First Impressions of the Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 Di III RXD
Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 compared to the Sony 24-105 F/4
With barrel extended, the Tamron 28-75 is a bit smaller than the Sony 24-105
I was fortunate enough to immediately receive the Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 lens and had to break it out right away. Unfortunately, I had very little chance to more than a few quick snapshots (click for full size):
Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 sample
Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 background separation
Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 sample
Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 bokeh
Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 close focus
My full review will follow within the next couple of weeks, after I have really had a chance to put the lens through its paces and my formal tests. For now, some immediate first impressions:
- It’s surprisingly light weight. As shown above, it is similar in size to the Sony 24-105 f/4, but feels a bit lighter in the hand.
- Build quality is consumer-ish but solid. There are no switches or buttons, the focus ring could use a bit more resistance. And in a bit of annoyance, the focus ring and zoom ring are the opposite of the positions on Sony lenses. When trying to zoom, I was using the focus ring instead.
- Focus is super fast and ultra quiet. Absolutely quiet. Complete dead silence.
- 28mm certainly is not wide enough for this to be an all-purpose lens, but it is a useful focal length, particularly if you already have something wider in your bag.
- Too soon to say much about image quality but it does appear reasonably sharp, while it exhibits rather strong vignetting.
For those looking for a general purpose lens without spending $2,000, the two best options are now probably the Sony 24-105 f/4 (my review here / purchase on Amazon here.)
A link to the Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 on Amazon appears here. The Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 uses 67mm filters, for price, value and quality, I like the B+W filter.
