Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III VXD G2:
B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
The Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III VXD was a fantastic lens that most Sony shooters loved, and then Tamron surprised us all with the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III VXD G2, which according to optical limits, is a substantially improved over the original. You can read their full review here or check out the excerpt below:
…The Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III VXD G2 is substantially improved over its predecessor in all the critical categories. In terms of sharpness, it is especially impressive at 28mm, where it reaches prime lens levels. The center quality is outstanding at all relevant settings, and the outer image field is easily very good, even at f/2.8. The sharpness decreases slightly the more you zoom out from here. At 35mm and 50mm, the center quality remains excellent, whereas the outer image field decrease to good-very good levels. The 75mm takes a bit of a hit, though. The center quality remains high, but the borders/corners suffer a bit. Interestingly, the improved overall sharpness was achieved by sacrificing image distortions which are quite a bit higher than on the old lens. Image auto-correction comes to the rescue, of course. That’s also necessary for compensating for the very high vignetting, especially at 28mm f/2.8 and 75mm f/2.8. The CAs are also comparatively high for a modern lens. Coming back to more positive aspects, the bokeh is much smoother now. Not only compared to the G1 lens, but it’s also better than most other lenses in this class. There is still a bit of bokeh fringing at f/2.8, although it’s pretty moderate in the grand scheme of things. It’s also obvious that the close-focus image quality has increased.
The build quality still follows a Tamron tradition – meaning the extensive use of plastics. This doesn’t translate to bad quality. There’s nothing wobbly even when zooming to 75mm and the new design language is quite attractive…An obvious advantage of this design philosophy is the low(er) weight. Basic weather sealing is also provided. A big plus is the very fast AF from the new VXD linear motor. The option to update the firmware and customize features via USB is also commendable.
While the predecessor was already popular, the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III VXD G2 finally deserves a high rank in the sales charts. The price tag of $900/EUR is almost a steal for an f/2.8 standard zoom lens, making it also the value king in this class.
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