The Tamron 35-100mm f/2.8 Di III VXD is a fast standard zoom for Sony E-mount and Nikon Z-mount cameras, priced at $899 for Sony and $929 for Nikon. That longer reach comes at a direct cost: you lose the wide end compared to a typical 24-70mm, and whether that tradeoff works for you depends entirely on how you shoot.
Coming to you from Christopher Frost, this thorough video puts the Tamron 35-100mm f/2.8 Di III VXD through a full evaluation on the 61-megapixel Sony a7C R, which is about as demanding a test platform as you can put any lens on. Frost finds the center sharpness at f/2.8 to be excellent across the zoom range, with contrast holding up well at 35mm and 65mm. At 100mm, center sharpness is still strong, though contrast dips slightly wide open before recovering at f/4. Corner performance is softer wide open at every focal length, as expected, but stops down to f/5.6 and f/8 bring real improvement.
Where the lens runs into more serious trouble is distortion and vignetting. With in-camera corrections turned off, barrel distortion at 35mm flips to pincushion distortion by 43mm, and at 100mm, that pincushion becomes quite pronounced. Vignetting is heavy wide open at both ends of the zoom range. Frost also flags chromatic aberration as a notable weakness: it's strong at f/2.8 and doesn't fully clear up until f/8 or f/11, which is harder to fix in post than lateral chromatic aberration. These aren't dealbreakers, but they're real, and worth knowing before you buy.
The lens has a few genuine strengths beyond sharpness. Autofocus in continuous mode is fast, subject tracking works reliably, and Frost confirms it performed well on the Sony a7 V. Focus breathing is minimal, which matters if you're shooting video. The optional Tamron Lens Utility dongle adds Bluetooth-based control for focus sequences and remote operation, though some of those features are limited to Sony E-mount. Build quality is plastic but solid, with a weather-sealing gasket, a USB-C port for firmware updates, and a genuinely smooth zoom ring. Background separation at 100mm f/2.8 on a full frame camera is a real selling point, though very bright specular highlights show some outlining and onion-ring patterns in the bokeh.
Check out the video above for the full rundown from Frost, including real-world sample images that show exactly what the background separation looks like in practice.
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