Tamron 28-200mm FE review by Amateur Photographer

This is Amateur Photographers review and conclusion about the new lens:

Reviewing the new Tamron 28-200mm has got me thinking about how mirrorless technology has changed the landscape of lens design. Ten years ago, the firm’s equivalent DSLR offerings were decidedly compromised, with sluggish autofocus and lots of optical aberrations, but this lens is much better in almost every way. It produces sharper, cleaner images by integrating optical and software compensation, while providing rapid, silent autofocus. The fact that offers a significantly larger aperture than its main rival, while managing to be smaller and lighter, is the icing on the cake.

However, two drawbacks bring pause for thought. First is the 28mm wide setting, which feels restrictive now we’ve got used to using 24mm as standard. I frequently found myself wishing for wider when shooting subjects such as landscapes. You could pair the lens up with a wideangle zoom or prime, but that rather negates the point of an all-in-one zoom.

The second question mark is the lack of optical stabilization, which leaves you dependent on the camera’s in-body system. This is unlikely to be as effective, particularly at telephoto; indeed the camera visibly struggles to stabilise the viewfinder image at 200mm. But for some users this will be an acceptable trade-off for the larger aperture.

In conclusion, the Tamron 28-200mm F/2.8-5.6 Di III RXD puts an intriguing spin on the all-in-one superzoom concept. It’s capable of producing very decent images, while offering a different set of strengths to the Sony FE 24-240mm F3.5-6.3 OSS. There’s not necessarily a clear winner between the two; it just depends on each user’s priorities.

Preorders:
In USA at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto and FocusCamera.
in EU at Fotokoch. CalumetDE, WexUK. ParkcamerasUK.