New Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 full frame lens

Tamron announced a new 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD (A010) full frame lens. At $849, it is considerably cheaper than the brand alternatives.

Product Highlights

• Optical design
  The optical construction of this lens includes four elements of LD (Low Dispersion) glass, three Molded-Glass Aspherical elements, one Hybrid Aspherical element, one XR (Extra Refractive Index) glass element, and one element of UXR (Ultra-Extra Refractive Index) glass.

• Smaller and lighter
  The new optical design facilitated downsizing of the lens body, leading to a smaller overall lens when compared to the existing Tamron 28-300mm (Model A20).

• New anti-reflection coating
  The application of BBAR (Broad-Band Anti-Reflection) coatings for suppressing reflections on lens element surfaces minimizes unwanted flare and ghosting to deliver sharp, crisp, high-contrast images.

• PZD (Piezo Drive) for fast, quiet autofocus
  The PZD (Piezo Drive), a standing-wave ultrasonic motor system, delivers faster, quieter, more precise autofocus.

• VC (Vibration Compensation)
  The lens comes with Tamron’s version of image stabilisation: VC (Vibration Compensation).

• Moisture-resistant construction
  The construction of the lens helps to prevent moisture from penetrating the lens.

Lens specifications

Model	A010
Focal Length	28-300mm
Maximum Aperture	F/3.5-6.3
Angle of view (diagonal)	75°23’ - 8°15’ (for full-frame format) 52°58’ - 5°20’ (for APS-C format)
Lens Construction	19 elements in 15 groups
Minimum Focus Distance	19.3 in (0.49m)
Maximum Magnification Ratio	1:3.5 (at f=300mm: MFD 19.3in)
Filter Size	Ø67mm
Maximum Diameter	Ø74.4mm
Length 6	3.8in (96mm)
Weight	19oz (540g)
No. of Diaphragm Blades	7 (circular diaphragm)
Minimum Aperture	F/22-40
Standard Accessories	Flower-shaped Lens hood
Compatible Mounts	Canon, Nikon, Sony

Tamron announces new 150-600mm Ultra-Telephoto Zoom Lens

Tamron just announced a “revolutionary new 150-600mm Ultra-Telephoto Zoom Lens for full-frame and APS-C format DSLR cameras”. The new SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD (Model A011) boast a super tele range of 150 to 600mm. The (variable) maximum aperture of 5-6.3 has made it possible for the designers to keep the weight down (it weighs less than 2kg), whilst still allowing enough light to pass through for most autofocus systems to work^*1.

This all-new ultra-telephoto zoom lens features VC (Vibration Compensation) image stabilization, USD (Ultrasonic Silent Drive), and eBAND (Extended Bandwidth & Angular-Dependency) Coating to reduce the unwanted light reflections that cause flare and ghosting. It will be available with a Canon, Nikon, or Sony mount (the Sony model comes without VC as that is built into the Sony cameras already). If you live in Japan, the lens is expected to be available from the 19th, the rest of the world will follow soon thereafter. Price indications for this lens seem to be around $1069, which is pretty cheap for such a nice focal range! If image quality is good, this may be a great lens for sports and wildlife shooters!


^*1 Modern Canon and Nikon cameras actually allow fully functional autofocus of up to f/8 (for some of the AF points). For most cameras, however, AF is fully functional only using lenses with a maximum aperture of up to f/5.6 (or even bigger). Using a lens with a smaller maximum aperture (e.g., f/6.3, like this lens), does not mean AF will not work at all, just that it won't work as fast/reliable as when using a lens with a larger max aperture in similar cases.