Tamron Patent Points to Exciting New Lens

Tamron may be eyeing an ambitious new lens: a 200–800mm ultra-telephoto zoom for mirrorless cameras. A recently published patent in Japan reveals optical designs for a Tamron 200-800mm f/6.7 lens, as well as a companion 200-600mm f/5.6 design​.

Such a lens would offer tremendous reach for wildlife and sports photographers, covering focal lengths that normally require multiple lenses or heavy prime optics. While a patent is no guarantee of a final product, the details hint at Tamron’s R&D direction and its intent to compete in the super-telephoto space – possibly for Sony E mount full-frame cameras, where Tamron has been most active.

A Glimpse at the Patent Details

The patent lays out the optical formula for a 200-800mm f/6.7 zoom. An 800mm focal length on full frame is ideal for photographing distant birds, wildlife, or athletes on a field. If this lens were made, f/6.7 would be a relatively well-balanced aperture compared to other similar lenses, allowing decent light-gathering and balancing size. Notably, the patent also describes a shorter 200-600mm f/5.6 variant, suggesting Tamron is exploring multiple options for a big zoom​.

Ultra-tele lenses are usually huge, but Tamron seems to be leveraging clever optical grouping (and perhaps special elements) to reduce size. The 200-800mm design would be about 41.5 cm long (approximately 16.3 inches)​. That’s not tiny by any means, but it’s in the ballpark for an 800mm reach. The patent’s 200-600mm f/5.6 design is a bit shorter (35.4 cm).

Targeting Wildlife and Sports Photographers

If produced, a 200-800mm zoom would clearly be aimed at wildlife, birding, and sports photography. These are fields where focal length is king – you often need to fill the frame with faraway subjects. Currently, photographers in these genres might use something like a 150-600mm zoom (Tamron and Sigma both make those), and possibly add teleconverters, or step up to primes like 600mm or 800mm which are very expensive. A single lens that goes all the way to 800mm could be a game-changer for convenience, as evidenced by the wildly popular Canon RF 200-800mm f/6.3-9 IS USM lens.

Sports shooters (for outdoor sports like surfing, soccer, wildlife photography, motorsports, etc.) would similarly benefit. For instance, a track and field photographer could track runners at 200mm and zoom to 800mm for a close-up of the finish line celebration across the stadium. The versatility is huge. Tamron has a history of making all-in-one tele zooms; their 150-600mm series was very popular as a relatively affordable way to get into super-tele photography.

The bigger question is optical quality: can an affordable zoom with a 4x range maintain sharpness, contrast, and control aberrations throughout? And, of course, the biggest question would be price. Tamron’s current 150-600mm and 50-400mm lenses run around $1,300 to $1,400. A 200-800mm f/6.7 would be more complex, likely pushing it closer to the $2,000+ range, but that’s still dramatically cheaper than supertelephoto primes. It fills a niche for those who want maximum reach without a mortgage.

It’s worth emphasizing again: this is a patent, not a product (yet). Companies often patent designs to stake a claim or in case they decide to move forward later. Tamron themselves might be testing prototypes. The patent’s existence shows they have a design that works on paper. In fact, the patent application being a division of an earlier one from 2018 suggests Tamron’s been exploring this for a while​. Hopefully, we'll see something soon.