If IQ checks out, this will be a perfect travel lens when the 200-600 is just too bulky to carry around. I would have been happy with 200mm on the short end of it would have saved more space and weight, but this is pretty ideal as-is. I'd love it even more if it works better on my a6400 than my 200-600 does, my 200-600 on the a6400 seems to suffer from many of the issues users have with it on the a7r4.
was on the fence between this and sigma 100-400. easier decision now for the sigma I guess.
And I'm not seeing any reviews or hand-on videos yet, maybe they are just waiting for the units to start shipping?
It's all a little confusing to me honestly. The videos from Tamron look good, but obviously don't paint the whole picture.
Good to have options! The price here (Sweden) is right between the FE 200-600 and the Sigma 100-400, which seems about apropriate considering the focal lengths.
I use the 200-600 in a Digital Holster 30 and only on dedicated trips and for general use I have a messenger bag that would fit neither of the three lenses so bulky or not in the context of these three has no meaning (millimeters do however).
onthebeam wrote:
Now that the lens has officially been announced, I'm still wondering;
Product pages aren't even live on Tamron's own website, so nobody knows
This launch seems to be going pretty poorly if Tamron hoped to impress people with the new optic.
zz wrote:
Product pages aren't even live on Tamron's own website, so nobody knows
This launch seems to be going pretty poorly if Tamron hoped to impress people with the new optic.
I'm going by the far greater detail released today by Tamron I gleaned from the SAR site.
This could be tempting. I don't shoot long very often so dropping the money on native glass doesn't feel like a great value proposition. The Sigma 100-400 looks good, but I think I'd like the extra reach and it doesn't seem like we are going to get 3rd party teleconverters due to whatever licensing agreements are in place.
Damn, I just checked the major EU retailers, they all offer preorders for 1499€. I hoped for something like 1200€. This is way too close to the Sony 2-6, will have to wait for some reviews to make up my mind, but at the moment I'm ever more leaning towards the Sigma 1-4...
F6.3 in the upper 400s is quite good. That is only 1/3 f-stop less light than f5.6.
The Sony 100-400 shoots at f5.6 for most of its range from 162mm up to 400. Although I do like my 100-400, that disappoints me as it is advertised as f4.5-5.6. Guess how much f4.5 you get?? Only from 100mm to 115mm!
I have a call into a Tamron tech rep today who is going to try to find the answers re the 150-500 for us, too.
Also best to keep in mind no TC possible with Tamron. With Sony's 1.4 TC you can get an equivalent of 560mm at f8. If as sharp optically, I'd rather have an f6.3 lens into the upper 400s that is 2/3rds of an f-stop faster.
Also worth thinking about. . . Tamron is 10 ounces heavier than Sony. That's without the nice foot it comes with. For those who wish to go beyond 400 with the 100-400-, the FE 1.4X teleconverter adds six ounces, putting the lens into the focal length range of the 200-600.
One other cool feature I like about the Tamron is that you can pull on the barrel to lock in any focal length. Turns the zoom quickly into a fixed focal length.
I found another Tamron video with her work that has a 369mm shot at f6.3. So that means it switches from f5.6 to f6.3 as brightest f-stop somewhere between 300-369mm.
To follow up on AvianScott's findings, here's some great news. On the Shannon Wild video there is one f6.3 shot at 429mm and another f6.3 shot at 463mm, as Avian points out. When you consider that f6.3 is only one-third f-stop slower than the Sony at focal lengths beyond 400 that the Sony 100-400mm can't reach, this is great news for the Tamron, comparatively. The Sony's best is f5.6 within the range from 162-400mm.
The highest focal length f5.6 photo of Wild's is at 360mm f5.6 on the 150-600 so just as fast as Sony toward the upper end of the Sony focal length range that maxes out at 400.
Also, I found a 201mm shot at f5 on the Tamron. The Sony drops to f5.6 all the way down at 160mm. Thus, Tamron is 1/3rd f stop faster than the Sony between 160mm and 201 mm.
Bravo Tamron. Now please be as sharp and quick to focus.
I reached out to my Tamron rep and he did confirm this lens will not work with the Sony TC. He was unable to comment on Tamron building a TC in the future.
Guys, forget about TCs on non-Sony lenses, it looks to be Sony's policy for now, and they are not letting even Tamron do that, notwithstanding their direct shareholding in the company.
Guess they are trying to protect part of their sales of long lenses that way.
zz wrote: