G Master lens, with similar features and red badging.

It is 85.2mm/3.35″ in diameter and is 101mm/4.05″ in length. It weighs 550g or 19.4oz. What is very welcome is that the front element is flat, not bulbous, so one can use common 77mm filters on the front threads. This isn’t a small lens, but the size and weight are reasonable for the focal length and aperture combination. It is slightly larger and heavier than the Sony FE 14mm F1.8 GM (my review here), though that lens stood out as being exceptionally small. It is definitely smaller and the lighter than the Sony 16-35mm F2.8 GM zoom. I found that the size and weight balanced just fine on either of my full frame Sony bodies. The lens is slightly larger than the Tamron 17-28mm F2.8 zoom that I own, but the lenses are roughly the same size.

For me, personally, the performance of the lens makes the weight well worth it.

As noted in the intro, there are some fundamental design changes to the Viltrox 16mm even if the basic design language is similar to recent Viltrox releases. While other full frame Viltrox lenses have come with aperture rings, this is the first to have the option to declick the aperture. That switch is located on the right side of the lens underneath a stylish new Viltrox badge. In “clicked” mode the aperture has predefined detents in one-third aperture progressions with an “A’ position past F22 that will allow you to instead control aperture from within camera if you aren’t an aperture ring person, but when you turn the clicks off you can smoothly move through the whole aperture range without defined slots. This allows for smooth video aperture racking and has become an expected pro-grade feature on modern lenses.

On the left side of the lens we have an AF/MF switch for the first time on a full frame Viltrox lens, a feature that I always personally welcome as I think it is most the logical way to control that function.

Beneath that is a brand new feature for Viltrox – dual FN (function) buttons. The top one functions like the typical “Focus Hold” button on Sony cameras, which will perform whatever function you have that button programmed to in camera (my current default is to switch between the different Eye AF options). The second button is going to be used more commonly for video functions, however, as when in manual focus mode it allows you to preset two focus positions and automatically switch between the two at the press of the button. This works in conjunction with the LCD screen on the top of the lens (more on that in a moment). You can preset the focus position by long pressing the FN 2 button, and then access the focus changes by short pressing it. I love having these two buttons, though I will add one minor criticism – the feel of the buttons isn’t great. They are a little vague and rubbery, and I find myself pushing them harder than what I would prefer. It’s a minor critique, however, as they work fine and add a lot of functionality to the lens.

Now to that LCD screen. The LCD functions in many ways like those found on the Zeiss Batis lenses, though with some improvements. The screen itself is nice and bright, allowing for good visibility even in bright conditions. It solves the problem of a distance scale (something missing on most mirrorless lenses), as it gives you a large font telling you the precise focus distance along with a distance scale above that. The bottom part of the screen gives you a readout of the current aperture, which is more useful if you are electing to not use the manual aperture ring and are controlling aperture from within the camera. It also gives you some information related to the function buttons however, with the Fn icon lighting up when the first Function Button is depressed, and then the A function lights up when you are presetting focus distances. There is a small green arrow that shows the current focus distance, and then you can preset the two desired focus distances which will be marked with a small orange arrow over the top of the both of them. There’s actually a lot of useful information on the LCD screen once you get familiar with how it is all being displayed.

The manual focus ring is made of metal with tight ribbing. It moves smoothly and with nice damping with roughly 210° of rotation. It does quite a good job of imitating true manual focus for a “focus-by-wire” lens.

We also have weather sealing on this lens that starts with a unique maroon-colored gasket at the lens mount along with other seal points through the lens.

This is an internally focusing lens, so there is nothing that moves where dust might intrude. There’s also an HD-Nano multilayer coating on the front element to help with water and fingerprint resistance, making the front element easier to clean. As always, however, “moisture-proof” does not mean “water-proof”, so don’t go crazy!

Viltrox continues with a trend that other lens makers are now imitating by including a USB-C port in the lens mount that allows you to do firmware updates right to the lens. I’m a fan of this approach, as it eliminates the need for a separate dock or lens station for firmware updates, and I find the process a little more intuitive than even doing firmware updates through the camera. This allows Viltrox to future proof their lenses and continue to improve them through firmware.

There is no image stabilization, so I relied on the IBIS in my Sony bodies. This worked just fine on a wide angle lens like this either for stills or video work.

There are nine rounded aperture blades inside, and the aperture iris stays reasonably round as the lens is stopped down, though this is hard to test on a lens with a very wide angle of view and a fairly big minimum focus distance.

One lingering Viltrox weakness remains, and that is in minimum focus and maximum magnification performance. MFD is 27cm (10.6″) and the resulting magnification is only 0.10x (is this the required magnification level for Viltrox lenses?)

On the plus side the up close performance is very strong even at F1.8 with good detail and contrast in the area of focus, though the plane of focus isn’t completely flat up close like that. You can still blur out backgrounds in some situations, but not really through getting particularly close to your subject.

The materials in the barrel design are very nice, with everything made of metal and nicely executed…with one exception. The lens hood is petal shaped and made of lightweight plastic, and frankly feels a little cheap compared to the rest of the lens (somewhat like many Fuji lenses). You can never quite know whether a Viltrox lens will have a metal or a plastic lens hood; they seem to switch between the two standards without much rhyme or reason. This lens is good enough to deserve the better lens hood! Also included is a pouch to store the lens is, though it doesn’t offer much protection.

Beyond those few weaknesses, however, this is a very nicely executed package. The lens feels high quality in the hands, and it handles nicely as well. I’ve genuinely enjoyed using it and love to see all of the progress from Viltrox in the lens design area.

Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8 STM Autofocus Performance

The Viltrox 16mm is equipped with a Lead Screw-type STM (stepping motor), which is the better of the two different STM designs. I prefer Linear over STM, but this is a well executed STM motor, delivering fast, silent, and accurate autofocus results. Focus changes were not quite as instant as some of the Sony configurations with multiple Linear motors, but focus speed here is within a fraction of a second of that. All focus is internal, so the overall length of the lens remains consistent during use. Accuracy with still subjects was consistently good – accurate focus shows off the strong optics here.

Eye AF results were good with animal subjects, even if they were in the process of moving.

My focus accuracy on this strongly backlit leaf was very good as well.

I did use the lens in a portrait setting, and focus worked quite well, though with one caveat: wide angle lenses don’t really work with Eye AF unless you are fairly close. It has nothing to do with this Viltrox lens, per se, but is just the reality of a very wide angle of view where the eye doesn’t occupy a large enough area of the frame to be detected. In fact, move out beyond 7 or 8 meters and a face isn’t even large enough. I wanted to see the Eye AF box more during my portrait session (I’m used to seeing it!), but the actual results were well focused.

Video AF was also good. My focus pulls were smooth and accurate, and I heard no audible focus sounds. A standout to me was the extremely low focus breathing, with size of objects staying consistent. This helps focus changes be very smooth and the only indication of focus changes being what happens to be in focus at the time.

My “hand test” where I put my hand out to block my face and then remove it to allow focus snap back to the eye went very well. Focus quickly transitioned to my hand and was nearly instantly back to my eye without anything abrupt. I saw no focus hunting or pulsing in any of my video tests.

You can add these strong video AF performances to the video-specific features this lens already has. This is not a bad option at all for someone wanting a very wide angle lens to do video with. It also has relatively low distortion, making this a tempting option for someone who wants to shoot interiors or real estate photography/videography. Real world distortion, even without correction, is not bad at all.

I walked away impressed following my focus tests. Viltrox has really refined their autofocus motors and that helps this lens feel very competitive with what I would expect from, say, a current Sigma lens. That’s impressive from a company that just started doing autofocus four years ago.

Viltrox 16mm F1.8 Image Quality

We have a fairly complex optical formula of 15 elements in 12 groups, and that includes 7 exotic elements (either aspherical or ED low dispersion elements). The MTF chart shows extremely strong center perofrmance, good mid-frame, and only a slight dip towards the corners. By F8 the results range from about 83% sharpness in the center to 77% in the extreme corners – a very, very flat (consistent) sharpness profile that is exceptionally good for a wide angle lens. Sigma’s recent 20mm F1.4 DN | ART lens is one the best large aperture wide angle lenses I’ve tested and the Viltrox 16mm is very close to being as sharp despite having a much wide focal length. In fact, the Viltrox 16mm is sharper all across the frame at F1.8 than the $3000 Zeiss 15mm F2.8 Distagon was at F2.8 – and the Zeiss was best wide angle prime you could get a decade ago. That’s serious progress!

I started reviewing Viltrox lenses right at the beginning, and at first I was less than impressed by the optical glass when it came to colors. I never felt colors were as natural as the better lenses, and as a result I felt like they quickly got garish when pushed at all. But about the time of the release of their 13mm F1.4 for APS-C I felt like Viltrox turned a corner, and that was furthered with the release of the 75mm F1.2. I see the same (positive) trend here, where colors feel natural and are easy to process without getting unpleasant results. I liked the look of images from this lens.

Another historical point of weakness for Viltrox lenses is that they often exhibited some noticeable LoCA (longitudinal chromatic aberrations), but again, the trend has been in the right direction. That trend continues here, with only the mildest amount of fringing visible even in demanding situations.

I’m also satisfied with the control of LaCA (lateral chromatic aberrations) that typically show up along the edges of the frame with high contrast transition points. Here we can see that even at F8 there is essentially a perfect transition from black to white near the edge of my test chart.

I also found no fringing in real world images along the edges of the frame – the transitions from branches or leaves to sky are clean here.

If we move on to vignette and distortion we find the biggest optical weaknesses, though they aren’t extreme. There is relatively little distortion though what is there isn’t very linear. My manual corrections did about as much harm as good, as correcting the bit of barrel distortion with a +2 produced a bit of pincushion distortion in the edges. For most real world images the amount of distortion is so mild that you are better off leaving it uncorrected. Vignette is heavier, requiring a +80 to correct (a good three stops in the corners).

The vignette is a little heavy enough that it will give a “look” to certain images if left uncorrected, so you’ll have to decide what you prefer. Here’s a look at an image where I’ve done some manual correction of the vignette on the right compared to the original on the left. Which do you prefer?

Nothing that is a deal breaker here. I’ve seen much worse vignette from a number of wide angle lenses, and that vignette is a small price to pay for being able to retain a flat front element and the ability to use traditional filters.

We’ll move on to inspecting our test chart. This test has been done on a 50MP Sony Alpha 1 sensor. I use a high end tripod and two second camera delay to ensure vibration doesn’t affect images. Here’s a look at the test chart that we will examine at high magnification:

If we take a look at crops (at about 170%) at F1.2 from the center, mid-frame, and lower right corner, we find that center and mid-frame performance is fantastic with the corners only lagging a little behind.

Real world results are impressive even wide open, with great sharpness and detail:

This is a lens that allows for landscape shots even at F1.8:

That adds up to a very useful lens for night photography in the city or low light situations. You can trust on getting sharp images even at large apertures, which is (to me), kind of the point of having a large aperture in a wide angle lens. I typically will stop down even a sharp lens for landscape purposes because I want a deeper depth of field, but in low light situations I prefer staying with large apertures to be able to keep the ISO down and get cleaner images. I went out after sunset and still could get clean results because the lens was sucking in a lot of light. That’s useful!

A large aperture also gives you the opportunity to play with depth of field a bit. In this series I framed the lighthouse with the budding tree and first focused on the lighthouse and then on the foreground tree. Two different points of focus tell two different stories.

Stopping down to F2 improves contrast a bit (particularly in the corners), and stopping on down to F2.8 makes those corners very sharp:

To give you an idea of how sharp that actually is, here’s a comparison with the high end Sony 14mm F1.8 G Master:

The Viltrox isn’t just sharper in the corners, but at F2.8 it is sharper everywhere else in the frame, too. I found a similar result at F1.8, too. This Viltrox is impressive!

By traditional landscape apertures the lens is razor sharp across the frame even on this high resolution body. Here’s a real world photo at F5.6 with a center and edge crop to show you detail.

It was one of those lenses that just repeatedly delighted me with the crisp detail in photos whether using my 33MP a7IV or 50MP Alpha 1. This is a landscape lens that works well with Sony’s high resolution bodies because it will give you deep cropping ability due to the detail holding up well. I could start with this shot:

…and then deeply crop to this and still have a very credible shot with a native resolution of right under 2500 pixels in both directions.

That does help a bit with the low maximum magnification, as having good detail even at F1.8 means that I can do a deep crop from a close-up shot and have a more compelling image out it, like here (still at slightly over 12MP of resolution):

A 16mm lens is hardly going to be a bokeh machine, but the quality of the bokeh as evidenced by the crop above isn’t bad. The wide aperture allows for reasonably shallow depth of field and some defocused area, even when shooting on a tree like the lovely plum blossoms here.

I could emphasize the “lily-of-the-valley” on the forest floor here:

Which makes for a nice companion shot to a “big picture” shot like this.

Here’s another “bokeh shot” that shows of the various depth of field layers beyond the lilac blossoms in focus here.

While the foreground does not get completely blurred away in this portrait shot at F1.8, the depth of field is shallow enough to allow the eye to be drawn to the subject rather than the environment.

I did this review in the latter part of May, which means we are only a month from the summer solstice. It stays light late here in Canada at this point of the year, so not the best time for astrophotography. I was able to get a decent night, however, and I found that coma performance was pretty good. Star points are nice and crisp in the center of the frame, and the final crop was the worst I could find near the corner where there is a bit of coma smear. My crop is near 200%, however, so you won’t see it even this badly under normal conditions.

The bright F1.8 aperture and wide angle of view will make this a very tempting option for doing astro or nighttime city work, and the low coma will certainly help.

In the past I haven’t found Viltrox color rendition to be top tier, but I’m convinced that Viltrox has improved their optical glass. Colors looked generally pleasing to me.

I shot the Viltrox alongside the Sony FE 50mm F1.4 G Master for this portrait session, and colors looked pretty consistent between the two lenses. The first and last shot in the series are from the Viltrox, with a Sony shot in between.

Flare resistance is fairly good but not perfect. At wide apertures (the ones without a defined sunburst effect), there is little flare artifacts. I saw a bit more ghosting at smaller apertures (like F11), though the sunburst effect from the 9 aperture blades.

Overall, I think the flare resistance is quite good for a wide angle lens. I’ve seen better, but most wide angle lenses are worse than this, particularly when you consider how wide the maximum aperture is. This is a lens that can produce a lot of great looking images…even if the sun is in the frame.

All told, the optical performance of the Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8 is pretty special. I don’t think that I could point to wide angle prime lens that is offering better bang for the buck. A zoom lens like the Tamron 17-28mm or Sigma 16-28mm zoom lenses offer more versatility in terms of the focal length, but both have a much smaller maximum aperture, cost more (about $350!), and have more optical flaws. This is a lot of lens for $549, particularly when you consider its benefits for video as well. This is easily Viltrox’s best full frame lens too date, and the list of optical strengths in my opinion far outweigh the list of optical flaws. You can check out more photos by visiting the image gallery here.

Conclusion

I’ve told some people recently that Viltrox is almost scary in how good they are getting so quickly, and they manage to do while keeping the price down. A lens as good as the Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8 at this kind of price point has the potential to be a serious market disrupter, and there is no glaring flaw that I’ve seen. Viltrox has continued to level up year by year, and the Viltrox AF 16mm is now very close to the standard that the best lenses on the platform aspire to.

Viltrox has added enough actual functionality into the LCD screen on the lens that it doesn’t feel gimmicky, and some of the new features make this a compelling option for video work. I also love the fact that they managed to keep traditional filter threads on the lens, making doing long exposure work easy. I used the NISI V7 filter system that I reviewed here for this shot because it allowed for some easy stacking, but using any 77mm filter would work as well.

It would actually be difficult for me to suggest an alternative to this lens that could compete with its performance and features at this price. The Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8 is going to be a disruptor on whatever platform it comes to because it checks so many boxes and at such a compelling price point. Viltrox has leveled up once again, and it makes me excited to see what they’ll accomplish in the future.

Pros:

Next level build quality
Very feature rich
Weather sealed
Unique LCD screen useful
Retains traditional filters
STM focus motor quick and accurate
Little focus breathing
Excellent sharpness at F1.8
Excellent control of aberrations
Very little distortion
Good color
Good coma performance
USB port for firmware updates
Amazing price to performance ratio

Cons:

Vignette a little heavy
Lens hood is flimsy
Low maximum magnification

Gear Used:

Purchase the Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8 @ Viltrox (use code DUSTINABBOTT for 8% off) | B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK

Purchase the Sony a7RV @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Sony Canada | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK

Purchase the Sony a7IV @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

Purchase the Sony Alpha 1 @ Camera Canada | B&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Want to support this channel? Use these affiliate links to shop at: B&H Photo | Amazon | | Camera Canada | Ebay | Make a donation via Paypal

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Adobe Photoshop Creative Cloud 1-Year Subscription
Get a discount off all Skylum Editing Software (Luminar, Aurora HDR, AirMagic) by using code DUSTINHDR at checkout:
Visit Dustin’s Amazon Storefront and see his favorite gear

Purchasing your gear through B&H and these links helps fund this website and keeps the articles coming. You can also make a donation here if you would like. Visit my Amazon page for some of my gear of choice! Thank you for your support.

Receive a 5% discount on all purchases at Amplis Foto, Canada’s Leading Photographic Supplier. Please enter discount code: AMPLIS52018DA in your cart. It is good for everything in your cart, and is stackable with other coupons, too! It will take 5% off your entire order! Proceeds go towards keeping this site going and providing you with new reviews!

Use Code “DUSTINHDR” to get $10 off ($15 CDN) any Skylum product: Luminar, Aurora, or AirMagic

Keywords: Viltrox, Viltrox AF, Viltrox 16mm, Wide Angle, Full Frame, F1.8, f/1.8, STM, Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8, Viltrox 16mm Review, Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8 Review, E-mount, LCD. Sony, Sony Alpha 1, Sony a7RV, Sony a7IV, Dustin Abbott, Tracking, Hands On, Video Test, Sharpness, Autofocus, Build, Real World, Letthelightin, DA

DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8 FE Image Gallery

Dustin Abbott

May 31st, 2023

Viltrox has been crushing it. The last two lenses from them that I reviewed were designed for APS-C, including the Viltrox AF 13mm F1.4 STM, a lens I considered perhaps their best yet in my review. That was, until the next lens, the Viltrox AF 75mm F1.2 STM for Fuji X-mount, which took Viltrox to a whole other level. The 13mm largely followed the previous Viltrox formula, but with improved performance and better optical glass. The 75mm added all kinds of features, including weather sealing and improved physical controls while also delivering perhaps the finest optical performance I’ve seen from a short telephoto lens designed for APS-C. My excitement for Viltrox lenses has definitely increased…and their latest has only fueled that enthusiasm. They have returned to the full frame space, and their newest lens is a premium wide angle prime that delivers in every way. The Sony E-mount Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8 delivers features and performance that feels much like a Sony G Master lens.

Viltrox has added a host of features to the new 16mm, including weather sealing, the option to declick the aperture, two custom function buttons (more on that later), and, in a feature not seen since the Zeiss Batis series, an LCD screen on the lens that serves a variety of purposes.

But the lens does not just impress on a feature level. This is a very wide angle lens (105.6° angle of view) that also happens to have a larger than average maximum aperture of F1.8 – that’s 1 1/3rd stop faster than the typical F2.8 zoom that covers this focal length. It manages to do this while retaining a moderate size (103mm in length) and weight (550g) while delivering an exceptional optical performance.

The Viltrox 16mm does not carry their new “Pro” badge, but frankly it feels like it should. This is a professional grade lens in both features and performance and will easily be perceived as being a very strong value. The MSRP as it comes to market is $549 USD (though if you buy it from the Viltrox store and use code DUSTINABBOTT you can get 8% any Viltrox product, including this lens), which makes this lens an absolute bargain. If you want more information, please check out my definitive video review or read the text review here…or just enjoy the photos below.

Thanks to Viltrox for sending me an evaluation copy of the 16mm F1.8. As always, this is a completely independent review. *The tests and most of the photos that I share as a part of my review cycle have been done with the Sony a7IV along with the Sony Alpha 1 which will serve as my benchmark camera for the foreseeable future (my review here).

Images of the Viltrox 16mm F1.8

Images from the Viltrox 16mm F1.8

Gear Used:

Purchase the Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8 @ Viltrox (use code DUSTINABBOTT for 8% off) | B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK

Purchase the Sony a7RV @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Sony Canada | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK

Purchase the Sony a7IV @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

Purchase the Sony Alpha 1 @ Camera Canada | B&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Want to support this channel? Use these affiliate links to shop at: B&H Photo | Amazon | | Camera Canada | Ebay | Make a donation via Paypal

Buy DA Merchandise https://bit.ly/TWIMerch

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Adobe Photoshop Creative Cloud 1-Year Subscription
Get a discount off all Skylum Editing Software (Luminar, Aurora HDR, AirMagic) by using code DUSTINHDR at checkout:
Visit Dustin’s Amazon Storefront and see his favorite gear

Purchasing your gear through B&H and these links helps fund this website and keeps the articles coming. You can also make a donation here if you would like. Visit my Amazon page for some of my gear of choice! Thank you for your support.

Receive a 5% discount on all purchases at Amplis Foto, Canada’s Leading Photographic Supplier. Please enter discount code: AMPLIS52018DA in your cart. It is good for everything in your cart, and is stackable with other coupons, too! It will take 5% off your entire order! Proceeds go towards keeping this site going and providing you with new reviews!

Use Code “DUSTINHDR” to get $10 off ($15 CDN) any Skylum product: Luminar, Aurora, or AirMagic

Keywords: Viltrox, Viltrox AF, Viltrox 16mm, Wide Angle, Full Frame, F1.8, f/1.8, STM, Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8, Viltrox 16mm Review, Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8 Review, E-mount, LCD. Sony, Sony Alpha 1, Sony a7RV, Sony a7IV, Dustin Abbott, Tracking, Hands On, Video Test, Sharpness, Autofocus, Build, Real World, Letthelightin, DA

DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Tamron 35-150mm F2-2.8 VXD: Travel Worthy?

Dustin Abbott

January 6th, 2022

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. 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:

I was extremely positive about the Tamron 35-150mm in my initial review, though I concluded that I viewed it more as a supremely versatile event and portrait lens rather than a travel lens. I continued to get a lot of questions about the 35-150 as a travel lens, though, so I thought I would put it to the test as my primary lens for a recent trip to Arizona (Scottsdale/Phoenix area). I supplemented it with the compact Samyang/Rokinon 24mm F1.8 for wider angle shots, and I chronicled my findings in this video:

This gallery allows you to see the different types of photos that I was able to take with the lens while traveling. The lens is heavier and larger than optimal for a travel lens, but the versatility of the focal range and the aperture range allowed me to shoot a variety of different genres with great results.

The photos shown here are from a retail copy of the lens that I purchased from Tamron. 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).

Action

Portraits

Family and Candids

Landscapes and Nature

Gear Used:

Purchase the Tamron 35-150mm F2-2.8 VXD @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amplis Foto (Canada) (use code AMPLIS52018DA for 5% off) | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

Purchase the Sony Alpha 1 @ Camera Canada | B&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Purchase a Sony a9M2 @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Sony a9 Camera: B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay
Sony a7RIV Camera: B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Buy DA Merchandise https://bit.ly/TWIMerch

Purchase a Sony a7C @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Peak Design Leash Strap: Peak Design Store | B&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK

Adobe Photoshop Creative Cloud 1-Year Subscription
Exposure Software X6 (Use Code “dustinabbott” to get 10% anything and everything)
Visit Dustin’s Amazon Storefront and see his favorite gear

Purchasing your gear through B&H and these links helps fund this website and keeps the articles coming. You can also make a donation here if you would like. Visit my Amazon page for some of my gear of choice! Thank you for your support.

Great News! I can now offer a 5% discount on all purchases at Amplis Foto, Canada’s Leading Photographic Supplier. Please enter discount code: AMPLIS52018DA in your cart. It is good for everything in your cart, and is stackable with other coupons, too! It will take 5% off your entire order! Proceeds go towards keeping this site going and providing you with new reviews!

Keywords: Tamron 35-150, Tamron 35-150mm, Tamron 35-150mm F2-2.8, Tamron 35-150mm Review, Review, VXD, withmytamron, A058, F2-2.8, 18-300mm, Di-III, Sony, E-mount, Tamron 35-150 Review, Sony Alpha 1, Sony a7RIV, Sony a6600, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Photography, Travel, Astrophotography, Let the Light In, Travel, Arizona, USA, Southwest, Sonoran Desert

DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 Di III VXD G2 (A063) Review

Dustin Abbott

November 8th, 2021

Tamron’s first full frame lens for Sony mirrorless, the Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 RXD was an unqualified success. I lauded it in my review, as, although the lens was fairly plain in terms of build and features, it had excellent autofocus, very good optics, and a very reasonable price…not to mention a very reasonable size. The only real competitor back in June of 2018 was the very large and very expensive Sony FE 24-70mm F2.8 G Master, and, when I directly compared the two lenses, I found some give and take in their performance. The Tamron was very, very close in many ways, and that made it a huge critical and commercial success. It enjoyed a period for well over a year where it was the best selling lens in the world! That’s a huge success on every level. I’ve owned and used a copy of that lens (known internally as the A036), and it has held up very well and performed great for me over that time. But in late 2021 Tamron has decided to up their game even higher with the Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 Di III VXD G2, internally known as the A063, which we’ll refer to it as for brevity in this review. I got very excited when I looked up and down the announcement from Tamron, as they improved the lens in basically every way while essentially not changing the price. That makes for an unqualified success, and the new A063 along with the Tamron 35-150mm F2-2.8 Di III VXD (my review here), are some of the finest lenses Tamron has ever made. The A063 is going to be one of the nicest standard zooms ever…and at a price point of only $899 USD, it is a tremendous bargain relative to the performance.

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). G2 refers to this being a “Second Generation” lens, much like other companies refer to a MK II. VXD refers to the focus motor employed here (Voice-coil eXtreme-torque Drive), which is currently Tamron’s most premium autofocus system, and, in this case, Tamron claims that the focus speed is twice as fast as that on the A036 and its RXD focus motor. It is definitely essentially instantaneous in a wide variety of focus conditions.

Tamron has improved the build, the features, the optics, and the autofocus, all while not charging us any more to do this. They’ve even increased the magnification and shaved off a bit of weight. In essence, they’ve taken a winning formula that we loved because of its blend of performance and price in the A036 (and because of these things were willing to look over the shortcomings) and have polished and improved the formula into a truly awesome end result.

Prepare for this to be a little more glowing a review than usual, because Tamron has given us so much more while charging us nothing more (+$20 USD).

This lens is a winner, and in this review I’ll explore why that is along with providing a number of comparisons to the original lens. You can check out my thoughts as to whether or not the A063 should be on your radar in either the long format definitive or standard video review below…or just keep reading.

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).

A063 Build, Handling, and Features

The A063 essentially looks and feels like an upscale version of the previous generation lens. The overall dimensions are very similar, and both Tamrons fall in between the two most comparable Sigma products (the 28-70mm F2.8 and 24-70mm F2.8). The first chart shows a direct comparison between the two Tamrons, while the second comparison shows the Sigma products as well.

Neither of the Sigma lenses are perfect comparisons, as neither has the exact same focal range. The most compact lens of the group is the Sigma 28-70mm, a lens that I liked but felt was lacking even compared to the A036, so unless small and light is your chief priority, the new Tamron 28-75 G2 is an easy winner to me. I would say the same in general for the 24-70mm Sigma, which is considerably larger and more expensive, but some might still want to consider that lens because it does go to 24mm (though with a whopping amount of barrel distortion there). If 28mm is wide enough for you, it is going to be hard to bet against the A063, as it is going to be the winner in terms of focus and optical performance.

The new A063 has a slightly different profile than the A036, with a more sculpted look to it along with a new finish that is both shinier and more resistant to fingerprints and scratching. It also gives at least the feel of being less plasticky in build. The new lens is a bit wider (75.8 vs 73mm) but is a fraction shorter and 10g lighter. You might also note from the first photo that Tamron has redesigned the rear lens cap to be to more low profile and a better fit for the Sony aesthetic (the older caps were similar to their DSLR mount designs).

As noted in Tamron’s little diagram of the differences between the two lenses, the redesigned rings are night and day better than the old ones. The manual focus ring, in particular, has a much better feel (thicker, more rubberized surface) and also much better damping in the actual focus action. I did manual focus for some of my tests, and there was a noticeable difference in the quality of focus using the new lens.

Likewise the feel and action of the zoom ring is also improved. The zoom ring is located near the front of the lens, and the zoom ring feels much better in the hand and the zoom action feels more precise. It’s worth noting that the new A063 extends about a 7mm less when zoomed to 75mm, which surprised me a bit.

Tamron has continued to improve its weather sealing in recent lenses, and that trend continues with the 28-75 G2. We’ve got a slightly thicker rear gasket, a few additional inner seals (up to about 8), and there is a fluorine coating on the front element.

One of those weather sealed bits is a new feature in the form of USB-C port that works in harmony with the new focus hold button. The USB-C port allows you to directly connect the lens to your computer and utilize a new free piece of software from Tamron called “Tamron Lens Utility” (click here to visit Tamron’s page for the software). This allows you to easily and directly load firmware updates, but, more importantly, you can program a variety of different functions to the focus hold/set button. One I like is the ability to use it like an AF/MF switch or to control the behavior of the focus ring (you can switch between it functioning like an aperture ring and focus ring).

Some other nice tweaks include the ability to change the direction of the focus ring, the distance of the focus throw, and whether you want it to function in a linear or nonlinear fashion. This will help for video, as does the ability to tweak the behavior of focus pulls (you can change speed or even program a preset focus pull). All of this really adds to the functionality of the lens.

Also improved is the MFD distance at both ends of the zoom range. You can get one centimeter closer on either the wide (18cm) or telephoto (38cm) ends, which improves the magnification on the wide end to 1:2.7, or 0.37x. The telephoto end (oddly) actually gets a fraction worse (0.24x vs 0.25x).

Here’s a series of comparisons that show 28mm magnification compared, then 75mm, then a pixel level comparison between the two at 75mm:

To my eye, I don’t see that the A063 has any lower magnification at 75mm. What I do see, however, is a huge improvement in clarity and contrast at MFD. It’s easy to get gorgeous close-up shots with the A063. Just look at the detail in the crop from this close up at 75mm:

Magnification is of course even higher when you shoot at 28mm, allowing for some very unique images.

We retain the 67mm front filter thread shared by so many of the Tamron lenses on Sony.

The aperture iris continues to have 9 rounded blades that work fine for retaining a circular shape through F5.6, after which you’ll see a bit of the blades.

The 28-75 G2 retains all the strengths of the first generation lens (reasonably compact and light, inexpensive), while adding a host of new features and improvements. This is now a more premium lens in build and handling along with performance.

Tamron 28-75mm VXD G2 Focus and Video Performance

As noted in the intro, Tamron has given the A063 their premium focus system, the Voice-coil eXtreme-torque Drive (VXD), which is a high end linear focus motor. They claim that this gives you roughly twice as much focus speed as the RXD focus motor found on the first generation lens.

Now, to be fair, I never had any real disappointments in the first generation lens’ focus. There was a bit of a YouTube flap over some focus issue that I was never able to recreate, and I’ve used the lens near daily for over three years with excellent results for both stills and video. I’ve filmed over one hundred videos with it, and it has always delivered stable, effective results. As a byproduct, I can’t say that I noticed some kind of night and day difference between the two lenses, but I can say that autofocus is excellent in the A063. VXD introduces higher torque into the focus motor, which gives it even more speed and reliablity. I got accurately focused results in a number of different environments, including very low light. This shot was taken at ISO 6400 and still only achieved a 1/50th shutter speed, and yet you can see that focus grabbed very accurately on Loki’s face:

I’ve used it some in a church environment (more like ISO 1600 range), and eye detect and general autofocus was impeccable.

Even when focusing extremely close (these mushrooms are tiny – maybe about the size of a quarter), I got accurately focused results.

Standard zooms will often be used as an event and portrait lens, and it certainly worked beautifully well when people were in the frame. I did a little portrait session with my youngest son, and eye detect just nailed focus again and again:

I didn’t have any misses during the portrait session despite shooting at a variety of distances and while introducing various foreground objects into the equation.

Autofocus also worked well even when I shot into very strongly backlit situations.

I did a video test where I moved towards at the camera, in and out, at various speeds, and the focus system did a good job of tracking my eye. I used the A063 to record a few of my video segments, and focus was solid and reliable. Likewise in my video focus pull tests, focus pulls were smooth and silent. I saw a roughly average amount of focus breathing; subjects change size to some degree but not in an exaggerated sense.

Real world focus results were excellent, and I have nothing negative to report on this front. Tamron’s VXD focus motor is excellent; it revivals the high end linear motors found in the Sony G-Master series, and focus reliability is just as good. The only focus limitation is a Sony restriction; third party lenses achieve only a limit of 15 FPS burst rate. That’s a non-issue with most Sony bodies, but slightly lower than the maximum on the a9 bodies (20 FPS possible) or the Alpha 1 (30 FPS possible). This is unlikely to be used seriously for sports, though, so it is probably not a real issue.

Tamron A063 Image Quality Breakdown

My eyes popped a bit when I saw the MTF charts for the A063. The first generation lens competed very well with the Sony 24-70mm F2.8 GM lens across their shared focal range in my real world tests, but the new optical formula of 17 elements in 15 groups on the G2 lens dramatically improves on the older lens, as seen in the comparison of MTF charts below. You can also see how well the MTF charts look in comparison to the Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 DN ART, which is probably the chief competitor to the A063.

The sharpness profile is unusually flat, with only a bit of drop-off in the extreme corner at 28mm, and almost no drop-off anywhere at 75mm, where the sharpness profile stays at almost 90% all across the frame. That’s impressive, and you can see the real world results reflect that stunningly good sharpness and contrast. Look at how much “pop” is in this image when viewed at 100% in the crop below.

So let’s dive into the technical side of things with a look at vignette and distortion at 28mm, F2.8:

One of the advantages of not going as wide as 24mm in a zoom is the ability to better control distortion on the wide end. I needed only a +6 to correct the barrel distortion; the Sigma 24-70 DN required a +21 under the same circumstance and delivered a much less clean correction. There is a moderate amount of vignette (+55 to correct). That’s about two stops in the corners, so fairly easy to correct for. Profile corrections in camera (JPEG or video) or in software (RAW files) will correct things painlessly.

At roughly 50mm the distortion flips to pincushion (-8 to correct) while the vignette diminishes (+41 to correct). The distortion and vignette are linear and clear up nicely.

Finally, at 75mm, distortion is about the same (-8) while vignette is slightly less (+37 to correct). I will point out that pincushion distortion is far preferable in a portrait oriented lens as it tends to make features slimmer.

No real issues here. Distortion and vignette are both fairly well controlled relative to other standard zooms. There’s nothing here that will cause any real damage to images.

I also give good marks for the control of chromatic aberrations. In most real world images I saw no fringing, though I saw a slight bit of green fringing in this image of a shiny old Pentax with bright lights shined on it.

I looked for lateral chromatic aberrations on my charts, and just didn’t see them. The edges have clean transitions from dark to light…and those blacks are inky dark!

I did spot some purple fringing on some bare branches at the top of this image, however (the most common scenario for me to actually see real world LaCA).

A quick correction with the chromatic aberration sampling tool took care of that, but there is obviously a few situations where you might see a bit of fringing. Nothing extreme, but they aren’t perfectly banished, either.

Overall these are good results in sum, however, and this points towards a promising optical performance in terms of sharpness and contrast. Here’s my test chart.

Crops and comparisons are shown at 200% and are from the 50 MP sensor of my Sony Alpha 1. Here’s a look at 28mm, F2.8, with crops from the center, mid-frame, and bottom right corner:

F2.8 results are essentially perfect across the frame. There is only the tiniest drop-off in the corners, and textures are crisp across the frame even at 200%. It is entirely possible to shoot real world landscapes at F2.8, as you can see that both the center and edge of the frame are nice and crisp.

A wide open portrait at F2.8 and 28mm looks extremely crisp at 100%:

There is only a little bit more to be gained when stopping down, mostly a bit more contrast that is mostly realized in the corners:

So how much better is this than the older lens? Well, about this much:

It’s not this extreme everywhere in the frame, but the excellent sharpness profile right into the corners is the main advantage here.

At 35mm the center is fabulous and the corners are good but not quite as good as at 35mm.

Corners sharpen up more as you stop down, so choose somewhere around F5.6 for peak landscape sharpness.

50mm results are roughly the same:

Real world portrait results at 50mm are fantastic even at F2.8:

At 75mm the crops across the frame look excellent once again.

If we compare back to the A036 we can see just how much better contrast is even in the center of the frame. Textures look cleaner and brighter.

It is the improved contrast in general that stands out to me in my tests. Look at how excellent the contrast is on these chain links at 75mm, F2.8:

More challenging is that bright bark in the sun, and yet textures look great (again at 75mm, F2.8):

This lens is impressively good, and, like the excellent 35-150mm F2-2.8 released at the same time from Tamron, I’m very impressed by the overall “pop” of images:

Another area of improvement is that I feel that skintones are more neutral. The A036 tended slightly towards warmer, slightly more yellow skintones, but you can see more refinement between the two in this comparison (along with at extra contrast around the eyes and lips).

Some real improvements, obviously.

I also think that bokeh is somewhat improved. There is less of tendency toward outlining of bokeh circles that showed up at 75mm on the old lens. I found the quality of the bokeh rendering to be quite good from the A063:

You can see that the bokeh is less “jittery” on the G2 vs the G1 lens. It’s smoother and more pleasing:

I found flare resistance to be good in general on the A063, and the sunburst effect looks quite nice at smaller apertures, too:

This shot was the most egregious example of flaring I could get, and it was a very challenging scene (extremely bright sun):

A bit of ghosting there, though contrast remained excellent.

Coma performance was fairly good, too, with just a bit of elongating of stars near the edges but little to no “wings” on them:

All told, that’s a lot of awesome in the optics department. The previous generation lens was very good for its price; the A063 is just good, period. Check out the image gallery here if you’d like to see even more photos than I can fit in the review.

Conclusion

The Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 Di III VXD G2 is essentially fan service. Consumers made the original A036 a huge commercial success, and Tamron has rewarded us by giving us a huge upgrade to this lens while essentially retaining the same price ($899 USD). Basically everything is improved, from the build to the features to the autofocus to the optics. The A063 is now a professional grade lens in basically every detail. No, it doesn’t quite have the same set of features as the G Master lens, but now it isn’t far behind.

The fact that the lens doesn’t go to 24mm will still be a sticking point for some potential buyers, but if you think you can handle only going as wide as 28mm, there really isn’t a comparable lens out there. This is a far better lens than, say, the Sigma 28-70mm F2.8 DN, and the two lenses have the same retail price. There’s a “magic” to the rendering from the new lens that makes it just feel a lot more special.

The new lens feels great in the hands. It feels more upscale while managing to be even lighter, more substantial while actually being less so. That has a lot to do with the new physical sculpting, superior rings, and nicer finish. Add to this optics that have great saturation, sharpness, and contrast, and you have a true winner. Right now both the A036 and A063 are both available side by side for only $20 difference in price, but I suspect that Tamron will probably faze the A036 out, though they might move it down to a lower price point. That doesn’t seem to have been the trend in the past with Tamron lenses, though, so I suspect that in six months we’ll only see the G2 on the shelves. Now comes a hard question for the many, many people that bought the A036: sell it and upgrade, or just be content with what they have. The sheer excellence of the A063 is going to make the latter choice a very hard one to make…

Pros:

Vastly improved build and handling
New USB-C port and Focus Set button improvements are great
Advanced weather sealing with 8 seal points
Fluorine coating
New finish and lens sculpting attractive
Powerful VXD focus motor
Quick and quiet autofocus
Strong optical performance throughout zoom range
Exceptional contrast and “pop” to images
Excellent control of chromatic aberrations
Very high levels of magnification
Nice looking (improved) bokeh
No real price increase over first gen lens

Cons:

Some will find that 28mm isn’t wide enough
A bit of fringing in difficult situations

Gear Used:

Purchase the Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 VXD G2 @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Amplis Foto (use code AMPLIS52018DA for 5% off) | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

Purchase the Tamron 35-150mm F2-2.8 VXD @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amplis Foto (Canada) (use code AMPLIS52018DA for 5% off) | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

Purchase the Sony Alpha 1 @ Camera Canada | B&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Purchase a Sony a9M2 @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Sony a9 Camera: B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay
Sony a7RIV Camera: B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Buy DA Merchandise https://bit.ly/TWIMerch

Purchase a Sony a7C @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Peak Design Leash Strap: Peak Design Store | B&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK

Adobe Photoshop Creative Cloud 1-Year Subscription
Exposure Software X6 (Use Code “dustinabbott” to get 10% anything and everything)
Visit Dustin’s Amazon Storefront and see his favorite gear

Purchasing your gear through B&H and these links helps fund this website and keeps the articles coming. You can also make a donation here if you would like. Visit my Amazon page for some of my gear of choice! Thank you for your support.

Great News! I can now offer a 5% discount on all purchases at Amplis Foto, Canada’s Leading Photographic Supplier. Please enter discount code: AMPLIS52018DA in your cart. It is good for everything in your cart, and is stackable with other coupons, too! It will take 5% off your entire order! Proceeds go towards keeping this site going and providing you with new reviews!

Keywords: Tamron 28-75, Tamron 28-75mm G2, Tamron 28-75mm 2.8 G2, Tamron 28-75 G2 Review, Review, G2, VXD, withmytamron, A063, 2.8, 28-75mm, Di-III, Sony, E-mount, Tamron 28-75mm G2 Review, Sony Alpha 1, Sony a7RIV, Sony a6600, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Photography, Travel, Astrophotography, Let the Light In, Autumn, Canada

DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 VXD G2 Image Gallery

Dustin Abbott

November 8th, 2021

Tamron’s first full frame lens for Sony mirrorless, the Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 RXD was an unqualified success. I lauded it in my review, as, although the lens was fairly plain in terms of build and features, it had excellent autofocus, very good optics, and a very reasonable price…not to mention a very reasonable size. The only real competitor back in June of 2018 was the very large and very expensive Sony FE 24-70mm F2.8 G Master, and, when I directly compared the two lenses, I found some give and take in their performance. The Tamron was very, very close in many ways, and that made it a huge critical and commercial success. It enjoyed a period for well over a year where it was the best selling lens in the world! That’s a huge success on every level. I’ve owned and used a copy of that lens (known internally as the A036), and it has held up very well and performed great for me over that time. But in late 2021 Tamron has decided to up their game even higher with the Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 Di III VXD G2, internally known as the A063. I got very excited when I looked up and down the announcement from Tamron, as they improved the lens in basically every way while essentially not changing the price. That makes for an unqualified success, and the new A063 along with the Tamron 35-150mm F2-2.8 Di III VXD (my review here), are some of the finest lenses Tamron has ever made. The 28-75mm VXD is going to be one of the nicest standard zooms ever…and at a price point of only $899 USD, it is a tremendous bargain relative to the performance.

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). G2 refers to this being a “Second Generation” lens, much like other companies refer to a MK II. VXD refers to the focus motor employed here (Voice-coil eXtreme-torque Drive), which is currently Tamron’s most premium autofocus system, and, in this case, Tamron claims that the focus speed is twice as fast as that on the A036 and its RXD focus motor. It is definitely essentially instantaneous in a wide variety of focus conditions.

Tamron has improved the build, the features, the optics, and the autofocus, all while not charging us any more to do this. They’ve even increased the magnification and shaved off a bit of weight. In essence, they’ve taken a winning formula that we loved because of its blend of performance and price in the A036 (and because of these things were willing to look over the shortcomings) and have polished and improved the formula into a truly awesome end result.

I’m very, very positive about the 28-75mm VXD because Tamron has given us so much more while charging us essentially nothing more (+$20 USD).

This lens is a winner. You can check out my thoughts as to whether or not the 28-75 VXD should be on your radar in my text or video reviews…or just enjoy the photos below.

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).

Photos of the Tamron 28-75mm VXD

Photos taken with the Tamron 28-75mm VXD

Gear Used:

Purchase the Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 VXD G2 @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Amplis Foto (use code AMPLIS52018DA for 5% off) | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

Purchase the Tamron 35-150mm F2-2.8 VXD @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amplis Foto (Canada) (use code AMPLIS52018DA for 5% off) | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

Purchase the Sony Alpha 1 @ Camera Canada | B&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Purchase a Sony a9M2 @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Sony a9 Camera: B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay
Sony a7RIV Camera: B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Buy DA Merchandise https://bit.ly/TWIMerch

Purchase a Sony a7C @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Peak Design Leash Strap: Peak Design Store | B&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK

Adobe Photoshop Creative Cloud 1-Year Subscription
Exposure Software X6 (Use Code “dustinabbott” to get 10% anything and everything)
Visit Dustin’s Amazon Storefront and see his favorite gear

Purchasing your gear through B&H and these links helps fund this website and keeps the articles coming. You can also make a donation here if you would like. Visit my Amazon page for some of my gear of choice! Thank you for your support.

Great News! I can now offer a 5% discount on all purchases at Amplis Foto, Canada’s Leading Photographic Supplier. Please enter discount code: AMPLIS52018DA in your cart. It is good for everything in your cart, and is stackable with other coupons, too! It will take 5% off your entire order! Proceeds go towards keeping this site going and providing you with new reviews!

Keywords: Tamron 28-75, Tamron 28-75mm G2, Tamron 28-75mm 2.8 G2, Tamron 28-75 G2 Review, Review, G2, VXD, withmytamron, A063, 2.8, 28-75mm, Di-III, Sony, E-mount, Tamron 28-75mm G2 Review, Sony Alpha 1, Sony a7RIV, Sony a6600, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Photography, Travel, Astrophotography, Let the Light In, Autumn, Canada

DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Tamron 35-150mm F2-2.8 VXD (A058) Review

Dustin Abbott

November 3rd, 2021

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 the long format definitive or standard video review below…or just keep reading.

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

The A058 is a larger lens than many expected. How could it not be when it has both a larger zoom ratio (4.3x) than either a 24-70mm (2.9x) or a 70-200mm (2.86x) while also having a larger maximum aperture over some of that zoom range? The truth of the matter is that this is actually a fairly moderately sized lens with that in mind, though in some ways the perception challenge that Tamron is going to face is actually due to their successful downsizing of the 70-200(ish) formula with their very successful 70-180mm F2.8 VXD. That lens was only 149mm long (about 50mm less than the typical 70-200mm) and weighed only 810g. The 35-150mm is a larger lens, to be sure, but not dramatically so. It is a little bit longer (158 vs 149mm) and more noticeably heavier (1165g vs 810g). In fact, it’s about 120g heavier than the newly downsized Sony FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM II, though it is still significantly shorter than that lens. Here’s a look at how the specs break down:

Clearly Tamron’s priority here was not compact size and weight but rather quality of performance. As I’ve noted about a few other recent lenses, I suspect that the basic physical realities of the A)58 will produce a natural sorting effect on potential buyers. It’s less of travel lens (unless you don’t mind some size and weight) and more of a very versatile event and portrait lens. As a wedding photographer, for example, I’m accustomed to carrying two cameras with more than double that amount of weight between them. What if I could carry just one camera with the A058 on it? I’ve often shot a wedding with a 70-200mm (roughly 1400g) and then a pro-grade 35mm like the Canon 35mm F1.4L II (760g), but because the 35-150mm goes as wide as 35mm, I wouldn’t need that second focal length. That’s where the potential weight savings might be.

Essentially the A058 has the girth of my 135mm F1.8 GM and the length of the 70-180mm F2.8 from Tamron, as you can see here:

Tamron’s design philosophy on Sony has been pretty spartan, but the A058 is a more expensive lens and has been given a little more premium treatment in terms of features. We have focus hold buttons in a couple of positions to allow easy access whether in landscape or portrait orientation. As with Sony lenses, this button can be programmed to different functions.

There’s also a bank with a couple of switches. These include the standard AF/MF switch (always welcome) along with a secondary switch that allows access to multiple custom modes. These custom modes can be programmed via another new feature, and that is the inclusion of a USB-C port on the side of the lens. Simply attach the lens to your computer and download Tamron’s free Lens Utility software, and this opens up a variety of ways to customize the performance of your lens. Some of the potential functions include a preset A-B focus pulls, presetting a specific focus distance (like for an event), switching between focus and aperture for the focus ring (like Samyang), changing the speed and/or tension of the manual focus ring, and more. You can also do direct firmware updates via the USB port. Essentially this is the functionality of the Tamron Tap-In Console now accessed through a weather sealed USB-C port, meaning that you don’t have to buy something in addition. Here’s a quick look at the functionality of the Lens Utility software, or you can visit this page to download the software and/or get more information:

We’ve also got a zoom lock switch to prevent zoom creep, though I didn’t actually encounter any real creep while out hiking with the lens.

Also present on the barrel is two rings. The closer (and slightly narrower, though both are wide) of the two is the zoom ring. I’ll make a minor complaint here, as this ring’s position is opposite of the other two Tamron lenses I have been testing at the same time (the 28-75mm F2.8 G2 and the 18-300mm VXD). While hiking and doing a portrait session with both lenses, I found myself continually reaching for the wrong ring because they were reversed. I recognize that this was almost certainly an engineering necessity, but it is an annoyance nonetheless. On a positive note, the zoom ring’s friction is very well damped. It has a smooth, substantial zoom action (not light, however) and there is a moderate inner barrel extension of about 4.5mm. The tolerances are tight, and there is not wobble or play in the barrel.

The second ring is the manual focus ring and it is near the front of the lens, and, surprisingly, it is even wider than the zoom ring. This is part of why I reached for it, as not only it’s position but its size is not conventional. Focus, (like all mirrorless lenses) is focus-by-wire, meaning that focus input on the focus ring is routed through the focus motor to move the elements. Manual focus emulation is quite good, and the good, thick focus ring gives the impression of being a real manual focus experience. The addition of the USB-C port means that that you also have more control over the behavior of the focus ring. This includes being able to control the rotation of the ring and to choose whether the focus action is linear or non-linear (speed sensitive) in behavior. That just adds to the value of the ring.

Tamron has included a nicely made, fairly shallow lens hood that (in a rare move for Tamron) has a locking mechanism. It bayonets into place very cleanly and helps provide some shading along with some bump protection. You’ll also notice up front that Tamron has (necessarily) abandoned their 67mm front filter thread standard for this lens. We’ve got a larger but still standard 82mm front filter thread. It would have been physically impossible to design this lens with with such a small front element.

Tamron has worked to up their game in the physical appearance of their most recent lenses (I see similar changes to the Tamron 28-75mm G2). The finish is a little glossier and (according to Tamron) the finish has been upgraded to be more resistant to scratching and even fingerprints. The new finish makes the lens appear to be more like anodized metal, though I do think there’s still some engineered plastics in the construction. There’s a platinum-colored accept ring right near the lens mount. There is also some new sculpting to the lens design the gives it more shape. This does have some ergonomic value, as it makes the lens fit the hand a little better. It is worth noting that the lens does feel very good in the hands. Heavy, yes, but in a reassuringly substantial kind of way. Some will find the lens too heavy, but others will love the way it feels while using it. Anecdotally, I went to visit my son at university and walked all over the campus and the nearby waterfront with only the very thin Peak Design Leash strap I keep in my small camera bags. Despite the heft of the lens I walked with the lens for hours and never felt uncomfortable, though, to be fair, I am accustomed to heavier gear.

Tamron has really been nailing weather sealing, and that’s definitely the case here. There’s a rubber gasket at the lens mount that suggests at the weather sealing inside, and Tamron also shows a total of 10 other internal seal points along with a fluorine coating on the front element to give further protection. A fluorine coating not only helps protect the front element from scratches but also makes it water and fingerprint resistant and thus easier to clean. This is a professional grade lens ready for professional use.

Tamron’s recent trends regarding MFD (minimum focus distance) hold true here, as the lens sports two different MFDs for wide (0.33m/13″) and telephoto (0.85m/33.5″). You can get to about 0.18x magnification on the wide end (1:5.7) and 0.17x (1:5.9) on the telephoto end. Neither figure is exceptionally high, though useful enough to get some closer shots. Here’s what maximum magnification looks like first at 35mm and then 150mm along with a real- world close shot.

Both results are fairly good, with a little more contrast on the wide end but you can unlock creamier backgrounds on the long end and get a flatter plane of focus. Minimum focus distance will scale between these two extremes as you go throughout the zoom range.

Tamron has nine rounded blades in the aperture iris, and they claim that the aperture iris will stay circular for at least two stops down from maximum aperture. That seems accurate to me. Here’s a look at F2-F4:

There is some deformation near the edge of the frame, with one stop down (F2.8, here) being the best looking in terms of circular shapes while also being nice and big. F4 looks good as well, though by F5.6 you’ll start to see the edges of the blades a bit. This has an important function, though, as it allows for sunbursts at smaller aperture. The nine blades make for a slightly busy but fairly good looking sunburst effect, as you can see here.

Tamron elected to forego including their VC (Vibration Compensation – Tamron’s optical stabilization system) on the A058. Thus far only the big 150-500mm has included VC on their full frame lenses for mirrorless. They are clearly banking on the IBIS (In Body Stabilization) of Sony’s full frame cameras, and it does seem to do fine overall. The lens would have been larger and heavier had it included VC, so I’m willing to give them a pass here (as I did with the 70-180mm).

One area of internet consternation (whether real or imagined) is that the A058 has no tripod collar. Some people have concerns over the stress on the lens mount, though I think this is overwrought. This lens is far from being outside the realm of normal lens weight, and cameras are designed around the lens mount being strong. My only frustration with it was during the time I was trying to line up my test chart, and, the further you zoom out, the more the weight is towards the front of the camera and it puts a little more stress on the tripod head. So yes, a tripod collar would have provided better balance on a tripod, but again, it would have also added weight and expense. There will probably be a workable third party solution for those desperate for a tripod foot.

There’s no getting around that this is a fairly large and heavy lens, but it is clearly a well made lens that has very high functionality. I really like the new features that Tamron has elected to include, and the lens feels like it will be tough and durable. Even the much cheaper 28-75mm F2.8 RXD that I’ve owned for the last three years has held up well despite very frequent use. Tamron has moved more upscale with this lens, and time will tell if this move will pay off for them.

Tamron 35-150mm VXD Focus and Video Performance

Tamron has given the A058 their premium focus system, the Voice-coil eXtreme-torque Drive (VXD), which is a high end linear focus motor.

That makes five lenses that I’ve seen this focus system implemented on (also 70-180mm F2.8 VXD, 150-500mm VXD, 18-300mm VXD [APS-C}, and the 28-75mm F2.8 G2 VXD). The VXD motors are an improvement over the already good RXD focus motor by adding more torque into the mix. This is a big lens with big elements, so it needs a powerful focus motor to move them quickly. That’s what we have here, and, for the typical things this lens will be used for, the focus system is impressively good.

As noted, I view this lens primarily as an event and portrait lens, and it certainly worked beautifully well when people were in the frame. I did a little portrait session with my youngest son, and eye detect just nailed focus again and again:

Even if the eyes weren’t facing the camera, Eye AF locked and delivered well focused results.

Animal Eye AF worked equally well, with accurate locking on and focus even in low light situations (this shot is at ISO 3200):

I didn’t have a chance to test really high speed action, but I did watch a portion of a university rugby game and took some shots of the action. Focus was quick and accurate throughout, and I had no problems stopping action, which tells me that this should work fine for casual sports use at the least.

The A058 is quite flare prone (as you can see here), but I will note that autofocus successfully locked on even in strongly backlit settings.

I did a video test where I moved towards at the camera, in and out, at various speeds, and the focus system did a good job of tracking my eye. I used the A058 to record a few of my video segments, and focus was solid and reliable. Likewise in my video focus pull tests, focus pulls were smooth and silent. I saw a roughly average amount of focus breathing; subjects change size to some degree but not in an exaggerated sense.

Real world focus results were excellent, and I have nothing negative to report on this front. Tamron’s VXD focus motor is excellent.

Tamron A058 Image Quality Breakdown

The Tamron 35-150mm F2-2.8 VXD comes with high expectations for performance. It’s a premium lens with a premium price, so expectations are high for this lens to deliver stellar results. I would say those expectations are largely realized, as I got a lot of really fantastic images with the lens that delighted me on both an aesthetic and technical level.

To be fair, that scene was pretty fantastic, so it was likely to make any lens look good. We’ll dive a little more deeply into the technical side of things, though. This is quite a complex optical formula, with 21 elements in 15 groups. This includes three molded glass aspherical elements along with four LD (Low Dispersion) elements. A look at the MTF charts show that the center of the frame is impeccable throughout the zoom range; resolution even of the more demanding 30 lp/mm is between 93-98% resolution even wide open (that’s very high!). Corners are softer, with the weakest performance being at 35mm, F2, where the corners dip to as low as 55% in the extreme corner. Contrast looks strong according the MTFs, too, and that was certainly the case in the real world.

We’ll dive into the technical side of things first with a look at vignette and distortion at 35mm, F2:

Nothing objectionable there at all. A very mild amount of pincushion distortion (-2) and a moderate amount of vignette (+42 to correct). That’s a little under two stops in the corners, and I saw no real world situations where I felt correction was really necessary. Profile corrections in camera (JPEG or video) or in software (RAW files) will correct things painlessly.

At 70mm the distortion increases (-9 to correct) while the vignette diminishes (+30 to correct). The distortion and vignette are linear and clear up nicely.

Finally, at 150mm, distortion is about the same (-9) while vignette is more like 35mm (+44 to correct). I will point out that pincushion distortion is far preferable in a portrait oriented lens as it tends to make features slimmer.

No red flags here at all. Distortion and vignette are both well controlled for a zoom lens that goes from wide to telephoto.

I also give high marks for the control of chromatic aberrations. I saw little evidence of longitudinal chromatic aberrations in either shiny surfaces or in bokeh highlights.

I looked for lateral chromatic aberrations on both my charts and real world images, and just didn’t see them. The edges have clean transitions from dark to light.

That makes for clean and crisp real world textures near the edges of the frame:

All very good so far, and this points towards a promising optical performance in terms of sharpness and contrast. Here’s my test chart.

Crops and comparisons are shown at 200% and are from the 50 MP sensor of my Sony Alpha 1. Here’s a look at 35mm, F2, with crops from the center, mid-frame, and bottom right corner:

Center performance is (as advertised) excellent, and gets even sharper when stopped down to F2.8. F2.8 results are essentially perfect, as is the mid-frame. As the MTF suggests, acuity is lower in the corners (though they are still decent). They look excellent at F5.6, though, so choose smaller apertures if sharpness across the frame (like for landscapes) is a priority. Real world landscapes look gorgeous.

And, since portraits typically prioritize rule of thirds (center and mid-frame) over extreme corners, real world portraits even at F2 look great.

This is a variable aperture zoom, as noted, and while it does start at an exceptional F2, that doesn’t last long. By 50mm maximum aperture is F2.2. Center results look good at F2.2, while a mild stop down to F2.8 makes for exceptional results. This is true in the mid-frame as well, and corners are a little sharper (and sharpen up to excellent faster).

By 70mm the maximum aperture is F2.5, still faster than the average zoom, but by only one third stop. The center performance looked a little weaker to me wide open, but the opposite was true out towards the edges of the frame, where things look great. Even at F2.5, the detail on the £5 note looks great, and really exceptional by F2.8. This is fairly near the left bottom corner, too.

By 85mm the maximum aperture is the smallest of the zoom range at F2.8, though this is still the standard aperture for pro-grade zoom lenses. Image quality across the frame at F2.8 is exceptional, though. My typical mid-frame test of the Canadian $5 bill looks incredibly crisp, and contrast at F4 is pretty much off the charts.

I’ll also note here that centering was good on my tested copy, with equal results in all four corners. I’ve seen good manufacturing tolerances on Tamron lenses over the past five years or so.

At 100mm things continue to look very good. Corners are a little softer, but they are looking better by F4 and very strong by F5.6. I’m seeing little to complain about, thus far!

Let’s check back into a real world image for perspective.

Ummm, that looks pretty great even at a pixel level!

It’s going to sound a bit repetitive, but results continue to be excellent at 135mm. There seems to be a little less capacity for increased performance stopped down, but wide open results are already excellent. Here’s a look at different corner for a change of pace.

So finally we arrive at 150mm. Are we in for a drop-off? In my tested copy, the answer is definitely not. Chart results looked excellent (actually a little better than my copy of the Tamron 70-180mm F2.8 with it at 180mm). I thought it might be more meaningful to see real world results instead. Real world portraits still look very crisp even wide open:

If I move off-center with my subject, the results are still amazingly crisp and high-contrast even at F2.8:

And real-world landscapes look good even into the corners.

And check out the great subject isolation of this medium distance student at 150mm, F2.8:

It’s pretty amazing when you can have great image quality across a range like this:

I’ll also add that real world images had a lot of “pop” to them. That pro-grade contrast, color, and subject isolation that makes images special.

I’ve got too many great images to share in this space, so be sure to visit the image gallery page here to see more of them.

There is one glaring weakness, however, and that is flare resistance. Despite having Tamron’s excellent BBAR G2 coatings, the lens flounders when a certain amount of direction sun hits the lens elements (particularly on the telephoto end).

These are worst case scenarios, but you will have to be careful about backlighting your subjects too strongly in portrait sessions. This could be a deal-breaker for some portrait photographers (depending on your style). Wide angle flare seems to be better:

I generally found bokeh to be very pleasing from the lens. A lot of images showed really soft, artful bokeh rendering.

In some shots I saw the faintest amount of “swirl” to the bokeh at the edge of the frame, but that’s a look that I’m partial to:

I was able to test coma, as the maximum aperture of F2 on the wide end opens up another application for the lens. The results were generally positive, with nice, crisp detail to the night sky, though a pixel level look does show a bit of coma in the edges of the frame.

Still, there’s nothing wrong the look of the image in general, so I’d certainly use it for that purpose.

All told, there is a whole lot of good going on here, with only one real weakness. This is a professional grade lens that will give awesome results across the zoom range in a variety of conditions.

Conclusion

In general, I am a real fan of the Tamron 35-150mm F2-2.8 Di III VXD lens. Tamron has shot for the stars here and has generally landed it. Yes, the A058 is big, heavy, and expensive, but not unusually so in any category. What is unusual, however, is the genre-busting zoom and aperture range, which opens up a whole new realm of possibilities for wedding, event, and portrait shooters. I’ve been pretty pumped about the notion of covering the “bread and butter” of event shots with one lens, and maybe reserving my second camera for something more exotic (extreme wide angle, for example). Images from the A058 are just beautiful, with great “pop” and detail:

Autofocus is awesome, the feature set of the lens is awesome, and the build and weather sealing of the lens is awesome. It does have the weakness of poor flare resistance in certain situations, but I had a number of situations where I still shot into the sun and got very nice results, like this:

Ultimately I feel like this lens really delivers for those photographers that want both versatility and pro-grade results, and particularly those who would love to have the equivalent of a bag full of primes in one lens (which the A058 almost delivers on). The counter argument is that this lens costs $1899 USD, and Tamron also sells a fantastic new 28-75mm F2.8 VXD G2 ($899 USD and exceptionally good) and an also-excellent 70-180mm F2.8 VXD ($1199), which means for $200 more you could have two zooms that give you even more focal length coverage and even a bit more performance. A difficult choice, to be sure, and one that I’m personally wrestling with (as I own both these lenses), but I’m very, very tempted by the Tamron 35-150 VXD; it is just so much good in one lens…and sure to be a crowd pleaser.

Pros:

Innovative and useful focal range
Larger maximum aperture than competitors at points
Advanced weather sealing with 11 seal points
Fluorine coating
New finish and lens sculpting attractive
Powerful VXD focus motor
Useful new features like custom buttons and USB-C port
Good build and action of rings
Quick and quiet autofocus
Strong optical performance throughout zoom range
Exceptional contrast and “pop” to images
Excellent control of chromatic aberrations
Nice looking bokeh

Cons:

Lens quite large and heavy
Ring position reversed from other Tamron zooms
No tripod collar
No lens stabilization
Poor flare resistance

Gear Used:

Purchase the Tamron 35-150mm F2-2.8 VXD @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amplis Foto (Canada) (use code AMPLIS52018DA for 5% off) | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

Purchase the Sony Alpha 1 @ Camera Canada | B&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Purchase a Sony a9M2 @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Sony a9 Camera: B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay
Sony a7RIV Camera: B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Buy DA Merchandise https://bit.ly/TWIMerch

Purchase a Sony a7C @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Peak Design Leash Strap: Peak Design Store | B&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK

Adobe Photoshop Creative Cloud 1-Year Subscription
Exposure Software X6 (Use Code “dustinabbott” to get 10% anything and everything)
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Keywords: Tamron 35-150, Tamron 35-150mm, Tamron 35-150mm F2-2.8, Tamron 35-150mm Review, Review, VXD, withmytamron, A058, F2-2.8, 18-300mm, Di-III, Sony, E-mount, Tamron 35-150 Review, Sony Alpha 1, Sony a7RIV, Sony a6600, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Photography, Travel, Astrophotography, Let the Light In, Autumn, Canada

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Tamron 11-20mm F2.8 RXD for Fuji X-mount Review

Dustin Abbott

June 19th, 2023

Tamron 11-20mm RXD Build, Handling, and Features

Autofocus and Video Performance

Tamron 11-20mm F2.8 RXD Image Quality

Conclusion

Pros:

Cons:

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Tamron 11-20mm F2.8 RXD (X-Mount) Gallery

Dustin Abbott

June 14th, 2023

Photos of the Tamron 11-20mm RXD

Photos taken with the Tamron 11-20mm F2.8 RXD

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Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8 FE Review

Dustin Abbott

May 31st, 2023

Viltrox 16mm F1.8 Build and Handling

Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8 STM Autofocus Performance

Viltrox 16mm F1.8 Image Quality

Conclusion

Pros:

Cons:

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Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8 FE Image Gallery

Dustin Abbott

May 31st, 2023

Images of the Viltrox 16mm F1.8

Images from the Viltrox 16mm F1.8

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Tamron 35-150mm F2-2.8 VXD: Travel Worthy?

Dustin Abbott

January 6th, 2022

Action

Portraits

Family and Candids

Landscapes and Nature

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Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 Di III VXD G2 (A063) Review

Dustin Abbott

November 8th, 2021

A063 Build, Handling, and Features

Tamron 28-75mm VXD G2 Focus and Video Performance

Tamron A063 Image Quality Breakdown

Conclusion

Pros:

Cons:

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Sony a7RIV Camera: B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Sony a9 Camera: B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay
Sony a7RIV Camera: B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Sony a9 Camera: B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay
Sony a7RIV Camera: B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay