Tamron is in the process of completing its trio of fast zooms with a difference. The latest arrival to the party is the 70-180 f/2.8 Di III VXD. This excellent review puts it through its paces.
While admittedly shaving a sizable 20mm from the long end, the Tamron 70-180mm makes the Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 look both unnecessarily huge and expensive — assuming that you’re happy to forego certain features. From this review — and my own experience of having played with the lens over the last fortnight is that it definitely doesn’t sacrifice on sharpness or autofocus performance, though it’s interesting to see what Chris Nichols from DPReview has to say about bokeh in this short video.
With Samyang and Tamron having taking full advantage of the migration of photographers to Sony over the last five years, I would argue that the arrival of the Tamron 70-180mm puts the suggestion that Sony is the most attractive full-frame option to budget- and size-conscious shooters beyond doubt. With Sigma also producing a vast array of primes — and now zooms — Sony’s lens lineup is incredibly varied, not just in terms of lens type, but also quality, size, and budget.
The Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 is available to pre-order for just $1,199.
With Canon fleshing out its mirrorless range, will Tamron, Sigma, and Samyang now shift their focus away from Sony for a while? Leave your thoughts below, and don’t forget to let us know what you think about this new, compact telephoto zoom.
Seems like a fair review. As for bokeh, he might be out on a boat by himself--like he was about the Nikon 50mm 1.8 S (https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/62151835). The bokeh in sample pix I've seen so far look okay to impressive. I'll wait for more credible reviewers--or even better--for my copy to arrive to decide about the bokeh.