A Pair of Killer Tamron Lenses

November 25, 2021

After lugging around my heavy backpack full of high-end Sony lenses once again and having made an appointment with my Osteopath to fix the damage, I decided I have had enough of the supposed advantage of mirrorless camera systems...smaller and lighter; it simply has not eventuated.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my Sony lenses and fully intend to keep a few, but the Sony 200-600mm lens (which I bought sight unseen and had it delivered) is simply way too big and cumbersome to lug around. Combine that with all of the other lens I have, I end up with an 11 kg backpack!

So, the Sony 200-600mm lens has been sold, along with the 85mm G Master which I was hardly using, the Sony/Zeiss 55mm and my beloved Sony 70-200mm G lens are also being sold. The Sony 16-35mm G Master is staying as it is my main landscape lens, as too is the Sony 90mm Macro. I am still debating if I will keep the recently purchased Tamron 28-200mm which was purchased for family holiday shooting. It is a good lens, nice and compact, but not as sharp as the outgoing Sony 70-200mm. It may well be obsolete when the two new lenses arrive.

Tamron very recently introduced two new lens that grabbed my attention, the 150-500mm F5.0-6.7 and the 35-150mm F2.0-2.8 lens. Together they create a powerhouse of versatility. Sure, together they are not as wide as the Sony 16-35mm G Master, nor do they reach the 600mm of the Sony 200-600mm lens. But with just these two lenses, I can cover most of my shooting, plus I have 61 mega pixels to play with so can crop the images a bit to get that extra reach of the 600mm.

Tamron 35-150mm F2.0-2.8 Lens

Perhaps the most interesting of the two, is the Tamron 35-150mm F2.0-2.8 which offers a very usable range in what is a fairly bright lens. I was intrigued from the moment I first read about this lens and after having watched many reviews on YouTube came to realise this is one killer lens. Most importantly, it is very sharp, it needs to be when coupled with a 61MP sensor. It focuses very quickly and accurately, has very nice bokeh and is programmable to allow me to set it up to my needs.

Yes, it is a big expensive lens, it has to be to offer the F2.0 aperture, that is the trade off, but when you consider what it can replace it starts to look like a bit of a bargain to be honest. This is the lens that will live on my Sony A7R IV from now on, unless of course I need longer reach, and that is when the other Tamron lens will go on.

Tamron 150-500mm F5.0-6.7 Lens

The Tamron 150-500mm F5.0-6.7 lens has replaced my Sony 200-600mm lens, and it has done so by also offering excellent sharpness and performance. However the biggest advantage is that of weight and size. The Tamron is only a couple of hundred grams lighter, but it is physically far more compact.

This means I can use a smaller backpack with just the body and these two Tamron lenses for trekking in the outback when I next get to go. The lenses are being picked up tomorrow, so I am sure I will get out over the weekend to put them both through their paces and compare the results to what I have been using up to this point. Standby…

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