p.1 #1 · Tamron 150-500mm Z mount. Any one bought it?
Has anyone used the Tamron 150-500mm Z mount and would like to comment? I'm increasingly looking for alternatives to the Nikon 180-600mm. Unfortunately, I got on the preorder bandwagon too late and it looks like I won't have the lens in hand on time for a trip I'm going to take early next year. This Tamron was just released so I'm curious how it performs. The fact that the zoom mechanism is not internal is a huge bummer. On the flip side, it's lighter and shorter. 500mm would be fine for my purposes (No plans to use TC's either) since I will not be doing any bird photography. Comments welcome
p.1 #2 · Tamron 150-500mm Z mount. Any one bought it?
I have one coming next week. This fell between a used 200-500mm (F-mount) and new 180-600mm in price, and is much smaller and lighter than either, which means a lot for me. It has great reviews on the Sony mount, so I don't expect any different on the Z8.
p.1 #3 · Tamron 150-500mm Z mount. Any one bought it?
I also find this an interesting lens. Would be keen the hear how you like it in due course.
Pluses and minuses accrue to both telescoping and internal zoom designs, it's most certainly not all one way.
p.1 #4 · Tamron 150-500mm Z mount. Any one bought it?
Alistair1 wrote:
I also find this an interesting lens. Would be keen the hear how you like it in due course.
Pluses and minuses accrue to both telescoping and internal zoom designs, it's most certainly not all one way.
What would you regard as an advantage to an external zoom?
p.1 #6 · Tamron 150-500mm Z mount. Any one bought it?
Joseph Marney wrote:
I have one coming next week. This fell between a used 200-500mm (F-mount) and new 180-600mm in price, and is much smaller and lighter than either, which means a lot for me. It has great reviews on the Sony mount, so I don't expect any different on the Z8.
Please report back when you have it in hand with your thoughts. The size and weight (and availability) are whats getting me interested. The more I think about it the more I think I should just cancel my preorder and get this one
p.1 #7 · Tamron 150-500mm Z mount. Any one bought it?
I would expect you could look at the many Sony reviews and those will largely hold true from the Z mount as well in terms of corner performance, sharpness, etc. Sony and Nikon sensors are very similar in terms of resolving. All Tamron is doing is modifying the lens for flange distance.
p.1 #8 · Tamron 150-500mm Z mount. Any one bought it?
RoamingScott wrote:
I would expect you could look at the many Sony reviews and those will largely hold true from the Z mount a....
Indeed. Not really any mystery or risk with this one. The only area that they might differ would be AF speed, but since Tamron has relationships with both vendors - Sony owning part of Tamron, and Nikon selling re-branded Tamron lenses - I don't expect anything meaningful at all.
p.1 #13 · Tamron 150-500mm Z mount. Any one bought it?
I have one. I ordered it on day one. I got mine on the day the embargo ended. (By the way they had the Nikon 600 F6.3 in stock for sale). In comparison to my Sigma 150-600, tiny. Since I also run an OM-1, and my Nikon is a Z6, it is interesting to alternate between the 2 systems. With the lens on my Z6, the focusing seems to be very fast. Far better than with the Sigma. The zone focusing with Z6 is laughable. That is a comment on the Z6. With the focus set to D-25 or whatever it is the focus is fast and accurate. I have to learn to shoot my D-500 all over again. Don't get carried away by the connectivity to Tamron's utility. All you can do with it is firmware updates. And when I tried to do that, it failed. I was using the OMD usb-c cable and I can do data with it so it should have worked. But Tamron has a cable for this so?
So far, I am happy with the lens. It is small and relatively light. Switches on the side are interesting. All VR is done within the Z6. With my OM-1, I have decided that doing birds in flight is doable at 600mm FF equivalent. On my Z6, I now have a lens that is capable of 500mm. Once I gave up on zone focusing on my Z6, I am getting good croppable photos. And yesterday the Coyotes and Ducks and Seagulls were cooperating. When I was out yesterday, the temps ranged from 0 to +3 C. Just my 2 cents. Also for the Brad Hill fans out there, Tamron has shipped him one to play with. Be interesting to see his take.
p.1 #14 · Tamron 150-500mm Z mount. Any one bought it?
RZ350 wrote:
I have one. I ordered it on day one. I got mine on the day the embargo ended. (By the way they had the Nikon 600 F6.3 in stock for sale). In comparison to my Sigma 150-600, tiny. Since I also run an OM-1, and my Nikon is a Z6, it is interesting to alternate between the 2 systems. With the lens on my Z6, the focusing seems to be very fast. Far better than with the Sigma. The zone focusing with Z6 is laughable. That is a comment on the Z6. With the focus set to D-25 or whatever it is the focus is fast and accurate. I have to learn to shoot my D-500 all over again. Don't get carried away by the connectivity to Tamron's utility. All you can do with it is firmware updates. And when I tried to do that, it failed. I was using the OMD usb-c cable and I can do data with it so it should have worked. But Tamron has a cable for this so?
So far, I am happy with the lens. It is small and relatively light. Switches on the side are interesting. All VR is done within the Z6. With my OM-1, I have decided that doing birds in flight is doable at 600mm FF equivalent. On my Z6, I now have a lens that is capable of 500mm. Once I gave up on zone focusing on my Z6, I am getting good croppable photos. And yesterday the Coyotes and Ducks and Seagulls were cooperating. When I was out yesterday, the temps ranged from 0 to +3 C. Just my 2 cents. Also for the Brad Hill fans out there, Tamron has shipped him one to play with. Be interesting to see his take....Show more →
Thank you. This is much appreciated, especially the comparison with the OM-1. I primarily shoot with an EM1 mk2 and have no intention of replacing it for the street stuff that I do. I use my Z7II for everything else. I thought long and hard about getting a 100-400 Olympus lens but ditched the idea since the EM1 AF is archaic compared to the Nikon. My concerns with the Tamron were mostly to do with AF and VR, but it seems to do fine? I think I will give the Nikon 180-600 2 more months to turn up and if not will just cancel my preorder and get the tamron
p.1 #15 · Tamron 150-500mm Z mount. Any one bought it?
Finally got to take mine out yesterday. No surprises, as the lens lives up to the expectations set by the Sony mount version. Sharp with quick AF. The size and weight are manageable for me.
p.1 #17 · Tamron 150-500mm Z mount. Any one bought it?
Sony makes Nikon sensors so the Sony mount version is going to perform near the same as the Nikon version. I have not hear anything bad about this lens at all. In fact I’m probably going to buy it in Sony mount for when I want to pack smaller. The only thing to keep in mind is the AF motor is really only going to get you around 12 fps. Which for me is a fine trade off. But I own several other Tamron mirrorless lenses and they are all excellent.
p.1 #18 · Tamron 150-500mm Z mount. Any one bought it?
jwolfe wrote:
But I own several other Tamron mirrorless lenses and they are all excellent.
Yes Tamron lenses are generally good performers and an excellent value/performance choice. I am betting that all of us own more Tamron lenses than we are aware of. They are the largest lens maker in the World, but not vary large in lenses carrying the Tamron name.
p.1 #19 · Tamron 150-500mm Z mount. Any one bought it?
jwolfe wrote:
...The only thing to keep in mind is the AF motor is really only going to get you around 12 fps...
I believe this is simply an artificial limitation imposed on the Sony bodies, not a limitation of the AF motor, but I can test that on the Z8 and report back.
p.1 #20 · Tamron 150-500mm Z mount. Any one bought it?
I got mine a few days ago, so far I like this lens very much cause it's less than half price of the Z 100-400.
Great news is that Nikon didn't limit the shooting speed, you can shoot 20 FPS in raw on 30 in jpeg or 120 in pre-capture.
Good: I feel this lens is well balanced on Z9 (better than on Z8 IMHO)
Focus is very quick and silent.
Low price.
Optical performance is beyond expectation (I think my copy is very good ).
Small pack size .
Not good: VR is not good as the Z lens (at least 1/200 at 500mm for me )
Relatively heavy
No Fuction Key on the lens.
No QD on the lens foot.
F6.7 @500mm (although 6.3 at 480?mm)
