Telephoto lenses are a necessity for wildlife and sports photography. They allow photographers the ability to heavily zoom into their subjects, getting right into the action, without interrupting the action. The new Tamron 150-500mm f/5-6.7 for Sony E-mount is a great telephoto lens that will be arriving very soon, and today we’ll be diving into the features of this lens, it’s place in the market, and what new horizons are being pushed through this lens.
Tamron has long been a company to trust in providing affordable lenses for Sony mirrorless cameras as an alternative to the often expensive Sony lenses. This new ultra telephoto lens from Tamron will provide a good telephoto experience to Sony users, at a competitive price. The 150-500 offers an impressively versatile focal length range, giving this lens immense versatility in perfectly framing a shot. The aperture numbers don’t look thrilling on paper, but this lens still delivers an impressive depth of field for extra dramatic shots of the subject. The image below (shot at f/6.7) portrays this perfectly. The only main compromise of slower apertures on this lens is a sacrifice in low-light performance.
This Tamron lens also has essential features like image stabilization and fast autofocus, making the most of the Sony Alpha cameras’ autofocus abilities. The image stabilization has several options for prioritizing panning or framing. The 150-500 also has a zoom lock to avoid unintentional adjustments to the zoom. Another feature adding to zoom capabilities is a clutch that allows the zoom ring to move slowly and smoothly. Several elements within the lens do an effective job in reducing flares, chromatic aberrations, fringing, and distortion. If you want to see a hands-on demo with this lens and some more example photos, Arthur R has a great review available on Youtube.
The Tamron 150-500mm holds a competitive place in the mirrorless telephoto lens market. Lenses of a similar focal range run hundreds of dollars higher. The Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 for instance is priced at $2,000, while the Tamron is only $1,400 in comparison. The price point and features associated with the Tamron 150-500mm f/5-6.7 make it a compelling choice for photographers in need of a telephoto lens for Sony E with wide focal range.