Tamron 28-75mm 2.8 Di III VXD G2

Tamron's 28-75mm f2.8 Di III G2 is optically right up there with the best from other manufacturers. Plus, it's small and lightweight and attractively priced. And Tamron didn't skimp on features: The lens is fully weather sealed and has a focus set button plus USB-C port to make the lens highly configurable via computer and their Lens Utility software. Only its close-up performance is disappointing - and you might ponder whether 28mm is wide enough for your purposes. But other than that Tamron has designed a compelling standard zoom with an attractive price-performance ratio which clearly earns a Highly Recommended!

So did Tamron up its game in this lens class? Yes, they did. The Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III VXD G2 is substantially improved over its predecessor in all the critical categories. In terms of sharpness, it is especially impressive at 28mm, where it reaches prime lens levels. The center quality is outstanding at all relevant settings, and the outer image field is easily very good, even at f/2.8. The sharpness decreases slightly the more you zoom out from here. At 35mm and 50mm, the center quality remains excellent, whereas the outer image field decrease to good-very good levels. The 75mm takes a bit of a hit, though. The center quality remains high, but the borders/corners suffer a bit. Interestingly, the improved overall sharpness was achieved by sacrificing image distortions which are quite a bit higher than on the old lens. Image auto-correction comes to the rescue, of course. That's also necessary for compensating for the very high vignetting, especially at 28mm f/2.8 and 75mm f/2.8. The CAs are also comparatively high for a modern lens. Coming back to more positive aspects, the bokeh is much smoother now. Not only compared to the G1 lens, but it's also better than most other lenses in this class. There is still a bit of bokeh fringing at f/2.8, although it's pretty moderate in the grand scheme of things. It's also obvious that the close-focus image quality has increased. The build quality still follows a Tamron tradition - meaning the extensive use of plastics. This doesn't translate to bad quality. There's nothing wobbly even when zooming to 75mm and the new design language is quite attractive. However, if you prefer a lens carved from metal, you should look elsewhere. An obvious advantage of this design philosophy is the low(er) weight. Basic weather sealing is also provided. A big plus is the very fast AF from the new VXD linear motor. The option to update the firmware and customize features via USB is also commendable. While the predecessor was already popular, the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III VXD G2 finally deserves a high rank in the sales charts. The price tag of $900/EUR is almost a steal for an f/2.8 standard zoom lens, making it also the value king in this class.

Highly Recommended – A superb fast full frame standard zoom for Sony mirrorless cameras.

Tamron has considerably improved upon their 1st generation standard zoom for mirrorless cameras: Their new 28-75mm f2.8 Di III G2 is optically right up their with the best from other manufacturers even surpassing them at the short end. Plus, it is the smallest and by far lightest and cheapest of the bunch. And Tamron didn't skimp on features: The lens is fully weather sealed and Tamron added a focus set button plus USB-C port to make the lens highly configurable via computer and their new Lens Utility (“TLU”). Only its close-up performance is disappointing. But other than that Tamron has designed a compelling standard zoom which clearly earns a Highly Recommended!