WHAT’S NEW
We’re starting the run up to this year’s Photokina in September, but there’s still plenty happening right now with Fujifilm’s latest X mount mirrorless camera, the X-T100; Panasonic’s new ruggedised Lumix FT series compact (now with an EVF); Hasselblad’s widest-angle lens ever (it’s for the X1D mirrorless system); the arrival of Tamron’s first zoom for the Sony FE mount; the return of Ricoh’s GRII; and much more.
months ago, Tamron’s first accessory lens for Sony’s FE mount is now available in Australia. The 2875mm f2.8 RXD zoom is a Di III series lens (Tamron’s designation for lenses for full35mm mirrorless cameras) and employs a new autofocusing drive called ‘RXD’ which stands for Rapid eXtra-Silent Stepping Drive. Stepping motors are becoming more frequently used for autofocusing systems because they’re not only very quiet, but provide the smoothness which is especially important when shooting video.
The Tamron lens supports Sony’s ‘DMF’ (Direct Manual Focus) function which provides a full-time manual override of the autofocusing. It also supports Sony’s in-camera corrections for vignetting, chromatic aberrations and distortion.
The minimum focusing distance is 19 centimetres at 28mm and 39 centimetres at 75mm which gives a maximum reproduction ratio of 1:4. It measures 117.8 mm and weighs in at 550 grams.
The FE mount 28-75mm f2.8 Di III RXD zoom (a.k.a. Model A036) features a weather-sealed external construction with a fluorine coating on the exposed surface of the front element to help better repel moisture and grease. The optical construction comprises 15 elements in 12 groups which includes one XLD (eXtra Low Dispersion) type, one LD (Low Dispersion) type and three aspherical elements – one glassmoulded type and two hybrid types. Collectively, these special elements correct for both distortion and chromatic aberrations. The new lens also has Tamron’s BBAR (Broad Band Anti Reflection) multi-coating to correct for both ghosting and flare.
For information about Tamron lenses visit www.tamron.com.au