In a downward trending business, market consolidation is inevitable. I actually think Sony might end up buying Nikon at some point as well. There just isn't room for too many companies in a small space.
Sony isn't going to stop Tamron selling to others. Sony sells to everyone. But getting a hold of more manufacturing capacity and engineers is not a bad thing. i expect to see a lot of this in the future.
I had no idea they were so big. 'Tamron holds approximately 19% of the overall global interchangeable photographic lens market, ranking it first among third-party lens manufacturers.'
and
'Roughly 59% of Tamron's total lens production carries the Tamron brand name, while the remaining 41% consists of OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) products manufactured for other major camera brands (such as Nikon).'
Sony is #1 for lens sales among the Japanese majors in China, and Tamron would give them a huge share of that growing market: China accounts for 26% of Tamron's sales. Smart move.
Tamron has made...what...2 to 3 "unique" or industry-leading optics per generation?
Their bread and butter are lenses that are cheap and fine for most basic use cases. Where I'm going with this is, I'm not sure where this slots into Sony's lineup if they were to keep them exclusive, because that's exactly what G lenses are...cheap and...fine.
I think it's a good thing for Tamron, since they'll be protected under the umbrella of their previous majority shareholder and because I don't think Sony is planning to fundamentally change the way the company operates, at least not in photography/videography (no idea about the other Tamron divisions). And it's good for Sony, since they get a healthy, productive company and protect the most important partnership they have in the market. Just a guess, of course, but I think it will happen and I think it will work out well for both.
And, so long as Tamron continues to operate as usual, I doubt it will have much impact on their relationships with Canon, Nikon, and Fuji. Even less on us as consumers. I think that's the point.
Well... looks like in addition to Minolta and Konica Sony is also picking up Bronica :-) I am now secretly hoping that they'll buy Phase One to add Mamiya to their portfolio of legacy photo brands.
"Nikon released a 28-75mm f/2.8 that, like the latest 17-28mm f/2.8, bore striking resemblance to a Tamron lens that was released just a few months prior, the Tamron 28-75mm F/2.8 Di III RXD"
Its a great partnership for Sony and Tamron and for those that buy parts off shelf, like Nikon. Sony enters with the sensors, Tamron with the lenses and Nikon with the body, buttons and badge. People should be more grateful.
RoamingScott wrote:
Where I'm going with this is, I'm not sure where this slots into Sony's lineup if they were to keep them exclusive, because that's exactly what G lenses are...cheap and...fine.
It's probably more about getting access to other mounts and getting intel on other camera makers. Call me conspiratorial, but this move just doesn't make sense from a pure business perspective. If Sony is constantly raising prices and moving ever upward in terms of their market positioning how does adding a 'budget' option compliment that? That often just has negative effects on your brand perception.
Besides, is Sony going to put a sticker over all Tamron lenses that roll off the assembly line once the takeover is complete?
old-gregg wrote:
China, by the way, could easily be the underlying reason for this merger. Japanese automakers are already openly calling for government-assisted industry consolidation to defend against the Chinese onslaught. This has nothing to do with competitiveness. Privately funded companies, with obligations to shareholders and operating under strict labor, intellectual-property, and environmental laws, cannot possibly compete with quasi-governmental companies perpetually funded by the state, operating under loose labor laws, stage-assited with industrial espionage, and relaxed environmental restrictions.
Considering how the US government bailed out our automobile industry in 2008, complaints about China's state funding of its automobile industry don't have the same bite as they used to, esp if you consider we might not have an automobile industry to be unfairly competed against by China if not for our own government bailout. Also not surprising Japanese companies might want in on some government assistance as well.
Jul 31, 2026 at 07:13 AM
Steve Spencer Online • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: On
Only in this tamron situation, the parts made could be sold across brands.
Seems like a winning strategy. Sigma might be the big loser in this as they might have to make niche lenses only or get crushed.
I agree with this analysis. I don't think Sony GM lenses will change and now they can be certain that Tamron does not make competing lenses.
I think in time Sony G lenses will mostly become Tamron lenses, probably with an indication they are higher level Tamron lenses. The good news is I think we can expect these lenses to no longer really be 3rd party lenses and to be able to be shot at 30 fps and some will be able to use teleconverters. The bad news for consumers is that if Sony wants to keep a particular lens as unique to Sony (e.g., the 70-200 f/4 Macro), then they will just make it a Sony G and it won't be available for other mounts. So Sony G vs. top level Tamron will mostly be about what is Sony exclusive or not and not about the quality of the lens. I expect the lower level Tamron lenses to basically replace the consumer Sony lenses and be available on all or almost all mounts.
As someone who shoot Canon RF lenses it will be interesting what this does to Tamron's relationship with Canon. They do offer one APS-C lens (the 17-70 f/2.8, which is a nice lens) for Canon RF.
In general, I think Tamron and Sigma are in a tough position trying to be higher level 3rd party lens makers facing tough and inexpensive competition from the likes of Viltrox and Samyang. This merger may well help Tamron by allowing it to be more profitable by not having to compete with Viltrox and Samyang on a level playing field. Sony can tip the playing field to advantage Tamron (like they do now when they only let Sony lenses have 30 fps and use TCs and they could up the ante by giving Tamron and Sony lenses subtle but noticeable AF advantages). I expect Sony to do something like that and that won't be good for consumers.
snapsy wrote:
Considering how the US government bailed out our automobile industry in 2008, complaints about China's state funding of its automobile industry don't have the same bite as they used to, esp if you consider we might not have an automobile industry to be unfairly competed against by China if not for our own government bailout. Also not surprising Japanese companies might want in on some government assistance as well.
Not to mention Boeing getting a steady stream of funding.
jwolfe wrote:
Sony isn't going to stop Tamron selling to others. Sony sells to everyone. But getting a hold of more manufacturing capacity and engineers is not a bad thing. i expect to see a lot of this in the future.
I think that’s a really relevant point about Sony “selling to others.” Take sensors, for example…
It is one reason to hope that this might not cause Tamron prices to rise. If Tamron is still going to sell lenses for non-Sony cameras, where a big part of the appeal is the lower cost of third-party lenses, Sony/Tamron would have to keep that price advantage on those other platforms in order to maintain market share. And if the price of some particular lens that the configure for Nikon, Canon, Fujifim is $X, then it would be hard for the to sell that same lens at $X+ to Sony users.
(I also still understand that there could be lots of different reasons for this acquisition other that might not support Tamron’s future as an independently functioning entity. We just don’t know.)
Steve Spencer wrote:
I agree with this analysis. I don't think Sony GM lenses will change and now they can be certain that Tamron does not make competing lenses.
I think in time Sony G lenses will mostly become Tamron lenses, probably with an indication they are higher level Tamron lenses. The good news is I think we can expect these lenses to no longer really be 3rd party lenses and to be able to be shot at 30 fps and some will be able to use teleconverters. The bad news for consumers is that if Sony wants to keep a particular lens as unique to Sony (e.g., the 70-200 f/4 Macro), then they will just make it a Sony G and it won't be available for other mounts. So Sony G vs. top level Tamron will mostly be about what is Sony exclusive or not and not about the quality of the lens. I expect the lower level Tamron lenses to basically replace the consumer Sony lenses and be available on all or almost all mounts.
As someone who shoot Canon RF lenses it will be interesting what this does to Tamron's relationship with Canon. They do offer one APS-C lens (the 17-70 f/2.8, which is a nice lens) for Canon RF.
In general, I think Tamron and Sigma are in a tough position trying to be higher level 3rd party lens makers facing tough and inexpensive competition from the likes of Viltrox and Samyang. This merger may well help Tamron by allowing it to be more profitable by not having to compete with Viltrox and Samyang on a level playing field. Sony can tip the playing field to advantage Tamron (like they do now when they only let Sony lenses have 30 fps and use TCs and they could up the ante by giving Tamron and Sony lenses subtle but noticeable AF advantages). I expect Sony to do something like that and that won't be good for consumers....Show more →
G lenses from Sony---are amazing!! I have the 15/1.4 G for my APS-C A6700 (tried it as well with the A7V) and the 40/2.5G. They're relatively small and compact and the rendering are gorgeous! If Sony makes the G under Tamron, it won't matter to me just as long as the quality is there like my Gs.
I wouldn't call them amazing. Most G lenses require very heavy-handed software correction to achieve their small/light size and are optically middling outside of the middle half.
RoamingScott wrote:
I wouldn't call them amazing. Most G lenses require very heavy-handed software correction to achieve their small/light size and are optically middling outside of the middle half.
For my usage they are----I use them for portraits (solo). But I do agree on the 15G, sometimes I apply corrections on my own on DxO ViewPoint 5.
snapsy wrote:
Tamron also develops first-party OEM lenses for companies like Nikon and Sony.
Agreed-
To be fair though, its not a 3rd party lens anymore if Nikon is selling it as a Nikon lens and had a part of the process for developing it and AF algorithms etc-
If Tamorn won't make them anymore for Nikon, lots of other qualified companies that will.
Alan Parker wrote:
It's probably more about getting access to other mounts and getting intel on other camera makers. Call me conspiratorial, but this move just doesn't make sense from a pure business perspective. If Sony is constantly raising prices and moving ever upward in terms of their market positioning how does adding a 'budget' option compliment that? That often just has negative effects on your brand perception.
Besides, is Sony going to put a sticker over all Tamron lenses that roll off the assembly line once the takeover is complete?
You are correct. If you are constantly raising prices on your lenses, killing of a cheaper but good enough competitor makes a lot of sense.
