Sony E-mount has had perhaps more lens development than any other mount in history. Want an autofocus 35mm lens? You easily have 20+ options to choose from in that focal length alone. I review nearly 100 lenses per year, and many of them are for E-mount. But I realized about two years ago how few autofocusing macro lenses I have reviewed on E-mount. The last autofocusing macro lens that I reviewed on Sony was the Sigma 105mm F2.8 DN Macro…in 2020! Before that was the Sony 90mm F2.8 G Macro lens. That means for four years we have hundreds of other lenses but no AF macro lenses. I finally asked Tamron last year when they were going to make one, as back when I was exclusively reviewing on Canon EF, Tamron was perhaps the main third party player in the macro space. My Tamron contacts didn’t have an answer for me at that point, but, about a year later, I got an email from them stating that (finally!) the Tamron 90mm F2.8 Di III VXD 1:1 Macro was on the way. It’s now here, and I think it is the macro lens a lot of people have been waiting for. It’s cheap ($699 USD), has fantastic autofocus, and is just brilliantly sharp. I want one! Find out why in my video review shared below or read about it in my text review. You can also just enjoy the photos below.
Thanks to Tamron USA for sending me a review loaner of this lens. 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 a7RV along with the Sony Alpha 1 that serve as my benchmark cameras for Sony lenses.
I’m doing this review on Sony E-mount, as mentioned, but Tamron is also releasing (for the first time) simultaneously on Nikon Z-mount, where it will also be extremely welcome.
Here’s a look at the overall selling features of the new 90mm Macro, or what Tamron codes the F072:
Full-Frame | f/2.8 to f/16
Short Telephoto Prime
VXD Autofocus System
1:1 Magnification
9.1″ Min. Focus
Focus Limit Switch, Focus Set Button
BBAR-G2 & Fluorine Coating
Moisture Resistant Construction
That’s pretty standard stuff, but it is the execution here that is fantastic. This is a lens that just works, and I love the images that it produces.
And, a 90mm lens is useful for all kinds of things, including making for a fantastic portrait lens.
It also made for a gorgeous landscape lens, delivering beautiful color and contrast.
A good short telephoto macro lens is so much more than just a macro lens, and there’s a reason why I have recommended such lenses to those who were debating about a macro lens or a portrait lens; a good macro lens does all of those extremely well. Enjoy the photos!
Keywords: #withmytamron, Tamron, 90mm, Tamron 90mm Review, Tamron 90mm Macro, Macro, Tamron 90mm Sony, Di III, 1:1, VXD, Travel, Tamron 28-200mm, Full Frame, Review, Sony Alpha 1, Sony a7RV, Review, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Bokeh, Flare Resistance, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Photography, let the light in, weathersealing, #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.
Sony E-mount has had perhaps more lens development than any other mount in history. Want an autofocus 35mm lens? You easily have 20+ options to choose from in that focal length alone. I review nearly 100 lenses per year, and many of them are for E-mount. But I realized about two years ago how few autofocusing macro lenses I have reviewed on E-mount. The last autofocusing macro lens that I reviewed on Sony was the Sigma 105mm F2.8 DN Macro…in 2020! Before that was the Sony 90mm F2.8 G Macro lens. That means for four years we have hundreds of other lenses but no AF macro lenses. I finally asked Tamron last year when they were going to make one, as back when I was exclusively reviewing on Canon EF, Tamron was perhaps the main third party player in the macro space. My Tamron contacts didn’t have an answer for me at that point, but, about a year later, I got an email from them stating that (finally!) the Tamron 90mm F2.8 Di III VXD 1:1 Macro was on the way. It’s now here, and I think it is the macro lens a lot of people have been waiting for. It’s cheap ($699 USD), has fantastic autofocus, and is just brilliantly sharp. I want one! Find out why in my video review shared below or read on in the text review.
Thanks to Tamron USA for sending me a review loaner of this lens. 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 a7RV along with the Sony Alpha 1 that serve as my benchmark cameras for Sony lenses.
I’m doing this review on Sony E-mount, as mentioned, but Tamron is also releasing (for the first time) simultaneously on Nikon Z-mount, where it will also be extremely welcome.
Here’s a look at the overall selling features of the new 90mm Macro, or what Tamron codes the F072:
Full-Frame | f/2.8 to f/16
Short Telephoto Prime
VXD Autofocus System
1:1 Magnification
9.1″ Min. Focus
Focus Limit Switch, Focus Set Button
BBAR-G2 & Fluorine Coating
Moisture Resistant Construction
That’s pretty standard stuff, but it is the execution here that is fantastic. This is a lens that just works, and I love the images that it produces.
And, a 90mm lens is useful for all kinds of things, including making for a fantastic portrait lens.
It also made for a gorgeous landscape lens, delivering beautiful color and contrast.
A good short telephoto macro lens is so much more than just a macro lens, and there’s a reason why I have recommended such lenses to those who were debating about a macro lens or a portrait lens; a good macro lens does all of those extremely well. Let’s dive into why that is…
Tamron 90mm Macro VXD Build and Handling
Let’s parse out the “Tamron speak” in the 90mm F2.8 Di III Macro VXD lens.
Di III = Designed for Mirrorless
VXD = Voice-coil eXtreme-torque Drive (the Linear autofocus motor)
Macro = a true 1:1 macro lens
I think the Di-III designation is becoming increasingly meaningless for the simple reason that essentially all current lens design is on mirrorless, with DSLRs seeming to be done at this point.
The new Tamron 90mm Macro is a moderately sized lens that is slightly smaller and lighter than its two chief competitors – the Sony 90mm F2.8 G Macro and the Sigma 105mm F2.8 DN Macro. It measures 79.2mm (3.1″) in diameter and is 126.5mm (5″) in length. Macro lenses like this tend to be a little longer because they are internally focusing.
By comparison, the Sigma lens is 135.6mm in length (+9mm) and the Sony is 130.5mm (+4mm). The Tamron employs a 67mm front filter thread that is a match for the vast majority of its lenses over the past five years. They have very intentionally tried to standardize filter size where at all possible to allow filters to be shared across their lenses.
The weight is 630g (22.2oz), which undercuts the Sigma by 80g but is slightly heavier than the Sony (+28g).
The design language is similar to a number of recent Tamron lenses, though you can tell that this isn’t one of their premium lenses in that the materials don’t feel quite as plush. The lens shell is primarily engineered plastics with a rubberized focus ring. The lens has a satin finish with some sculpting here and there along with a raised bank for the switches and buttons.
The raised control bank has two elements: a function button whose value can be assigned either through the camera or via Tamron’s Lens Utility software (more on that in a moment). There is also a three position focus limiter, allowing you to choose the full range, eliminate the macro range (0.7m to infinity), or to select just the macro range (0.7m and closer).
There are a variety of functions that can be set in the software itself, everything from a preset focus position to switching between AF/MF to even establishing a proper Astro/infinity focus point. The nice thing about being able to use the Lens Utility function to assign this value is that you can program a function specific to this particular lens rather than using the default value from the camera. This lens has no AF/MF switch, for example, and that happens to be one of the choices that I could set the button to accomplish.
Very importantly for a macro lens, you have a lot of specific control over how the manual focus ring functions. You can choose which direction it moves, whether it is linear or non-linear, how long you want the focus throw/rotation to be, etc…
You can also do direct firmware updates through the software, ensuring that your lens stays future proof. That degree of customization is great, and I would definitely call this an advantage for the Tamron lens.
The focus ring is raised from the lens barrel a bit in a section of the lens that flares out, making it more ergonomic and visually pleasing. Manual focus emulation is quite good, and the quality damping gives the impression of being a real manual focus experience. It is pretty typical to employ manual focus at macro distances, as depth of field is incredibly tiny and manual focus is really the best way to put focus where you want.
Tamron has included a fairly deep lens hood with the 90mm Macro. It is more than half the length of the lens itself.
You’ll note that Tamron has equipped the hood with a filter window, which is rare for them. The purpose of this is to allow circular polarizing filters (often used to reduce reflections in macro photography) to be easily accessed and rotated. They probably felt this to be necessary because of how deep the hood is.
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 6 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 has elected to not include their VC (Vibration Compensation) in the 90mm Macro. That’s a departure from their last 90mm Macro (released in 2016). They are clearly banking on most Sony and Nikon shooters having a camera equipped with camera-based stabilization. I didn’t really have any issues with either my Sony a7RV or Alpha 1, and, if I had the Nikon version, I like the stabilization in my Z8 even better. The Sigma 105mm also doesn’t have stabilization, leaving the Sony 90G as the only option in the trio equipped with lens-based stabilization (though it also comes at a $400 premium over the Tamron).
Somewhat unusual for the 90mm Macro is that the aperture iris has 12 rounded blades. The intent here is for the lens to maintain a very circular shape when stopped down. Here’s a look at specular highlights with the lens stopped down to F5.6:
Minimum focus distance is 23cm, or 9.1″. That puts you fairly close to your subject, but not right on top of it. Maximum magnification is of course 1:1, or 1.0x.
Good macro lenses don’t just provide high magnification, but are corrected in order to give a very flat plane of focus. You can see from this shot that detail is good all across the frame.
Depth of field is incredibly small at this level of magnification. Even stopped down to F5.6 you can see that just the tips of these screws are in focus.
Using an even blade count like this will produce a 12 bladed sunstar.
All in all, this is a very nice package. I would have liked a dedicated AF/MF switch, but this is a lens that provides nice value for money at the MSRP of $699 USD.
Autofocus and Video
Tamron has the 90mm macro their premium focus system, which they callthe Voice-coil eXtreme-torque Drive (VXD). Macro lenses tend to focus slower than normal lenses of similar focal lengths due to have so many more focus possibilities in the macro range. That can be helped via using a focus limiter, but fortunately here that really isn’t necessary, as the Tamron 90mm Macro VXD lens stands out for having extremely fast autofocus for a macro lens.
I was consistently impressed by the speed and confidence of the autofocus motor. I only noticed a slowdown if I was shooting into a strongly backlit subject and with a smaller maximum aperture (pretty typical). While it is true that I will still often switch over to manual focus when shooting at macro distances, the inclusion of fast autofocus makes this a much more versatile lens for general purpose or portrait use. I was even able to snap up and catch a bird in flight.
I recognize that the image above isn’t overly inspiring, as 90mm was far from sufficient reach for that shot. But what matters is that I was able to swing up the camera in a quick reaction and immediately acquire (accurate) focus. Lenses with slower focus motors will often struggle to acquire a subject like this.
I used the lens a bit as a part of a portrait session, and saw perfect focus results with quick acquisition of the eye and accurately focused end results.
I was also able to effectively focus at close/macro distances. Using continuous AF allowed me to maneuver around to the composition I wanted and then quickly snap the shot. This is a great technique for getting handheld macro where manual focus proves much more difficult.
Focus is not only fast, but also very quiet and confident. It moved quickly and smoothly from one subject to another in my formal tests, and when testing for Eye AF, focus stayed locked solidly on the eye as I moved throughout the frame.
Video AF is likewise excellent. When I tested focus pulls, they were snappy and confident. No settling or pulsing. Focus breathing exists but not strongly.
My “hand test” where I alternately block the camera’s view with my hand and then remove the obstruction of my hand also went well. The camera moved easily from my face to my hand and vice versa.
The bottom line is that AF was pretty effortless. Tamron’s VXD is a very good focus motor, and this is one of the best focusing macro lenses that I’ve used.
Image Quality Breakdown
Tamron has been making 90mm macro lenses since 1979, so it is safe to say that they know what they’re doing at this point. The optical design is fairly complex for a prime lens with 15 elements in 12 groups, including 4 low dispersion elements. The MTF looks very good as well, with excellent center and mid-frame performance and then a natural fade into the corners.
Macro lenses tend to be very sharp lenses, and the Tamron 90mm Macro VXD is no exception. It delivers very good detail and contrast and also has excellent control of the fringing that can easily affect macro lenses.
We’ll dive into the technical side of things first with a look at vignette and distortion at 90mm F2.8:
Somewhat surprisingly, there is a bit of barrel distortion present here. Not a significant amount (+4 to manually correct on the right), but not zero. I would have expected that the distortion would be more of the pincushion variety at this focal length, too. Not a huge deal, but it will need correcting if you need perfectly straight lines. Tamron gets good profile support, fortunately. There is also a bit of vignette, though this is relatively insignificant at a +37 to correct. That’s a little over a stop, so not significant most of the time.
LoCA (Longitudinal Chromatic Aberrations) present as a color fringing before and after the plane of focus. This can really impact macro lenses because they are capable of truly tiny depth of field and are often used to shoot shiny objects, like the edge of this silver dollar.
I see very minimal fringing there, which allows contrast and detail to be all the better.
I looked for lateral chromatic aberrations (LaCA) near the edges of the frame, where it exhibits as fringing on either side of dark lines, but see absolutely nothing. This is perfectly corrected.
Other than a bit of distortion, this is a pretty flawless performance.
Here’s my test chart that the crops will be taken from. Tests are done on a 61MP Sony a7RV and crops and comparisons are shown at 200% magnification.
Here’s a look at F2.8 crops from the center, mid-frame, and bottom right corner:
That’s a very strong performance across the frame, and the corners look a bit better than I expected. That’s great detail in the corners for being examined at 200% on a 61MP camera. In real world shooting results are very crisp even at macro distances (and using F2.8).
One thing important to understand about macro lenses is that physics dictate that the effective aperture will be smaller at macro distances, so even if you’ve got the aperture opened to F2.8, it will be behave more like F5.6 at very close focus distances, which is why you need a good amount of light for macro work.
At standard distances you’ll find that you have plenty of sharpness even when shooting landscapes at F2.8:
Stopping down to F4 provides an improvement to contrast and detail, though primarily in the outer mid-frame and corners, as the center is already pretty close to perfect.
There’s a slightly more noticeable uptick at F5.6 in overall contrast that is again most noticeable in the corners due to the vignette disappearing. F8 is about the same as F5.6, which is to say excellent!
As per usual you can expect a significant dropoff in sharpness after F11 due to diffraction. Minimum aperture is F16 here, and it is considerably softer than larger apertures.
Macro images show good detail and contrast even when shooting at F2.8:
I typically like to stop down a bit more when shooting macros, as you can see here that even at F5.6 depth of field is particularly small.
Bokeh is a strength for the 90mm Macro VXD lens as well. You can see that the geometry is very good here at F2.8, with circular specular highlights across the frame.
Bokeh at slightly further distances was also nice.
Colors were also very nice, with good levels of saturation.
Colors on this blossom also looks nice.
I did get a chance to shoot the stars with the lens, and coma is extremely well controlled all across the frame.
The lens hood is really deep, so I wondered if flare resistance were perhaps a problem, but I don’t see any particular issues. There is a bit of veiling and a tiny bit of ghosting, but nothing significant.
Bottom line is that this is a really lovely optical instrument that worked well for all the different types of photography that I used it for.
I had a very positive feeling about the Tamron 90mm F2.8 Macro VXD lens. I think it will do very, very well for Tamron. Check out the image gallery link here for more photos.
Conclusion
The Tamron 90mm F2.8 Di III Macro VXD is a lens whose only surprise (to me) is that it took so long to arrive. This lens makes perfect sense, delivering faster autofocus and better image quality than any macro lens we’ve seen on Sony E mount so far. Tamron has been making macro lenses for a very long time and they are obviously very good at it. I liked pretty much everything about the 90mm Macro.
I regularly use a Laowa 90mm F2.8 Macro for my product photography on this channel, and while I like the lens, it is limited in its versatility by being manual focus only. The Tamron 90mm would be a great short telephoto lens even if didn’t have macro capabilities, but fortunately it is also an excellent macro lens.
There’s no question that it is great value at the price tag of $699 USD. There are cheaper options out there, but not that offer the combo of autofocus, optics, and build (including weather sealing) for this price. I suspect that Tamron will sell plenty of these on both Sony E-mount and Nikon Z-mount.
Pros:
Slightly smaller and lighter than competing lenses
Keywords: #withmytamron, Tamron, 90mm, Tamron 90mm Review, Tamron 90mm Macro, Macro, Tamron 90mm Sony, Di III, 1:1, VXD, Travel, Tamron 28-200mm, Full Frame, Review, Sony Alpha 1, Sony a7RV, Review, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Bokeh, Flare Resistance, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Photography, let the light in, weathersealing, #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 has long been a company invested in designing all-in-one/superzoom lenses. My very first Tamron lens was their 18-270mm PZD lens, which I owned and used for a few years starting in 2010. That was an APS-C lens, but Tamron later branched into full frame all-in-one lenses like the 28-300mm PZD lens that I reviewed in 2014. These types of lenses tend to be commercially successful because there is a good percentage of people who want the improved image quality of a “professional” camera but don’t want to be constantly changing lenses or carrying multiple lenses. The idea of one lens that does everything is very appealing to them, a sort of “kit lens on steroids” with a much more robust zoom range on the telephoto end. The secondary market for a lens like this are those who want a single lens solution for travel. I own the Tamron 28-200mm RXD lens for that latter reason, and I’ve both given it a positive review (in 2020) and more recently explored if it could handle the 61MP resolution of the Sony a7RV while traveling here. I really like the 28-200mm, but there will always be those who want more reach, and that’s why the Tamron 28-300mm F4-7.1 Di III VC VXD now exists. Is a bigger zoom better? Find out in my video review shared below, read my text review, or just enjoy the photos below.
Thanks to Tamron USA for sending me a review loaner of this lens. 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 a7RV along with the Sony Alpha 1 that serve as my benchmark cameras for Sony lenses.
Here’s a look at the overall selling features of the new 28-300mm VXD, or what Tamron codes the A074:
Full-Frame | f/4-7.1 to f/22-40
VXD Linear Motor Focus Mechanism
VC Camera Shake Reduction System
Focus Set Button, Zoom Lock Switch
Minimum Focusing Distance: 7.5″
20 Elements in 13 Groups
9-Bladed Diaphragm
Moisture-Sealed Design, Fluorine Coating
Tamron Lens Utility Connector Port
But probably the biggest feature here is the incredible zoom range that is a full 10.7x, going from this framing at 28mm:
…all the way to this framing at 300mm:
That’s obviously going to be both incredibly useful and incredibly appealing, particularly if the image quality doesn’t suffer too much. All superzoom lenses are a serious of compromises, as the engineers have to try to solve the problems of wide angle focal lengths while also having to cope with the inherent problems of telephoto focal lengths. Part of what has made the Tamron 28-200mm so popular is how good the image quality is despite having a fairly big zoom ratio.
One of the main limitations of the new 28-300mm VXD relative to the popular 28-200mm RXD lens is the fact that this lens is very SLOW when it comes to its aperture. It is a variable aperture lens that runs from F4 on the wide end to F7.1 on the telephoto end, but it’s worse than that. It actually closes down very quickly. Here’s a look at the aperture values relative to the focal lengths:
F4 (28-31mm)
F4.5 (32-43mm)
F5 (44-53mm)
F5.6 (54-77mm)
F6.3 (78-169mm)
F7.1 (170-300mm)
Ouch! That means of the 272mm of zoom range represented here, 223mm of it is at F6.3 or slower, and only 49mm are at F5.6 or faster. By contrast, here is the breakdown on the 28-200mm:
F2.8 (28-49mm)
F3.5 (50-99mm)
F4.5 (100-149mm)
F5.6 (150-200mm)
The 28-200mm is a radically brighter lens by comparison all throughout the zoom range, and frankly this was this issue with the 28-300mm VXD that I found most frustrating during my review period. This is a lens that vastly prefers being used in good light, but if you can get that good light, you can also get good images.
So is that incredible zoom range worth the tradeoffs to light gathering? You can find my thoughts on that in the reviews!
Keywords: #withmytamron, Tamron, 28-300mm, Tamron 28-300mm Review, Tamron 28-300 Sony, Di III, VC, VXD, Travel, Tamron 28-200mm, Full Frame, All-in-One, F4-7.1, Review, Sony Alpha 1, Sony a7RV, Review, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Bokeh, Flare Resistance, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Photography, let the light in, weathersealing, #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 has long been a company invested in designing all-in-one/superzoom lenses. My very first Tamron lens was their 18-270mm PZD lens, which I owned and used for a few years starting in 2010. That was an APS-C lens, but Tamron later branched into full frame all-in-one lenses like the 28-300mm PZD lens that I reviewed in 2014. These types of lenses tend to be commercially successful because there is a good percentage of people who want the improved image quality of a “professional” camera but don’t want to be constantly changing lenses or carrying multiple lenses. The idea of one lens that does everything is very appealing to them, a sort of “kit lens on steroids” with a much more robust zoom range on the telephoto end. The secondary market for a lens like this are those who want a single lens solution for travel. I own the Tamron 28-200mm RXD lens for that latter reason, and I’ve both given it a positive review (in 2020) and more recently explored if it could handle the 61MP resolution of the Sony a7RV while traveling here. I really like the 28-200mm, but there will always be those who want more reach, and that’s why the Tamron 28-300mm F4-7.1 Di III VC VXD now exists. Is a bigger zoom better? Find out in my video review shared below or read on in the text review today.
Thanks to Tamron USA for sending me a review loaner of this lens. 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 a7RV along with the Sony Alpha 1 that serve as my benchmark cameras for Sony lenses.
Here’s a look at the overall selling features of the new 28-300mm VXD, or what Tamron codes the A074:
Full-Frame | f/4-7.1 to f/22-40
VXD Linear Motor Focus Mechanism
VC Camera Shake Reduction System
Focus Set Button, Zoom Lock Switch
Minimum Focusing Distance: 7.5″
20 Elements in 13 Groups
9-Bladed Diaphragm
Moisture-Sealed Design, Fluorine Coating
Tamron Lens Utility Connector Port
But probably the biggest feature here is the incredible zoom range that is a full 10.7x, going from this framing at 28mm:
…all the way to this framing at 300mm:
That’s obviously going to be both incredibly useful and incredibly appealing, particularly if the image quality doesn’t suffer too much. All superzoom lenses are a serious of compromises, as the engineers have to try to solve the problems of wide angle focal lengths while also having to cope with the inherent problems of telephoto focal lengths. Part of what has made the Tamron 28-200mm so popular is how good the image quality is despite having a fairly big zoom ratio.
One of the main limitations of the new 28-300mm VXD relative to the popular 28-200mm RXD lens is the fact that this lens is very SLOW when it comes to its aperture. It is a variable aperture lens that runs from F4 on the wide end to F7.1 on the telephoto end, but it’s worse than that. It actually closes down very quickly. Here’s a look at the aperture values relative to the focal lengths:
F4 (28-31mm)
F4.5 (32-43mm)
F5 (44-53mm)
F5.6 (54-77mm)
F6.3 (78-169mm)
F7.1 (170-300mm)
Ouch! That means of the 272mm of zoom range represented here, 223mm of it is at F6.3 or slower, and only 49mm are at F5.6 or faster. By contrast, here is the breakdown on the 28-200mm:
F2.8 (28-49mm)
F3.5 (50-99mm)
F4.5 (100-149mm)
F5.6 (150-200mm)
The 28-200mm is a radically brighter lens by comparison all throughout the zoom range, and frankly this was this issue with the 28-300mm VXD that I found most frustrating during my review period. This is a lens that vastly prefers being used in good light, but if you can get that good light, you can also get good images.
So is that incredible zoom range worth the tradeoffs to light gathering? Let’s dig a little deeper and find out.
Tamron 28-300mm VXD Build and Handling
Tamron tends towards overly descriptive names for their lenses. In this case we have the Tamron 28-300mm F4-7.1 Di III VC VXD, which I suspect you’ll agree is a bit of a mouthful. We’ve talked about zoom and aperture range already, so here’s what the rest means.
Di III = Designed for Mirrorless
VC = Vibration Compensation, or Tamron’s lens based image stabilization
VXD = Voice-coil eXtreme-torque Drive (the Linear autofocus motor)
I think the Di-III designation is becoming increasingly meaningless for the simple reason that essentially all current lens design is on mirrorless, with DSLRs seeming to be done at this point.
One of the selling features of the 28-300mm VXD is that it has such a moderate size for such a big zoom range. It is larger and heavier than the 28-200mm, but, as you can see, it’s not by much.
The 28-200mm is 74 x 116.8 mm and weighs 576g, while the 28-300mm VXD is 77mm in diameter (3″) x 126 mm (5″) in length and weighs 610g (1.3lb). That’s just 34g heavier. This is one of the big reasons for the slower maximum aperture, as not only does it make the lens a little easier to engineer but also allowed those same engineers to keep the size down.
This is still a lens that will fit fair easily into most bags standing upright.
You may have also noticed that the new lens is much more attractive than the old lens. In 2020, Tamron was still sailing with the philosophy of producing simple lenses with few features but rather a focus on performance instead. It was more about what was inside the lens rather than what showed up on the outside. While Tamron has continued to develop even better optics and autofocus motors, they have changed their philosophy to modernize and improve their lens design. The newer designs (like the 28-300mm VXD) are more sculpted, have a nicer finish, and are more feature rich. The 28-200mm didn’t have any switches or buttons, but just a zoom lock button on the side to prevent zoom creep. The 28-300mm VXD includes a zoom lock but adds several other features as well.
There are a variety of functions that can be set in the software itself, everything from a preset focus position to switching between AF/MF to even establishing a proper Astro/infinity focus point. The nice thing about being able to use the Lens Utility function to assign this value is that you can program a function specific to this particular lens rather than using the default value from the camera. This lens has no AF/MF switch, for example, and that happens to be one of the choices that I could set the button to accomplish.
You also have a little more control over how you interact with the button. You can choose for it to respond at just a tap or for it have to be held down for a second before activating. That could prevent inadvertent bumps (if that proves to be an issue for you). You access the Lens Utility software on a computer or Android device by connect the computer/mobile device to the weathersealed USB-C port on the lens barrel.
In the program you can also control the behavior of the focus ring and do firmware updates.
I wouldn’t call the lens “feature rich” by modern standards, but there is certainly far more customization and control than what was found on the 28-200mm lens.
Also present on the barrel is two rings. The closer narrower of the two is the focus ring. It is raised from the lens barrel a bit (rather than flush like the 28-200mm’s ring), making it more ergonomic and visually pleasing. Manual focus emulation is quite good, and the quality damping 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. This adds to the value of the ring.
The second ring is the zoom ring and it is near the front of the lens. It is very wide and has defined ribs on it. That portion of the barrel scallops out a bit, which helps the hand to fall more naturally to it. Focus action is fairly smooth, though I do find that there is just a little more force required in the middle of the zoom range.
There is a double extension of the inner barrel during zoom action, as the inner barrel extends about 77mm during zoom. That fairly dramatically increases the length of the lens and also widens the length difference between it and the 28-200mm.
Tamron has included a nicely made, fairly shallow lens hood. The front filter size is the extremely common 67mm standard that is shared across the vast majority of Tamron’s mirrorless lenses.
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 11 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.
The 28-300mm VXD does differentiate from the 28-200mm by including Tamron’s VC, or Vibration Compensation. There was a time when I found Tamron’s VC to be the best image stabilization out there, but it’s been some time since I’ve been thoroughly impressed by VC on any new lens. It’s as if they can’t really find a way to design VC that is fully compatible with the on-board IBIS in Sony’s camera. You don’t have any way to turn either individual system off, so it is always both VC and IBIS on or off. I’m sure the VC helps, but I don’t find the lens to feel any more stable than, say, the non-stabilized 70-300mm RXD lens from Tamron. I find it telling that Tamron gives no CIPA rating for the VC, as I suspect that means that it wouldn’t be that high. I definitely got some shaky results at shutter speeds (1/80th of a second), which surprised me. I had to work pretty hard to get steady results even at 1/15th of a second, getting only fully steady results in about one out of six shots.
Tamron’s recent trends regarding MFD (minimum focus distance) hold true here, as the lens sports two different MFDs for wide (0.19m/7.5″) and telephoto (0.95m/39″). You can get to nearly 0.36x magnification on the wide end (1:2.8) and 0.26x (1:3.8) on the telephoto end. Those figures are both useful, though I will note that you have to get extremely close to your subject on the wide end, making it much harder to pull off without shading your subject.
I find the telephoto end a little easier to use because of having more working room.
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. Wide open you’ll definitely see a lot of geometric deformation towards the edge of the frame.
Stopped down the lens will produce an okay but not particularly distinct sunstar.
Tamron’s more recent lenses have had a more upscale build and feature list, but, to Tamron’s credit, they’ve also managed to keep pricing under control. The price for the now four year old 28-200mm RXD? $799 USD. The price for the new, more feature rich lens with the bigger zoom range? $899 USD. The Sony 24-240mm F3.5-6.3 OSS lens (with fewer features and worse performance) costs $1048 USD, so I think that Tamron has found a way to keep this lens appealing and a relative value.
Autofocus and Video
Tamron has given the 28-300mm VXD their premium focus system, the Voice-coil eXtreme-torque Drive (VXD), which is a high end linear focus motor.
The big knock on many all-in-one zooms (including some of Tamron’s own in the past), is that focus speed really slows down when you get to the telephoto end. The only way to solve that problem is by introducing a high powered autofocus system into the equation. I found that focus was fast enough to capture birds in flight without much issue.
In my standard focus tests I found that speed was very quick whether shooting at the wide or telephoto end of the zoom range. I was able to get a few decent BIF (bee in flight, of course!) shots where focus was quick enough to snap onto the fast moving bees.
The nature of this lens and its slow maximum apertures means that you will be shooting in a lot of “dim” lighting conditions. Autofocus often won’t have a lot of light to work with. That creates other problems, but fortunately the speed and accuracy of the autofocus system does at least help that aspect to not be a problem. I took this lens as a sole lens to an event, and while I hated shooting at the slow aperture values (and being stuck at ISO 6400 and 12,800), the 28-300mm VXD had no problem focusing in that setting.
Eye detect worked fine in my tests, both formal and practical. I got effective focus on human, animal, and insect subjects.
Here’s another:
The bottom line is that AF for stills was pretty effortless. Tamron’s VXD is a very good focus motor, and it definitely helps AF prove a strength for the 28-300mm.
Video AF is likewise excellent. When I tested focus pulls, they were snappy and confident. No settling or pulsing. Focus breathing is going to vary according to focal length, but I found it pretty good even at telephoto focal lengths.
My “hand test” where I alternately block the camera’s view with my hand and then remove the obstruction of my hand also went well. The camera moved easily from my face to my hand and vice versa. The focus change isn’t incredibly obvious due to the smaller maximum aperture, thus depth of field doesn’t change a lot.
I zoomed in and out during video capture, and didn’t see any warping and only minimal refocusing. d.
Overall the Tamron 28-300mm VXD is a very good focusing lens. I would say that focus quality is pretty much first party level; I’d definitely take it over the Sony 24-240mm.
Image Quality Breakdown
Big zoom ratios like this tend towards complex optical designs, as engineers have to try to keep a reasonable level of performance across a big zoom range. That complexity ramps up even more when you’re talking about a full frame design. So, as expected, the optical design for the 28-300mm VXD is very complex, with 20 elements in 13 groups. The MTF chart at 28mm shows good center and midframe performance, but with a marked decline into the corners. At 300mm the center is actually considerably sharper, with a similar performance in the midframe and slightly better corner performance. Not bad, really, for such a huge zoom ratio.
And, at its best, the 28-300mm VXD can produce nicely detailed images.
There are always some compromises in these types of designs, but hopefully Tamron has managed to mitigate those.
We’ll dive into the technical side of things first with a look at vignette and distortion at 28mm F4:
Predictably we have fair amount of barrel distortion (a +10 to correct) and a moderately heavy amount of vignette (a +62 to correct). That’s slightly over 2 stops of vignette. Both figures are significant but not bad. Both are easily correctable, and while the distortion isn’t 100% linear, it really doesn’t have much of a mustache pattern for this type of lens. This is actually pretty good for the wide end of a lens like this.
As you progress through the zoom range the distortion pattern changes (predictably) to a pincushion style distortion (test done at 275mm for the sake of space in my test area).
Again, however, its not severe. I was able to correct the distortion with a -8 and get a very clean result. Vignette was lighter here at a +44 (about 1.5 stops).
I don’t see a lot to complain about here. I have seen much, much worse results from many lenses with much lower zoom ratios.
LoCA (Longitudinal Chromatic Aberrations) present as a color fringing before and after the plane of focus. I saw good results at lower focal lengths but saw more pronounced fringing at 300mm. Real world LoCA wasn’t bad in most situations, however.
I looked for lateral chromatic aberrations (LaCA) near the edges of the frame, where it exhibits as fringing on either side of dark lines. I can see some mild LoCA at wide focal lengths, but nothing extreme.
Nothing much to complain about here. Tamron’s engineers have done a good job of mitigating some of the typical optical weaknesses of lenses like this.
Here’s my test chart that the crops will be taken from. Tests are done on a 61MP Sony a7RV and crops and comparisons are shown at 200% magnification.
Here’s a look at 28mm, F4 crops from the center, mid-frame, and bottom right corner:
Pretty much what the MTF chart suggested. Very good center and mid-frame results from wide open, but the corners fade very fast and look pretty mushy. That’s not just a “close distance” aberration due to the testing distances for test charts. Here’s the original image and crops from the middle and edge of the image shot at 28mm, F4 on my 50MP Alpha 1.
There’s great detail in the middle, but not so much in the corners. So does that improve if we stop the lens down?
The short answer is “not really”. Even stopped down to F8, the corners are still pretty soft.
This is a variable aperture zoom, as noted, and that affects both the maximum and minimum aperture. At 28mm, maximum aperture is F4 and minimum aperture is F22, but by 300mm the maximum aperture is F7.1 and the minimum aperture is F40. Regardless of which end of the spectrum you’re on, you can expect image quality to soften due to diffraction after F11.
By 50mm the center is very slightly less sharp, but the midframe is a tiny bit sharper and the corners look considerably better.
Stopping down a bit at 50mm will allow you to achieve pretty good sharpness all across the frame.
100mm is a little weaker, with a slighter softer image everywhere but the corners. Stopping down from F6.3 (maximum aperture) to F8 does make an obvious improvement to contrast.
The same trend is true at 200mm, where the lens isn’t particularly sharp at any point in the frame but is quite consistent overall. Stopping down to F8 does give a mild bump in contrast.
300mm is ever so slightly sharper than 200mm, though I doubt one could detect it outside of a side by side comparison at high magnification like what I did.
I’ve learned to temper my expectations on how sharp a lens like this can be, so I found that my expectations were reasonably met. An image like this at 300mm looks good at a normal viewing level:
…but less impressive when viewed at a pixel level.
As the MTF suggests, one axis (meridional) is a lot weaker than the other, so contrast isn’t amazing.
Part of what I’ve loved about the 28-200mm is that it routinely impresses me for being sharper than I expect lenses like this to me. The 28-300mm VXD, with its larger zoom range, is more in line with expectations. Image quality is fairly good, but not really great in any way.
That’s also true of the bokeh, which at times looks quite good.
This tends to be when using a long focal length fairly close, where compression can blur the background despite the aperture not being large.
That advantage gets lost at either shorter focal lengths or less advantageous distances, and that can result in a much busier background.
The reason for this is pretty simple; the Tamron 28-300mm VXD suffers from some rather pronounced outlining of the specular highlights.
You can see it in this shot, where the background looks a little busier because the outlining of defocus objects.
You can particularly see it in this series of screen shots from a video clip I have of the sun dancing off waves at the beach. I purposely defocused the image, and you can see that the specular highlights tend to look a bit harsh.
At the same time, I don’t want to oversell this, as what I’m demonstrating here is completely typical for this type of lens. Use the lens to its strengths, and it will reward you with pretty nice looking images!
Flare resistance isn’t perfect, but not bad for this type of lens. I saw some minor ghosting artifacts, but nothing significant.
The truth of the matter is numbers sell. Tamron already had an excellent 28-200mm RXD lens, which is, in fact, optically superior to this new lens. But I fully anticipate that many people will choose the new Tamron 28-300mm F4-7.1 VC VXD over the older lens. On paper it is the superior lens, with a bigger zoom range, the inclusion of VC and other features, and a better looking design, and the fact that you get an extra 100mm for only 100 extra bucks doesn’t hurt.
And that’s okay.
Different people have different needs, and some value (and understand) things like aperture more than others. The 28-300mm VXD happens to be a much better than average superzoom lens, but you need to be aware that you aren’t going to get G Master performance all throughout that big zoom range.
But I don’t want to discount what you do get, which includes an extremely useful focal range, an excellent build that includes thorough weather sealing and some useful features, and great autofocus. It is very rare in history that any superzoom lens could claim all of those features, which makes the Tamron 28-300mm F4-7.1 VC VXD a great value lens at just $899 USD.
Pros:
Big, useful zoom range is the largest zoom ratio on Sony FF
Beautiful build
Useful features
Thorough weather sealing
Extremely fast autofocus
Good focus accuracy
Video AF works well
Fairly well controlled distortion and vignette for superzoom
Keywords: #withmytamron, Tamron, 28-300mm, Tamron 28-300mm Review, Tamron 28-300 Sony, Di III, VC, VXD, Travel, Tamron 28-200mm, Full Frame, All-in-One, F4-7.1, Review, Sony Alpha 1, Sony a7RV, Review, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Bokeh, Flare Resistance, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Photography, let the light in, weathersealing, #letthelightin, DA
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I periodically get asked a question that goes something like this, “If you could only own one lens, which lens would it be?” That’s a terrible question for a gear guy, as my whole business is spending time with a LOT of lenses and cameras. I own current cameras from four different brands (Sony, Canon, Nikon, and Fuji), and own lenses from all of those brands plus Tamron, Sigma, Samyang, Viltrox, Laowa, Voigtländer, Zeiss, 7artisans, TTArtisan, Thypoch, and Yongnuo…plus classic lenses from Takumar, Pentax, Helios, and more. I don’t WANT to own just one lens…but if I had to, it would currently be the Tamron 35-150mm F2-2.8 Di III VXD. Since I added that lens to my kit (on Sony E-mount) in October of 2022, it has been my most used lens because it is easily the best option for when I need to capture events or need versatility. I’ve even used it some for travel despite it being larger than optimal for that purpose because it is just so good. It combines great image quality with a hugely useful focal range and a fast maximum aperture throughout. But since adding Nikon to my personal kit in 2024 (I bought a Nikon Z8 in May of 2024), and since Z-mount has been slowly opening to Tamron products, I was very interested in seeing how my favorite lens works on my pretty impressive Nikon Z8 body. You can get my full thoughts in my video review below…or keep reading.
Thanks to Tamron USA for sending me a review copy of this lens. As always, this is a completely independent review. All opinions and conclusions are my own.*The tests and most of the photos that I share as a part of my review cycle have been done with the 45MP Nikon Z8, which I reviewed here.
At this stage the optical prowess of this lens is well documented, and I’ve actually put it to harder optical tests on Sony due to having higher resolution bodies available there. The 45MP of my Nikon Z8 is high resolution, to be sure, but not nearly as high of resolution as the 61MP of my Sony a7RV. I was more interested in seeing how well the lens functioned on Nikon. How well did it autofocus? Were there any unexpected quirks that showed up in the transition? Are there any actual improvements?
As I look back over my images, I’ve used the 35-150Z (as I’ll call it for brevity in this review) for church events, graduations, portraits, general purpose photos, and more. I’ve used it in very dimly sit gyms, conferences centers, churches, for fireworks, and on sports fields. In all of these venues the lens has performed exceptionally well, delivering well focused results (even when shooting in very dim conditions) and exceptional image quality.
The 35-150Z is not an inexpensive lens. As has been the trend with the Z-mount versions of Tamron lenses, it is a bit more expensive on Nikon than it was on Sony. The Z-mount version has an MSRP of $2000 USD, while the E-mount debuted at $1900 USD. I suspect that the extra money is probably a license fee to Nikon (for access to Z mount) that is being passed on to consumers, though I don’t have independent verification of that. It’s also not a small lens, and the larger mount diameter of Z-mount adds about 15 additional grams to the weight (1188g on my scale).
But the Tamron 35-150Z is worth it. It is so versatile and essentially is good at everything.
This review will be a mixture of new content along with some existing content, as the build, design, and basic specifications are the same as the Sony E-mount version. I will thoroughly update the review with appropriate autofocus, optical, and handling updates for Z-mount.
Build and Handling
The 35-150Z is, as noted, not a small lens. 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 (which is actually sold under the Nikkor brand on Z-mount). That lens was only 151mm long (about 50mm less than the typical 70-200mm) and weighed only 795g. 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 (1188g vs 810g). The 35-150Z is 89.2mm (3.5″) in diameter and 158mm (6.2″) in length. It weighs (according to Tamron) 1165g (41.1oz), but I don’t think that figure has been update to account for the additional weight due to the larger mount diameter. You can see how much bigger the mount area is compared to the Sony E-mount version (on the left).
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 35-150Z will produce a natural sorting effect on potential buyers. It’s less of travel lens (unless you don’t mind some size and weight, which I documented in this article here) 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 35-150Z 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.
So yes, this is a large lens, but not larger than the multiple lenses that it could replace.
Tamron’s previous design philosophy had been pretty spartan, but the 35-150Z is a more expensive lens and has been given a little more premium treatment in terms of features. We have function buttons in a total of three positions to allow easy access whether in landscape or portrait orientation. This button can be programmed to different functions from within your camera body…or by using Tamron’s Lens Utility Software (more on that in a moment).
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 the weathersealed USB-C port on the side of the lens.
Simply attach the lens to your computer (or Android device) via USB-C 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, 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. This is a very well made 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 some of Tamron’s other zoom lenses. I have found that sometimes when working with two of Tamron’s lenses at the same time, 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 45mm. 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 started upping their game with their physical designs about the time of the release of the E-mount version of the 35-150mm. 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. I’ll also note that I’ve been using my E-mount version of the lens extensively for about three years, and it still looks as new as the Z-mount version I’m reviewing now.
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 at 35mm.
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. I lean towards the 150mm end due to the better working distance and more strongly blurred backgrounds.
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 35-150Z. In my case that didn’t prove an issue due to the excellent IBIS (in camera VR) of my Nikon Z8 body, though nor mileage may vary based on your camera.
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 a strongly reinforced lens mount. 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. I haven’t really missed having a tripod collar much in three years of ownership of the E-mount version.
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. It is a nice match to my larger Z8 body, though those shooting with a smaller camera may have more of a balance issue.
Autofocus and Video
Tamron has given the 35-150Z their premium focus system, the Voice-coil eXtreme-torque Drive (VXD), which is a high end linear focus motor.
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. I’ve found it has kept up with everything that I’ve used the lens for over the past 5-6 weeks (and for years on the Sony version).
Focus sound is very quiet, with just some very faint whirring if you put your ear near to the barrel. Focus speed is just one notch below the very fastest lenses, and it is “fast” rather than “instant”. The best focusing lenses have multiple motors to drive focus; from what I can tell the 35-150Z has just one…but a very good one. In most situations focus speed is near instant in practice.
One of the most challenging situations I threw at the lens was a middle school graduation. Their theme was “Under the Sea”, which meant that the gym lighting was extremely low. I had to shoot the whole thing at very high ISO settings (minimum 12,800), which means that the focus system of the camera/lens combo was being challenged. While it was difficult to maintain the kind of shutter speed that I would prefer in that setting when people were moving around, I was very satisfied with the quality of focus on my various shots.
We shared my photos far and wide with parents of graduates because few of their photos turned out in those lighting conditions. When things slowed down after the ceremony, I was able to get some surprisingly good photos even though I was shooting at ISO 12,800 (and only a shutter speed of 1/60th of a second here, which shows you how dim the lighting was.
The combination of a great focus system in the Z8 and an effective focus motor in the 35-150Z made this challenging situation relatively easy. I shot a high school graduation as well, and while the lighting was slightly better there, I lived at ISO 12,800 there as well. I shot hundreds of well focused photos throughout the evening.
All of this means that shooting in better lit situations was a piece of cake. Even the typical event lighting (1600-3200) produced essentially instant focus results.
This really is an amazing event or wedding lens, and the focus system delivers nearly instant results in a variety of lighting conditions.
It is also a fantastic portrait lens, with eye detect working consistently well.
Tamron lenses on Nikon are more compelling for sports than on Sony due to Nikon not having an artificial limit on burst speed. I can shoot at the full 30 FPS on my Z8, and autofocus seems capable of keeping up. Here’s a shot from a sequence of fireworks on Canada Day this year.
Video AF is likewise excellent. When I tested focus pulls, they were snappy and confident. No settling or pulsing. There is some focus breathing, but not a significant amount.
My “hand test” where I alternately block the camera’s view with my hand and then remove the obstruction of my hand went fairly well. Focus moved back and forth fairly well (though it sometimes lingered a bit on either my hand or face), but when locking onto my face the focus was precise and stable.
Overall the Tamron 35-150mm F2-2.8 VXD is a very good focusing lens on Nikon. I would say that focus quality is pretty much first party level.
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. Here’s one of my favorites from the Sony E-mount version:
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.
The Nikon Z-mount version is the same lens optically, so the truth of the matter is that I’ve already given it a sterner test on Sony due to the higher resolutions available there. What I do find that varies from mount to mount is the amount of vignette present. Different mounts have different diameters, so in this case the larger diameter of the Z-mount often translates into more vignette.
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, as expected, more vignette than on Sony (+62 to correct on Nikon, a +42 to correct on Sony). That’s between 2 and 3 stops in the corners. Profile corrections in camera (JPEG or video) or in software (RAW files) will correct things painlessly.
At 150mm the distortion increases (-9 to correct) as does vignette, and the gap between Z-mount and E-mount is more significant.
Vignette only required a +44 to correct on Sony, while I had to dial in a +80 for the result above on Z-mount.
I didn’t see any issue with color fringing in my tests. It seems to be very well controlled.
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.
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 roughly 200% and are from the 45MP sensor of my Z8. 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.
I haven’t hesitated to use the lens at F2 and F2.8 for people shots at 35mm. There’s plenty of detail there.
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. Details for portrait work looks great, however, with great contrast and detail even at 100%.
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.
In my Sony E-mount review I tested more focal lengths, but since I’ve already tested the lens at a higher resolution point than I can on Nikon, I’m going to move on to 150mm here. You can look back to the Sony review if you want more information at other focal lengths.
150mm continues to look very strong, without the big drop-off that often afflicts zooms with a big zoom range. The center is extremely sharp, the mid-frame is good, and the corners, while softer compared to other spots, are still very crisp.
150mm was easily my most used focal length during my review period, and I was consistently happy with real world sharpness in a variety of situations.
As a variable aperture zoom it is not only the maximum aperture that varies (F2 – F2.8), but also the minimum aperture, which varies from F16 – F22. After F11 you will see some softening of the image due to the effects of diffraction. How much will vary depending on the resolution level of your camera.
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 throughout their mirrorless design phase.
I’ll also add that real world images had a lot of “pop” to them. That pro-grade contrast, color, and subject isolation makes images look great.
In my initial Sony review, I noted that the one optical vulnerability was flare resistance. In the years since that review, and having used the lens for thousands of shots, I haven’t actually found it to a major issue. I do see some flare artifacts periodically, but rarely the “image breaking” variety. And during my review of the Nikon Z-mount version, it’s been even less of an issue. I’m not sure if the coatings have been improved a bit over time, or if I just haven’t encountered the same kinds of lighting conditions that caused me problems in my initial review. You can see in this shot, for example, that there are some minor flare artifacts, but nothing too serious.
You are most likely to encounter issues on the telephoto end with strongly backlit subjects, but it is often easier to avoid the backlighting with a narrower angle of view.
I generally found bokeh to be very pleasing from the lens. A lot of images showed really soft, artful bokeh rendering. Specular highlights on the wide end are surprisingly round across the frame even at F2.
Longer focal lengths will allow you to strongly blur the background at F2.8.
This will allow you to get the nice, shallow depth of field for portraits that we all like.
A few situations with busier backgrounds looked a little less pleasing to my eye, but neither is the bokeh objectionable here, either.
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.
All told, there is a whole lot of good going on here, and one of the huge attractions of the Tamron 35-150Z is that is allows you such amazing flexibility in the zoom range but without compromising image quality. Check out the image gallery link here for more photos.
Conclusion
In general, I remain a huge fan of the Tamron 35-150mm F2-2.8 Di III VXD lens on Nikon as well as Sony. The 35-150Z is big, heavy, and expensive, but it also does just about everything very competently, and you could easily justify it as your solo lens. It can replace multiple lenses easily, and very likely best them in optical performance at the same time.
A lot of the images in this review are “practical” images, as I find the 35-150Z my “go-to” lens when I want to take a single lens along. I find it the best event lens that I’ve ever used, and I’m consistently happy with both the versality of the lens during image capture and the images that I’m able to capture with it.
This is a huge addition to the Nikon Z-mount platform, as there is no other lens quite like this for the system. I genuinely think this is a “system selling” kind of lens, and it’s addition on Z-mount is big enough that it might sway me if I were debating between, say, Canon RF and Nikon Z. The Tamron 35-150mm F-2.8 Di III VXD lens is just that good. Now you just have to come up with $2000 to buy one!
Pros:
Innovative and useful focal range
Larger maximum aperture than competitors at points
Advanced weather sealing with 11 seal points
Fluorine coating
Functional and attractive shape
Excellent feature set
Good build and action of rings
Long term durability (*based on Sony E-mount version
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 initially released the Tamron 70-300mm F4.5-6.3 Di III RXD back in 2020 (Tamron code A047) on Sony E-mount. I gave it a solid review, noting that it combined light weight, solid autofocus, and a very good optical performance at a excellent price of $549 USD. My chief complaints centered around having no lens-based stabilization (relying on in-camera stabilization if the camera was so equipped), weak corner performance on the wide end, and a lack of a zoom lock to prevent zoom creep while hiking or backpacking with it. At the time Canon’s RF mount and Nikon’s Z-mount were closed to third party development, meaning that that the 70-300mm was a Sony exclusive. While Canon has remained very stubborn about opening their full frame RF mount to third parties, Nikon has begun to loosen up their Z mount, which has allowed a number of important Tamron zooms to cross over to Nikon. The 70-300mm F4.5-6.3 RXD was the first of these. And while this is the same basic lens, the 70-300 Z (as we’ll refer to it in this review), this is the superior version of the lens to have for a few Nikon-specific reasons. The price has increased a bit in the transition to Nikon (MSRP rose from $549 to $699, though it is currently discounted to $599 at the time of this review), but this is still a bargain at that price. Find out why in my video review below or by reading on.
Thanks to Tamron US for sending me a review copy of this lens. As always, this is a completely independent review. All opinions and conclusions are my own.*The tests and most of the photos that I share as a part of my review cycle have been done with the 45MP Nikon Z8, which I reviewed here.
Here are a few of the key features of the 70-300 Z:
Z-Mount Lens/Full-Frame Format
Weather sealed USB-C port
Low Dispersion Front Element
BBAR Broad-Brand Anti-Reflection Coating
RXD Stepping AF Motor
Moisture-Resistant Construction
Rounded 7-Blade Diaphragm
I noted that there are some key Nikon specific improvements. Only one of these is a physical change, but it is a positive one. More recent Tamron lenses have typically included a weather sealed USB-C port that allow the lens to be connected to a computer or Android device and for one to use Tamron’s free Lens Utility Software to do firmware updates and to make a variety of tweaks to the lens behavior. Now in this case the functionality is limited to just firmware updates as the lens isn’t really designed with any customizable aspects, but I do find that this is a very quick and clean way to do firmware updates.
But more substantial improvements come in the different way that Nikon cameras function and what artificial limitations are imposed. On Sony there is a broad restriction on maximum burst speed for any non-Sony lens, namely that the maximum burst rate achievable with a third party lens like this Tamron mount will be capped at 15FPS. I own Sony’s Alpha 1, which is capable of achieving 30FPS, which means that I can only get half of the maximum burst rate with a Tamron mounted. This just isn’t the case on Nikon, and so I can shoot at the full 30FPS achievable of my Z8 and with excellent autofocus throughout. The 70-300 Z felt like a much more capable sports lens mounted on my Z8:
The second improvement is related to camera based stabilization (IBIS, or In Body Image Stabilization). In 2020 I used a Sony a7RIII and a9 as my test cameras, and while the IBIS was rated at 5.5 stops in the a7RIII, the real world performance rarely came anywhere near that number. It was notably weaker when shooting with telephoto lenses, so I found that I did miss having lens-based stabilization in the 70-300mm. On paper the IBIS in the Z8 is only a little better (6 rated stops of stabilization), but in real world practice the difference was much more extreme. In practice the stabilization at 300mm on the Sony cameras was more like 2-2.5 stops, while on the Z8 I was easily able to get repeatable results at 300mm, 1/8th of a second, which is more than 5 stops of assistance. Getting 6 stops certainly seems feasible.
Now, to be fair, my newer Sony cameras today are capable of better results than those older cameras, but I still find that the VR feels more solid with these unstabilized telephoto lenses on Nikon than what I find on Sony. In fact, I was more successful in shooting this handheld test on my Z8 with the unstabilized 70-300 Z than I was in shooting with the brand new Tamron 50-300mm VC (which does have stabilization) on my Sony a7RV (which, in theory, is rated for up to 8 stops of assistance).
Bottom line: the 70-300mm definitely performs better on Nikon Z than it did on Sony E. But that does raise a key argument: what about that new Tamron 50-300mm VC? (which I reviewed here) It is a much improved lens, but once again it initially arrives as a Sony exclusive. I have some confidence that it will make its way to Z-mount (where I would be very interested in getting one), but that does create some cloud over whether one should buy the 70-300Z for now. The 50-300mm on Sony has come at a $250 price premium, so the 70-300mm will undoubtedly continue to be the value option.
Build and Handling
Tamron’s early philosophy on their Di III (mirrorless) designs was banking on the proposition that people are more interested in strong performance at a value price than they are on features that they may or may not use. Tamron’s focus on performance (both optical and autofocus) has allowed their zoom lenses to be very strong optically relative to the competition even while offering considerably less in the features department. This has changed in their newer designs, which have become more feature rich, but the 70-300 Z harkens from that earlier design philosophy. The design language is simple and uncluttered, but it is also very bare – no switches or even a zoom lock – just the narrow manual focus ring and then the larger, more thickly ribbed zoom ring.
The design of that manual focus ring leaves a bit to be desired. It is flush mounted and thus doesn’t fall to hand as easily. Because its edge is flush with the lens barrel, it isn’t easy to do single finger adjustments due to some of the finger’s pressure going to the lens barrel rather than the ring. I also find that the damping isn’t amazing, and while it is possible to focus with precision (and manual focus is great on the Z8!), the feel isn’t nearly as nice as some other lenses.
The Z-mount version of this lens has grown a bit to accommodate both the larger diameter of the Z-mount as compared to Sony’s E-mount and also to deal with the difference in the flange distance from the sensor to the beginning of the lens elements required for proper focus. The Z-mount version is heavier (580g, or 20.5oz) vs 545g (19.2oz) for the Sony E-mount version. The 70-300 Z is also a bit longer (150.3mm or 5.9″) vs 148mm for the E-mount version. The diameter stays the same (77mm or 3″), as while the lens is wider at the lens mount, that isn’t the widest portion of the lens. Tamron retains the 67mm front filter thread that is shared across the vast majority of their mirrorless lenses, making filter sharing very easy.
The Tamron 70-300 Z is a bit larger and heavier, yes, but not enough to meaningfully change anything. I actually found the lens more comfortable to use on Nikon due to having more knuckle room between the Z8’s grip and the lens barrel.
This is definitely lighter than most all competing lenses in this class. Tamron does note, “Taking the weight savings even further, we used a specially treated, high-strength aluminum-magnesium alloy, the first time Tamron has used this material in the mount components of a lens for full-frame mirrorless cameras. The new design maintains excellent strength while successfully reducing weight to around 68% of previous mounts.” So, to be fair, the weight savings wasn’t just achieved by cutting features.
This is an externally zooming design, and when you twist the large zoom ring the lens barrel will extend about 59mm additionally. Here’s the retracted length:
…along with the fully extended length:
The zoom action is fairly smooth, though there’s a bit of a “pump” action at points where it feels like air is being pushed. I don’t love that sensation, as it feels like there is a risk of dust being brought into the lens. Tamron has counteracted that possibility with a nice degree of weather sealing, including a gasket at the lens mount along with internal seals at the rings and front element. Special coatings on the front element help resist fingerprints and moisture.
I’ve never owned this lens or used it long term, so I can’t attest to how well the lens resists dust over the long haul. I will note that I’ve never received complaints about dust intrusion from my YouTube audience, so I suspect it isn’t a problem.
There are no switches on the barrel, so you’ll have to choose between AF/MF and (potentially) control the IBIS (if your camera has it) from within the camera. Also missing is a zoom lock that will keep the lens locked in the retracted position and keep it from inadvertently zooming. I definitely found while hiking that the A047 would end up zoomed after a bit either from from friction or gravity. Not a big deal, per se, but I do prefer to having the locking option. The only feature outside of the ring on the lens barrel is the USB-C port (which is weather sealed to prevent water intrusion much like what is found on most modern cell phones).
The Tamron 70-300 Z fills a definite hole in the Nikon Z lineup. This focal range in covered in part by some 70-180 or 70-200mm F2.8 zooms, but those cost 2-4x as much, and by by the 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 VR S lens, though that lens costs more than 4x as much. The Tamron 70-300 Z ably helps fill the spot that Tamron and Sigma are best suited to – high performing mid-tier lenses that are much more affordable.
Also worth noting is that this lens is not compatible with any teleconverters, though that is pretty typical for this class of lens. They are too small to leave room for teleconverters to physically mount at the rear.
A fairly deep lens hood is included, and this (along with internal BBAR coatings), helps with flare resistance.
The build itself is nothing fancy, but it does feel fairly tough and the zooms from this series that I’ve personally owned for years have held up well with no evidence of wear or dysfunction.
This is a variable aperture zoom, going from F4.5 on the wide end to F6.3 on the telephoto end. The lens moves through apertures like this:
70-112mm – F4.5
113-154mm – F5
155-241mm – F5.6
242-300mm – F6.3
This is a fairly strong performance, and is one area that the newer 50-300mm VC lens has actually regressed in.
As has become common with these Tamron zooms, there are two different minimum focus distances. At 70mm, you can focus as closely as 0.8m (31.5 in) or 1.5m (59.1 in) on the telephoto end. At 70mm, the maximum magnification is only about 0.11x (1:9.4), and looks like this:
At 300mm, the magnification figure increases to right under 0.20x (1:5.1), which looks like this:
The latter figure is more obviously useful, and that, combined with the compression from the longer focal length, allows for nicely blurred backgrounds and good detail.
So this is a fairly simple lens, and it is in the feature section that some of these Tamron zooms come up short, but fortunately better news lies ahead…
Autofocus and Video
The 70-300 Z is equipped with Tamron’s RXD (Rapid eXtra-silent stepping Drive) focus system (yes, Tamron was very randomly selective with what letter they chose to highlight!) This high-speed stepping motor has been smooth, powerful, and quiet in each of the applications I’ve seen it in. Tamron has moved to their VXD linear focus motor in newer, more expensive lenses, but that doesn’t stop this lens from performing well here. Focus is very fast, very quiet, and very smooth. The only time I’ve saw focus slow down is in very poor light on the telephoto end (F6.3 doesn’t allow as much light to reach the sensor as, say, an F2.8 zoom, which is part of the reason why zooms like that are valuable for event work).
I’m quite new to Nikon and its autofocus system, but I intentionally chose the Z8 because of its (deserved) reputation for great autofocus. I’ve been very pleasantly surprised by how well the 70-300 Z focuses on my Z8. Even during fast action (and a low shutter speed), I could both get motion blur of the bats while also getting clear focus of the batter’s faces during a softball game.
I got good eye detect performance while out capturing wildlife, from turkeys:
…to deer and birds.
Focus is nice and quiet, and speed is very good, though not quite as instantaneous as Tamron’s VXD-equipped lenses. Focus accuracy was excellent, whether it be with a human subject:
…or with an animal subject.
On the video front, focus pulls were fast and mostly confident, though I did see an occasional micro-pulse in there. Video footage stood out as being very crisp and detailed, and focus breathing wasn’t too bad.
My hand test (where I alternately use my hand to block the camera’s view of my face and then remove it didn’t go great, but largely because I think the camera is pretty determined to stay locked on my face despite the distraction of the hand. It simply ignored my hand and stayed locked on my face beyond.
Still, all things considered, this is a pretty strong autofocus performance. A $600 telephoto that can keep up with action at 30FPS is pretty great, so I see nothing to complain about here.
Tamron 70-300 Z Image Quality Breakdown
Optical performance has been a place where the Tamron zooms for Sony have really shined, often competing with (and even besting) much more expensive first party options. Does that trend continue here? First of all, a quick look at the MTF performance and optical specifications:
This is obviously the same lens optically as what I tested on Sony, but I went ahead and retested on the 45MP Nikon Z to assure that my past findings remain true on this new system. The MTF chart suggests a very sharp lens in the center of the frame, but with a much more consistent performance at 300mm than at 70mm. We’ll explore that in a moment, but first, a look at vignette and distortion at 70mm:
As with the Sony version, there is basically no distortion at 70mm. Unlike the Sony version, however, is that vignette is heavier here on Nikon. I needed a +74 to correct it and noticed that with my chart tests that I need to increase the vignette correction on the standard profile (originally set up for Sony) to accommodate the roughly one additional stop of vignette.
In the middle of the zoom range the distortion pattern changes to a pincushion style distortion.
I used a -8 to correct the distortion. It is nice and linear and corrected well. Vignette has reduced, requiring just a +44 to correct for it.
At 300mm the pattern remains the same, though with slightly less distortion.
I used a -6 to correct the distortion, but the vignette has gotten much heavier, requiring a whopping +90 to correct for.
Vignette is definitely more pronounced on Nikon than on Sony. One can tell the optical design was Sony first at least in this regard.
Longitudinal chromatic aberrations come in the form of color fringing before and after the plane of focus, but we can see that they are extremely well controlled on this lens.
Real world results also showed minimal amounts of fringing.
There are also minimal amounts of fringing near the edges of the frame when stopped down.
So let’s turn out attention to resolution and contrast. These results are from a 45MP Nikon Z8 and crops at shown at approximately 200% to exaggerate strengths and weaknesses. Here’s the test chart:
And here are 70mm, F4.5 crops from across the frame:
We see exactly what the MTF suggests: a great center performance, good mid-frame results, and soft corners.
And those corners never really sharpen up at 70mm. By F8 they are improved, but still pretty soft.
The same is true for real world results. This 70mm shot at F8 is nice and crisp in the center and mid-frame, but you can see that the corners look pretty soft.
This is one of the areas that are improved on the new 50-300mm lens.
Moving on to 100mm shows an interesting quirk on Nikon. The Z8 shows a little more precision in terms of the aperture value, so we can see that the effective aperture has closed a bit to F4.8 (not yet F5). Sharpness is improved all across the frame at 100mm. You can particularly see that along the edges of the frame, which are obviously sharper than at 70mm.
You’ll see more gains to sharpness and contrast at F5.6 and F8. Corners are sharpest at F8, though sharpness still isn’t as exceptional there as it is elsewhere in the frame.
Minimum aperture varies depending on the starting maximum aperture, running from F22 on the wide end to F32 on the telephoto end. You will want to avoid the minimum aperture due to diffraction reducing contrast and detail. You can see a pretty remarkable difference between F11 and F25 here:
Image quality remains excellent at 135mm, with the corners looking better than any previous focal length.
200mm is also nice and consistent. It isn’t quite as sharp in the center, but is better everywhere else. Corners are looking better than ever, and the rule of thirds area of the frame is nice and sharp.
Real world shots in this range look nice and sharp.
300mm is much like 200mm, though perhaps a percentage point or two less sharp. As the MTF suggests, the center isn’t quite as sharp as the wide end, but the sharpness profile is much more consistent across the frame. It is pretty much good everywhere.
This translates into nicely detailed results even at F6.3:
As you can see from the shot above, you can create very nice bokeh when you are shooting on the telephoto end and are relatively close to your subject.
But images look pretty good even when I’m a bit further away from the subject. You can see in this shot of a resting duck that both the bokeh and detail look good at 300mm, F6.3:
You can see that even with a slightly busier background the overall look of the image here is very nice.
Tamron’s BBAR coatings do a good job with flare resistance. I saw relatively little ghosting or veiling with the lens pointed towards the sun.
All in all this is a good optical result. Corner sharpness isn’t very good on the wider end, and there’s a bit more vignette here on Nikon, but outside of that we’ve got a lens capable of producing very nice images in a wide variety of circumstances.
Conclusion
This is my first review of a Tamron lens in a Z-mount, and it has been a satisfying experience. It’s nice to see a familiar lens grow in function and value due to there not being artificial limits imposed upon it. The Tamron 70-300mm F4.5-6.3 RXD is a bit more expensive on Nikon Z, but the additional performance is well worth the small price premium.
Autofocus seems to have made the transition to Z mount extremely well, with good speed, accuracy, and confidence. I’m also really enjoying the better stability for the lens that I’ve found on my Z8 versus on Sony bodies.
The truth of the matter is there are few direct competitors for this lens on Z-mount, so it really fits a need. It provides a quality telephoto option on a budget. No, there isn’t much here in terms of features, but if your goal is just to take nice pictures with good autofocus (and have some weather sealing on your lens), then this 70-300 Z checks a lot of boxes for the budget price of $600 USD.
Yes, there is a new and improved 50-300mm VC on the horizon, but there is no guarantee as to how soon we’ll see that lens on Z mount, particularly considering that none of the 2023 Tamron releases have made it to Z-mount yet. In the meantime, this is a perfectly capable lens that was generally fun to use during my review period and provided me a number of photos I was very happy with.
Pros:
Fits a real need in the Z mount lineup
Addition of USB-C port for firmware updates
Weather sealing
Light weight
No artificial limit on burst speed
Autofocus kept up with action
Good focus precision and speed
Very sharp center and mid-frame throughout zoom range
Keywords: #withmytamron, Tamron 70-300mm, RXD, Di III, F4.5-6.3, Tamron 70-300 Z Review, Nikon, Nikon Z8, Z, Z-mount, Z8, Review, mirrorless, Full Frame, Sports, Tracking, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Handling, Focus, Portraits, Resolution, High ISO, Image Quality, Sample Images, Photography, 45MP, #letthelightin, #DA, #NIKON, #Z8, #NIKONZ8
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 has been working through their early zoom lenses for Sony E-mount with new G2 versions. These typically involve more features, beautiful build quality, and often a focus motor upgrade (from the earlier RXD focal motors to the higher powered VXD motors). Tamron’s newest lens doesn’t carry a G2 designation, because, while all of those previous things are true of it, they’ve also expanded the zoom range to make an entirely new zoom lens. I reviewed the predecessor of this lens (the Tamron 70-300mm F4.5-6.3 RXD) back in 2020, and concluded that it focused well and had great image quality, but it lacked any features (including a zoom lock) and could use lens based stabilization. Tamron must have agreed, as the new Tamron 50-300mm F4.5-6.3 Di III VC VXD is more feature rich, has a nicer build, has a zoom lock, and has image stabilization as well. It has a ton of other upgrades as well, making this a very attractive and slightly upmarket alternative to the previous lens. It’s also priced a little higher $799 USD, but still offers a very strong value relative to competing lenses. So is it worth buying? Find out in my video review below or by reading on here.
Thanks to Tamron USA for sending me a review loaner of this lens. 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 a7RV along with the Sony Alpha 1 that serve as my benchmark cameras for Sony lenses.
Tamron’s lens names tend to be long and descriptive…but not necessarily clear to the uninitiated. Here’s what all of those letters mean:
Di III = Designed for mirrorless (in this case, Sony E-mount, though expect a Nikon Z and perhaps even a Fuji X-mount version in the future).
VC = Vibration Compensation, Tamron’s in lens stabilization system
VXD = Voice-coil eXtreme-torque Drive (a linear focus motor)
Here are the standout features of the new lens:
Expanded zoom range (6x zoom ratio)
Vibration Compensation
Custom/function button
Weather sealed USB-C port for firmware updates and customization through Tamron’s Lens Utility software
Zoom lock
1:2 macro performance at 70mm (0.50x) | also achieves 0.32x magnification at 300mm
Weather resistance
High powered VXD focus motor
Improved image quality
There’s a lot of serious improvements to this design, and while the price tag has grown by $250 over the previous lens, this is a much more premium lens with a lot of serious upgrades. It’s worth noting that Sony’s own 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 G OSS lens retails at $1273 (nearly $500 more), so Tamron is still bringing a lot of value to the table.
And this lens is a treat to use. It is relatively compact, handles well, and has gorgeous image quality. That extra 20mm on the wide end makes the lens even more versatile. You can stand in the same spot and frame like this at 50mm:
…or this at 300mm:
That’s the kind of focal range we can all find useful. Let’s take a deeper dive into the performance together.
Build and Handling
Before I dive into the all of the goodness here, there is one area where there is a bit of regression. This is a lens that only grew 2mm in length while adding a number of features and a bigger zoom range. Something has to give, and what gave was a bit of light gathering. As before, this is a variable aperture zoom, going from F4.5 on the wide end to F6.3 on the telephoto end. As you zoom out, the maximum aperture reduces, but in this case it does so at a faster rate than the Tamron 70-300. Here’s the relationship of focal length with aperture with the 70-300’s range in brackets.
50-70mm – F4.5 (70-112mm)
71-101mm – F5 (113-154mm)
102-181mm – F5.6 (155-241mm)
182-300mm – F6.3 (242-300mm)
From 71mm on, the 50-300 VC will be less bright than the previous lens. You arrive at the smallest maximum aperture of F6.3 a full 60mm earlier than with the 70-300mm. If there is any consolation, the inclusion of VC should help to offset the slight loss of light gathering.
The overall length of the lens when retracted is 150mm (5.9″), which is nice and compact. As mentioned, the previous lens was 148mm, so we’ve gained very little length for all of the additions here.
This is an externally zooming lens, however, so the length will grow by about 57mm when fully zoomed to the 300mm position.
The diameter of the lens is 78mm (3.1″), though they’ve managed to retain the 67mm front filter size that is shared by the majority of Tamron’s Di III (mirrorless) lenses.
The lens has gained some weight, however, and now weighs 665g (23.5 oz), which is 120g heavier than the 70-300mm from Tamron but weighs nearly 200g less than the Sony 70-300, which means that Tamron has done a good job of adding the weight of the VC (and extended zoom range) while keeping the weight moderate. Like other lenses in this class there is neither an included tripod collar or even an optional one available. I had no problem balancing this lens on my tripod, though.
This is much more sculpted design than the previous generation lens. I happened to have the Nikon Z-mount of the 70-300mm on hand, and while the mounts are different (that changes the look near the mount), you can see that the new lens has much more style to it. It has a nicer finish and has some flow in and out on the lens barrel that serves both a stylistic and ergonomic purpose.
On the stylistic side of things, this is a more premium looking design. It’s not just a pop-can shape like before, but looks slimmer despite technically being 1mm wider.
But more important are the ergonomic improvements. That scalloped section in the middle gives a very natural place for the hand to go while supporting the lens, and both the function button and the zoom lock fall perfectly to hand. I could use both of these features one handed and without moving from the shooting position. That’s good ergonomic design.
The zoom lock only works at 50mm, and its purpose is to prevent zoom creep while hiking or moving with the lens. It does the job.
The two rings on the lens also benefit from that scalloped section. The closer of the two rings is the focus ring, and the new design allows it to be both wider and no longer just flush with the lens barrel. It is much easier to find by feel and the overall feel of the ring is markedly better than the older lens. This is a huge improvement.
The zoom ring also benefits, as while it is a little less wide than the previous lens (which was unnecessarily wide), it also is raised, falls more easily to hand, and zooms much smoother. The older lens had somewhat of a “pump” feel to it that made you hope the weather seals were doing their job, but the 50-300 VC zooms smoother and doesn’t ever feel like it is sucking air. It’s a definite improvement to both rings. This new design not only looks better; it works better.
Custom/function buttons have become fairly ubiquitous on the better lenses, but Tamron has a bit of their own twist to them. You can always set the function of the button from within the camera, but Tamron will also allow you to set function via their Lens Utility Software. You can access the lens via the weather sealed USB-C port on the side of the lens.
Those with an Android mobile device can connect here as well, though at the moment iOS users are out in the cold. Once connected you can use the software to tweak the performance of the lens in several ways, or you can apply firmware updates directly via the (free) Lens Utility software.
Also included is a lens hood. This hood is a little shallower than the one on the 70-300, and is scalloped to allow it provide good protection but with less bulk. That’s obviously welcome.
This actually makes the 50-300 VC shorter than the older lens if you use the lens hoods.
The 50-300 VC has thorough weather sealing, including a gasket at the lens mount, internal seals, and a fluorine coating on the front element. This is a lens ready to head outdoors with you.
As noted, Tamron has included their VC (vibration compensation) on this lens. This is extremely welcome, as I found with the previous lens that while Sony’s IBIS (in camera stabilization) is effective at shorter focal lengths, it doesn’t offer as much stability as I would like when shooting at longer focal lengths. Tamron doesn’t make any claims on the ratings of the VC here, but it does help in two specific ways:
When handholding video. There is some AI assistance to help get even better results up to 100mm, but there’s also an improvement in handholding at 300mm.
A huge improvement when handholding photos at longer telephoto lengths.
Look at the difference between handheld shots with the VC turned off and then VC turned on (both shots 1/20th of a second at 300mm):
I know which one I prefer!
You may have noticed that I haven’t mentioned an ON | OFF switch for the VC, as there isn’t one. If you have a camera equipped with IBIS, turning on the IBIS turns on the VC, and turning it off turns off the VC. You can’t independently control the two, so I also can’t tell you what if the VC works in harmony with the IBIS or in place of it. What I can tell you is that I noticed a lack of stability when shooting at 300mm back when I did my 70-300mm review (no VC), and that I have had no such problem with this new lens. That’s huge!
It’s also huge in accessing the new macro feature here. The older lens could achieve a maximum magnification of right over 0.20x, but this new lens can achieve an incredible 0.50x magnification at 50mm. This makes it also a great alternative to the much more expensive (though awesome!) Sony 70-200mm F4 Macro G lens that I reviewed last year. Sony claims macro status for that lens, though it achieves the same maximum of 1:2 magnification that the Tamron does here. I handheld this macro shot:
That’s obviously very, very useful.
At 300mm the minimum focus distance is 90cm, and you can achieve a very useful 1:3.1 or 0.32x magnification level, which looks like this:
That’s great, but even more useful is the ability to focus down to just 22cm at 50mm, where you can achieve a 1:2 or 0.50x level of magnification, which looks like this:
Even better is the fact that the lens is optimized for contrast and detail at this close focus distance, so the results are genuinely useful. You can tell with a 2-dimensional chart like above that the plane of focus isn’t completely flat, but that doesn’t matter nearly as much for real world, 3-dimensional objects.
The magnification level at 300mm is pretty great, too, which means that you can get close up shots with a much longer working distance if that is preferable.
Clearly this is a vastly improved lens that checks pretty much all the boxes that I could have asked for…and more. This feels well worth the $250 upcharge to me.
One final note: it is rare for 70-300mm lenses to be compatible with teleconverters (Sony’s own 70-300 G is not), but, just in case you were wondering, this lens is not compatible with teleconverters.
Autofocus and Video
Another key area of upgrade is to the autofocus system. Tamron’s early mirrorless lenses utilized their RXD focus motor, which were essentially the equivalent of a well executed STM motors. Their VXD focus motors are linear motors, with more thrust and focus speed while retaining the smooth, quiet performance of earlier RXD focus motors (which were actually usually quite good). I’ve been using the 70-300mm RXD a fair bit over the past five weeks with a loaner from Tamron to see how the lens performed in Z-mount on my new Nikon Z8, and I’ve been impressed with how well that combo does for shooting sports. Things are better still with the VXD (Voice-coil eXtreme-torque Drive) linear motor.
Autofocus sound is essentially silent. I couldn’t really hear any focus sounds even if I pressed my ear up to the side of the lens. On a separate note, however, the lens does have some floating elements, so if the lens is powered off and detached from the camera, you may hear some rattling around if you gently shake the lens. That’s very common for many modern lenses with those floating elements, but it always freaks new buyers out that are unfamiliar with this. The easy way to tell if this is what is causing your rattle is to mount the lens and power on the camera. If the rattle goes away, then you know it is just the natural sound of the floating elements.
There’s enough thrust in this focus motor that I had essentially instant focus results even indoors in poorer light. With any telephoto there will be a few situations where there is no contrast edge to grab and you have a moment of defocus, but with clear targets focus was near instant. Moving outdoors into better light and autofocus truly was instant. There’s great confidence in the whole focus process.
Look at the precision in this shot of Ferrari as he moved through the tall grass. Focus locked perfectly on his eyes through the blades and delivered stunning looking results.
A chipmunk had a poor season of judgment, as even though I keep Nala on a leash attached to a clothesline when she’s out, the little chippy wandered into her territory. They had marvelous times together (or least it was for Nala), and I was able to keep up with the action as they darted around. (To my knowledge no chipmunks were actually harmed…)
The only limitation here on Sony that I always have to mention is that Sony has continued its policy of limiting the burst rate on their sports cameras to 15FPS with any third party lens. I shot the sequence above on the Alpha 1, which is capable of 30FPS, but I was limited to half that speed with this Tamron. It’s actually been quite a joy to shoot at full burst capabilities with the Tamron 70-300 on my new Z8, where no such limitation exists.
This limitation isn’t Tamron’s fault, however, and the 50-300 VC is a very capable performer. We tend to take for granted how good the AF systems are in modern lenses. Back in the DSLR days I would have considered autofocus like this to be pure magic. When I tested for eye tracking, for example, I could move all around the frame even to the corners and tracking stayed locked on the eye of my test statue. Amazing!
Moving over to video is also generally a joy. My autofocus pulls (even in fairly poor light due to a very dark, thunderstorm kind of day) were smooth and confident, moving easily from my subject to the background and back with smooth, controlled pulls without any visible steps or settling. I saw some focus breathing, but nothing severe.
Real world focus pulls were well damped as I played the lens from one subject to another. This is a nice lens to use for long distance video.
My hand test (where I alternately block the camera’s view of my face with my hand and then remove it) also went well, though my wife has a decoration on the mantle behind where I did the test that is “attention seeking” and the focus considered it a couple of times during the test, though it always got where it needed to.
All in all this is a beautifully focusing lens – well capable of whatever situation you use it in, though with a relatively “slow” aperture lens you’ll want decent amounts of light to be able to get the kinds of shutter speeds that effectively stop action. It doesn’t magically become an F2.8 zoom in low light!
Image Quality Breakdown
I found the 70-300mm to be quite a sharp lens with one exception – the corner performance at 70mm was somewhat weak. Tamron has worked to shore all of that up here, and even though they’ve expanded the zoom range, they’ve also managed to improve the image quality (at least on the wide end). Here’s a look at the old MTF chart for the 70-300mm.
You can see that the performance at 70mm was pretty weak in the corners. Now compare that to the 50-300 VC:
That’s looking a WHOLE lot better. This is in fact a whole new optical design, as the previous lens had 15 elements in 10 groups, while the 50-300 VC sports 19 elements in 14 groups. This includes two XLD and two LD elements along with having Tamron’s second generation BBAR-G2 coatings. What this MTF shows is remarkable consistency across the zoom range and nearly perfect performance at 50mm.
What I can safely tell you is that real world performance is pretty pristine at both 50mm (even up close):
…and at 300mm:
Let’s break it down in more detail.
First, vignette and distortion. At 50mm (and F4.5) there was no distortion to correct, and only a moderate amount of vignette.
I used a +50 to achieve this correction result for vignette.
By the middle of the zoom range there is a bit of pincushion distortion, though vignette is further reduced.
I used a -7 to correct for the pincushion distortion, and just a +39 to correct for the vignette. Both of these are negligible, and I was able to achieve a clean correction even manually.
By 300mm there is both less distortion and less vignette than the middle of the range.
I needed just a -5 to correct the bit of pincushion distortion and vignette was just a +28…not quite a full stop. Not bad at all!
I also found impressive levels of correction for longitudinal chromatic aberrations (fringing before and after the plane of focus). They were essentially perfectly neutral.
This showed up in real world shots, too, with no fringing to mar textures and transitions.
I also didn’t see issues with lateral chromatic aberrations near the edges of the frame.
All good thus far. So how about resolution?
I’ll be doing these tests on a 61MP Sony a7RV, with most results shots shown at or near 200% magnification to really highlight subtle performance variations. Here’s a look at my test chart:
And here are the F4.5 crops from across the frame:
The center and mid-frame look really impressive, though the corners are actually a little poorer than what I expected from the MTF. Not bad, but not brilliant.
There’s a bit more sharpness and contrast across the frame at F5.6, though the corners are still not pin sharp yet. Everywhere else is amazing, however.
By F8 the corners are looking good, but never as exceptional as the everywhere else.
The minimum aperture of this zoom is fairly small, so while diffraction isn’t bad on my high resolution camera by F11, the effects are clearly seen by the minimum aperture of F22-F32 (depending on the focal length). You can see how much softer the minimum aperture result is here:
Moving on to 100mm I find very slightly less sharpness in the center of the frame:
…but much stronger sharpness in the corners.
Real world images at 100mm look great!
If we move on through the zoom range to 200mm we find some give and take. Corners are better than 50mm, but not quite as good as 100mm. There’s slightly more contrast in the middle of the frame at 200mm, and which wins in the mid-frame (rule of thirds) zones really depends on where I look. In this area, for example, I favor the 200mm focal length.
There is some further improvement at F8, but it’s not significant. The challenge here is that the maximum aperture is already F6.3, so there isn’t a lot of headroom to stop the lens down before diffraction starts to set it. Fortunately we’ve got a fantastic wide open performance already. Shots in and around 200mm look great.
Moving on to arguably the most important focal length in a telephoto zoom lens (the telephoto end), I found a mild regression from 200mm in the center of the frame, but with it about as good everywhere else.
I was generally pleased with real world images whether isolating a subject:
…or capturing a long range landscape shot.
One of my favorite things to do at 300mm, in fact, is get fairly close and isolate a subject, as you can strongly blur out the background and produce some lovely bokeh.
In fact, look at how gorgeous the bokeh is here:
The bokeh from this lens is generally pretty nice, even in less extreme situations. In less extreme situations it won’t completely obliterate a background like above, but neither does it look bad.
Your biggest difference when compared to the expensive large aperture primes (like a 300mm F2.8) is that you have a much, much smaller depth of field with a lens like that, thus the backgrounds in more typical shots will be much more blurred out and the subject isolate more extreme. A slower zoom lens like this can’t match that.
It is rarer with a telephoto lens to point it right into the sun, as the sun occupies such a small portion of the frame. On the wider end, however, I di get a bit of sun into the frame, and found that the BBAR-G2 coatings are doing a great job. There’s not ghosting or loss of contrast here.
For the asking price of about $800, this is a really strong optical performance, particularly from a lens that also comes with a 6x zoom range. Pair this with a wider zoom like Tamron’s 20-40mm F4 (my review here), and you have a pretty killer travel kit that covers from 20-300mm with excellent image quality across the range and a combined weight of just over a kilo. That’s pretty great.
The Tamron 50-300mm F4.5-6.3 Di III VC VXD is a great addition to the Sony E-mount catalog (and hopefully other mounts in the future. That extra 20mm of focal range really adds to the versatility of the lens, making it more likely that you could get away with carrying just this lens in a variety of situations.
Tamron has definitely scaled up the feature list, making the 50-300 VC a much more robust in its build and design. The lens feels and acts more premium than the previous generation lens, but has also managed to keep the size and weight down.
The upgraded close focus abilities are great, as they add a whole level of versatility to this lens. I think of this as being an alternative to the excellent Sony 70-200mm F4 Macro G OSS lens, as while that lens has a fixed maximum aperture and a nicer build, the Tamron 50-300 VC counters with a much lower price, much larger zoom range, and a similar 1:2 macro capability.
There are a lot of lens options on Sony at this point, though I do think that Tamron has managed to find a fairly unique niche for this lens. At a price tag of $799 USD, it gives a pretty compelling argument for itself. There’s that great zoom range, excellent autofocus, the addition of image stabilization, and a very strong optical performance. It’s a great reminder that Tamron has very good instincts for producing well executed zoom packages that are more likely to suit ordinary photographer’s budgets. The Tamron 50-300mm F4.5-6.3 VC VXD will definitely become a favorite for many!
Pros:
Even more versatile zoom range
Considerable list of improved features
More premium build and design
Still compact and lightweight
Inclusion of VC
Excellent close focus/macro capabilities
Fast, accurate autofocus
Low distortion and vignette
Good fringing control
Excellent sharpness
Nice bokeh
Good flare resistance
Cons:
Corners at 50mm still the weak point optically
VC system isn’t as good as what is found on Sony lenses
Keywords: Tamron, Tamron 50-300mm, Tamron 50-300, F4.5-6.3, VC, VXD, Di III, A069, Full Frame, Review, Sony Alpha 1, Sony a7RV, Review, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Bokeh, Flare Resistance, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Photography, let the light in, weathersealing, #letthelightin, DA, #withmytamron
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 has been working through their early zoom lenses for Sony E-mount with new G2 versions. These typically involve more features, beautiful build quality, and often a focus motor upgrade (from the earlier RXD focal motors to the higher powered VXD motors). Tamron’s newest lens doesn’t carry a G2 designation, because, while all of those previous things are true of it, they’ve also expanded the zoom range to make an entirely new zoom lens. I reviewed the predecessor of this lens (the Tamron 70-300mm F4.5-6.3 RXD) back in 2020, and concluded that it focused well and had great image quality, but it lacked any features (including a zoom lock) and could use lens based stabilization. Tamron must have agreed, as the new Tamron 50-300mm F4.5-6.3 Di III VC VXD is more feature rich, has a nicer build, has a zoom lock, and has image stabilization as well. It has a ton of other upgrades as well, making this a very attractive and slightly upmarket alternative to the previous lens. It’s also priced a little higher $799 USD, but still offers a very strong value relative to competing lenses. So is it worth buying? Find out in my video review below or by reading my text review here…or just enjoy the photos below.
Thanks to Tamron USA for sending me a review loaner of this lens. 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 a7RV along with the Sony Alpha 1 that serve as my benchmark cameras for Sony lenses.
Tamron’s lens names tend to be long and descriptive…but not necessarily clear to the uninitiated. Here’s what all of those letters mean:
Di III = Designed for mirrorless (in this case, Sony E-mount, though expect a Nikon Z and perhaps even a Fuji X-mount version in the future).
VC = Vibration Compensation, Tamron’s in lens stabilization system
VXD = Voice-coil eXtreme-torque Drive (a linear focus motor)
Here are the standout features of the new lens:
Expanded zoom range (6x zoom ratio)
Vibration Compensation
Custom/function button
Weather sealed USB-C port for firmware updates and customization through Tamron’s Lens Utility software
Zoom lock
1:2 macro performance at 70mm (0.50x) | also achieves 0.32x magnification at 300mm
Weather resistance
High powered VXD focus motor
Improved image quality
There’s a lot of serious improvements to this design, and while the price tag has grown by $250 over the previous lens, this is a much more premium lens with a lot of serious upgrades. It’s worth noting that Sony’s own 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 G OSS lens retails at $1273 (nearly $500 more), so Tamron is still bringing a lot of value to the table.
And this lens is a treat to use. It is relatively compact, handles well, and has gorgeous image quality. That extra 20mm on the wide end makes the lens even more versatile. You can stand in the same spot and frame like this at 50mm:
…or this at 300mm:
That’s the kind of focal range we can all find useful!
Keywords: Tamron, Tamron 50-300mm, Tamron 50-300, F4.5-6.3, VC, VXD, Di III, A069, Full Frame, Review, Sony Alpha 1, Sony a7RV, Review, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Bokeh, Flare Resistance, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Photography, let the light in, weathersealing, #letthelightin, DA, #withmytamron
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.
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