Sony Photography News and Rumors

The Tamron 70-180mm is a very good value and many reviewers are recommending it over Sony’s lenses. Photographyblog is the latest rating is as essential and giving it 5/5 stars overall. Below are some excerpts or you can read the full review here.

Once again Tamron have thought outside the box to create an amazingly compact, lightweight telephoto zoom that still delivers that all-important fast f/2.8 aperture throughout the range. It significantly undercuts its main competition in terms of both size and price, whilst still delivering the goods in performance and image quality….

We’d argue that the biggest drawback to the Tamron 70-180mm is the fact that it is not compatible with teleconverters – the ability to shoot at longer focal lengths at f/4 (1.4x) or f/5.6 (2x) would have been very welcome….

Compared to its main rivals, the Tamron 70-180mm F/2.8 Di III VXD is a serious bargain – much cheaper than the Sony FE 70-200mm GM OSS and not too much more than the slower Sony FE 70-200mm f/4 G OSS lens….

Overall, unless you really, really need the extra 20mm reach of a “true” 70-200m zoom, the new Tamron 70-180mm F/2.8 Di III VXD is a truly unique lens that performs exceptionally well in almost every regard, and is therefore a deserved winner of our coveted Essential award….

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Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 Di III RXD FE: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III RXD FE: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8 Di III RXD FE: B&H Photo /  Amazon / Adorama

Tamron’s teased lens from the other week will be the the Tamron 28-200mm F/2.8-5.6 Di III RXD acording to nokishita and it will be announced next week

Image of Tamron “28-200mm F/2.8-5.6 Di III RXD” to be announced next week.

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Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 Di III RXD FE: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III RXD FE:B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8 Di III RXD FE: B&H Photo /  Amazon / Adorama

via Nokishita

Richard Wong compared the Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 vs Sony 70-200 f/2.8 and f/4 and was impressed with the Tamron. Below is a summay of the above video:

• 70-200mm f/2.8 better for low light and shallow depth of field
• 70-200 f/4 is much smaller so you are likely to take it with you
• Tamron 70-180mm tries to be the best of both worlds
• The 70-180mm is a very compact and light lens
• It is about half the weight of the Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 and it is even lighter than the f/4 by 30g
• The Tamron 70-180mm is very well priced at half the price of the Sony 70-200mm f/2.8
• The Tamron is smaller than both of the Sony lenses
• Tamron is more plastic than the Sonys
• Tamron’s zoom lock is sturdy
• The Sony lenses have a few extra features like a tripod collar, OIS, focus limiter, switches, and some extra programable buttons
• Tamron extends when you change the focal length, but the Sony’s do not
• Sony has a stronger build quality, but the Tamron is so much cheaper than most should not care
• The Tamron 70-180mm has very fast AF, but not as fast as the Sony
• The Tamron tracks very well
• At f/8 the Tamron can look out of focus when taking a picture, but it is in focus
• Works well with the Techart adapter on Nikon Cameras
• There is a noticeable difference between 200mm and 180mm that you can just make up for with cropping if necessary
• The Tamron is sharp wide open at 70mm f/2.8 wide open with slightly better contrast than the Sony
• The Sony is slightly sharper at the corners at f/2.8, but at f/4 the Tamron is a little sharper
• Tamron has the sharpest corners at f/5.6
• The f/4 doesn’t compete
• Max focal length 180mm vs 200mm at f/2.8 the Tamron is very similar to the Sony in the center but Tamron is much sharper in the corners
• Max focal length 180mm vs 200mm at f/4 in the corners the Tamron is much sharper than the Sony still
• Tamron at 180mm is even sharper than the Sony in the corners when the Tamron is at f/2.8 and the Sony f/4
• Sony can’t compete with the Tamron at long focal lengths regardless of aperture
• Distortion at 70mm both the Sony and Tamron have distortion with the Sony having more
• Distortion at 135mm the Tamon has some distortion, but the Sony has none
• At the Maximum focal length, all 3 lenses have some pincushion distortion with the Tamron having slightly more
• Tamron has some vignetting at 70mm f/2.8 which goes away at f/4
• The Tamron has the best vignetting performance of the 3 lenses at 70mm
• The Sony 70-200mm f/4 has the worst vignetting at 70mm and 200mm
• Tamron at 180mm has some vignetting wide open but it goes away completely by f/5.6
• Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 has similar vignetting to the Tamron at 180mm f/2.8
• All 3 have ok bokeh
• Tamron has the best flare and ghosting performance but all 3 are good
• Tamron has the best Chromatic aberration control but all 3 are good
• Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 and Sony 70-200mm f/4 have minimal focus breathing, but the Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 has a lot
• Tamron isn’t just good for the price, but it is just as good as the Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 if not better even if it is a little plastic
• When comparing the Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 to the Sony 70-200mm f/4 you should pick the Tamron hands down

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Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 Di III RXD FE: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III RXD FE:B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8 Di III RXD FE: B&H Photo /  Amazon / Adorama

Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8: B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama
Sony FE 70-200mm f/4 G OSS: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama