DPReview interviewed Takashi Sawao, Executive Officer, General Manager, Imaging Products Business Unit, Kenji Nakagawa, Product Manager, Product Planning Dept., Imaging Products Business Unit, and Minoru Ando, General Manager, Optical Design & Engineering R&D Unit from Tamron. Below are excerpts from the interview:
- It’s been 40 years since Tamron launched SP (Superior Performance) lenses and they were sticking with f1.8 lenses to balance size and ultimate performance, but they decided to do something special with their 35mm f/1.4
- The Tamron SP 35mm F1.4 Di USD is their 40th anniversary lens and they believe it will surpass all of the other 35mm f/1.4 lenses out there during MTF testing.
- SP lenses are designed without compromise
- Tamron’s weather resistant lenses are the same as Moisture-Resistant Construction from other brands
- The Tamron 35-150mm F2.8-4 Di VC OSD lens is designed to fill the needs of photographers that might use a 24-70mm + 70-200mm kit and its highest resolution is at 85mm
- The Tamron 35-150mm F2.8-4 Di VC OSD at 85mm f/3.5 has excellent bokeh
- Tamron’s Second Sony lens the Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8 Di III RXD won’t be their last and they plan to release a zoom that covers 75mm+ (Maybe a 75-230mm…)
- The Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8 Di III RXD will be released in a few weeks
- Tamron has R&D looking into making Canon RF and Nikon Z lenses
- On DSLR Tamron tries to use a unified optical design so they would like to do the same for the mirrorless cameras on the market if possible.
- Long flange back lenses can be adapted to mirrorless, but not the other way around.
- In Tamron’s estimation, the Full Frame market is growing quickly while the APS-C market is shrinking, but they would still like to make APS-C lenses
- Most APS-C shooters don’t have multiple lenses beyond a zoom
- Tamron’s target market is photographers that want to enjoy lightweight compact photography, which Sony cameras are great for
- The Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III RXD is a good example of their lightweight compact lens preference and it is back ordered for 6 months
- Tamron lenses have very good performance without software correction in the camera body
It sounds like Tamron thinking that their lens pair well with Sony bodies and photographers seem to agree with Tamron still being backlogged 6 months on the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III RXD. The Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8 Di III RXD should be equally as popular so stay tuned. You can find the full DPR interview here.
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Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8 Di III RXD FE: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
