TAMRON 150-500MM F/5-6.7 DI III VC VXD

Powerful portable telephoto for Sony E-mount

www.tamron.eu £1,199/$1,399

At first glance, the Tamron 150-500mm looks similar to its DSLR-format 150-600mm G2 sibling. The range of switches, for triple-mode VC (Vibration Compensation), auto/manual focusing and an autofocus range limiter, is pretty much identical. Unlike many other Tamron lenses, the ‘VC’ optical stabiliser has switchable operating modes: Modes 1 and 2 are for static and panning shots respectively; Mode 3 is a ‘framing priority’ option that only applies stabilisation during actual exposures. This makes it easier to track erratically moving objects in the camera’s viewfinder or on the rear screen, similar to Mode 3 on some Canon telephoto lenses and Nikon’s ‘Sport VR’ mode.

This lens is completely different to Tamron’s 150-600mm in terms of autofocus. The DSLR-based lens uses a conventional ring-type ultrasonic system, but the 150-500mm has a linear stepping motor which is super-fast, practically silent and gives the additional benefit of smooth AF transitions during movie capture.

Performance

The Tamron 150-500mm’s autofocus is extremely rapid. Given that the lens’s zoom range fits so well with action, sports and wildlife photography, the fast and accurate tracking performance is a major benefit. Sharpness is mostly excellent, but, as is often the case, it drops off a bit at the long end of the zoom range. Colour fringing is essentially a non-issue, although pincushion distortion can be a little noticeable when uncorrected in-camera, throughout the entire zoom range.

When used on a tripod or monopod the lens is very resistant to zoom creep, even if you’re shooting vertically upwards or downwards, but you can lock the zoom ring at any position throughout the zoom range, simply by snapping it forward.

Matthew Richards