FS7: Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 Di III RXD

cyvideo

cyvideo

Veteran
Any one here tried one of these Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 Di III RXD lenses on their FS7? If so what's your feedback.

A colleague of mine suggested I should try one on my A7III as he was super impressed with one on his A7. I borrowed his lens for a couple of days and on the A7III it worked surprisingly well. When a second hand one was offered to me for what amounted to US$550.00 I felt it to be a bargain so grabbed it. I have so far been suitably impressed as it's AF is absolutely as good as Sony native glass I've tried on the A7III so far. Just make sure it has Ver 03 firmware which can be installed from an A7 body. Next I then decided to try it out on the FS7. Being a FF zoom lens it obviously crops but again it delivers very nice looking contrast and detail and I see no CA. I will be trying out on some interviews for sure. What amazes me is that this lens works so well on the Sony cams. I've since discovered that Sony is the second largest stock holder in Tamron and that part of that relationship is that Tamron have access to Sony's AF tech and IP. Even the lens distortion compensation works on the Sony bodies. It's light weight, has a carbon composite construction. Similar material as on the Fuji MK zooms. Above all what amazed me so far is that it appears to be parfocal. If this really is parfocal then it makes for a very useful piece of kit for a very reasonable price. If it works as well on an FX9 with its new AF circuitry then I think it's truly worth considering one. If anyone is interested have a look at the following clips. Accurate parfocal testing is what I will be doing in the next day or two. So far so good!

Chris Young

Edit: Sort of parfocal? Seens to be far more so on the A7III than the FS7. I would suggest even in manual focus some funny kind of focus compensation going on while zooming on the FS7. Much better on the A7. Iin fact I can get away with zooming on a test interview without any out of focus issues. More to investigate. It's sharp I'll give it that for sure.

Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 & Sony a7iii with moza aircross review in video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1bw_zuGDbM&list=PLf1JPsSUVjQiUsn1vvSNTCoZfQTzbj13J&index=2

Lavikka Photography
TAMRON 28-75mm F2.8 Di III RXD Zoom Lens Review Compared to Sony FE 24-70mm f2.8 GM Lens
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGe-frumEpI

The Hybrid Shooter
FS7: - 1 Year Later w/ Sony A7III
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJZvS3wRG6Y
 
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I saw on the Bloom/ Zacuto video .. the Sony guy said that Eye detect AF will be in the V2 software released next spring ..
 
Alister Chapman said this lens works like native Sony glass on the FX9. The A7iii groups go crazy over this Tamron lens. I imagine it'll be a popular one for the FX9 AF crowd as well.

My reservation would be how effectively I could manually focus with it, as I imagine it's a fly by wire lens. That design is what makes it so effective with AF, but also presents manual focus challenges. Curious how you find it.
 
I just picked up this lens from BH. I exchanged my Sony 18-105 for it. In limited use so far I've found it to be an excellent performer on my A7III. Sharp and light weight.

"My reservation would be how effectively I could manually focus with it, as I imagine it's a fly by wire lens. That design is what makes it so effective with AF, but also presents manual focus challenges. Curious how you find it."

The MF is WAY better than the 18-105. Even though they're both focus by wire the Tamron is much more manageable. I found it almost impossible to hit my focus on the Sony lens...

I've played around with it on my FS5 in the house. No real shoots yet, but my one concern is the lack of OIS on the FS5 in handheld situations. Worse comes to worst I'll use it on sticks...
 
scorsesefan said:
I just picked up this lens from BH. I exchanged my Sony 18-105 for it. In limited use so far I've found it to be an excellent performer on my A7III. Sharp and light weight.

"My reservation would be how effectively I could manually focus with it, as I imagine it's a fly by wire lens. That design is what makes it so effective with AF, but also presents manual focus challenges. Curious how you find it."

The MF is WAY better than the 18-105. Even though they're both focus by wire the Tamron is much more manageable. I found it almost impossible to hit my focus on the Sony lens...

I've played around with it on my FS5 in the house. No real shoots yet, but my one concern is the lack of OIS on the FS5 in handheld situations. Worse comes to worst I'll use it on sticks...
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haha I cringe when I think about trying to manually focus the 18-105 on a paid shoot for the first time. That was a nightmare. On one of the links cyvideo posted above it showed some focus breathing on the Tamron. Doesn't look all that bad.
 
Yeah, basically I F'd up a shoot trying to manually focus the 18-105. It was in the middle of Grand Central Terminal during rush hour, so I put it down to a combination of bad MF and stupidity on my part. Luckily, it was not a paid gig...
 
theraptor56 said:
Alister Chapman said this lens works like native Sony glass on the FX9. The A7iii groups go crazy over this Tamron lens. I imagine it'll be a popular one for the FX9 AF crowd as well.

My reservation would be how effectively I could manually focus with it, as I imagine it's a fly by wire lens. That design is what makes it so effective with AF, but also presents manual focus challenges. Curious how you find it.
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So far quite impressed on the manual focus side of it. Still feels very fly-by-wire but pretty linear in response and not hard to find focus pretty quickly. Would like to have a bit more resistance on the focus ring but other than that no real complaints so far. Still early days though so will see how it all works out in the hard light of the working day.

Chris Young
 
Tamron and Sigma are both now good enough that they aren’t necessarily “budget” options. They may be preferable all on their own in some cases.

Eager to see a bit more about the Sigma Art 24-70 E-mount... they kinda won me over since my 18-35 survived being driven over.

I do wish Sigma or Tamron would make a solid native mount 70-200 though. The price and focus on the Sony don’t inspire me.
 
Been using it as my go to lens on A7III - works great even in low light. With all AF in video mode. I am thinking of 17 -28 as well. Although Sony"s 24 1.4 Used it on FS700 as well.
looks very interesting.
 
Actually that 17-28 looks more interesting to me than the 28-75. I have the 24- 70 (EF mt with Metabones on FS7) and have liked it though I think it may be a hair softer than the Canon and I dislike that Tamron lenses focus the Nikon direction which causes me to pull out my hair sometimes. The 24-70 has stabilization which is why i got it over the Canon. Now rethinking things with the FX9 on order and auto focus becoming a real option.

- i read somewhere that the EQ of the 24-70 was supposed to better than the 28-75. Is that correct?

- It doesn't look like the 28-75 has stabilization does it?

- The 24-70 is made for A mt not E mt. Anyone know how well AF works with that on the new Sonys ( A7iii and FX9)
 
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I did a lot research before I bought the 28 - 75 - I would say the 28 -75 is good value and for the video I do it does the job. But Sony's G 24 -70 is better in my estimation - if you pixel peep it will be sharper - I think the AF will be better - it has image stabilization. That being said one must think are the advantages of the Sony with about $1100. more. For me I do not think my clients will ever see the difference. One thing though - it seems 28 is just not wide enough for what I do. So that one thing to think about. I am thinking of the 17 -28 - or maybe just the Sony G 24 1.4 seems like a great lens.

Now if I were going to put lens on 11,000 camera like the FX9 which I am considering - I would lean towards the Sony G 24 -70 if I had it all over to buy again. (Also maybe the FX6 - if it is a real camera according to Sony rumors)
 
To me the Tamron 28-75 hits a very sweet spot. It's affordable, it's nicely sized, optics are really good, it has a short near limit which is one of the aspects in a lens I'm always looking for. So range, IQ and the close focusing makes it a great purchase.
 
LDV20 said:
it has image stabilization.
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If you are suggesting the Sony 24-70mm G Master has stabilization no it doesn't. Maybe you are mixing it up with the Sony 24-105mm F/4.0 which does have stabilization. In spite of no stabilization I'm finding it's AF very quick and accurate on the A7III. It even works surprisingly well on the old FS7. The close focus on the Tam 28-75 is one of its really strong points. David Oastler's focus testing on the Tanron 28-75 was one of the things that got me to test this lens out in the first place. No regrets so far.

Chris Young

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofQWXq2ieAU
 
J.Brown said:
To me the Tamron 28-75 hits a very sweet spot. It's affordable, it's nicely sized, optics are really good, it has a short near limit which is one of the aspects in a lens I'm always looking for. So range, IQ and the close focusing makes it a great purchase.
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+1 to all of the above. The close focusing, the lightness, short lens extension when zoomed, sharpness, color rendition and overall performance for an $800 f/2.8 lens is a pleasant surprise which makes it a bargain in my books.

Chris Young
 
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