Tamron 70-180mm Lens Review

Today we are in Hollywood. I have Arielle here with me. We are going to test out the new 70-180mm from Tamron for Sony. This is a great lens. It is the last in that 3 part series. It is a small telephoto you can carry in your bag. It has a small form factor, 2.8 all the way through. We are going to test this lens out and just see how well it does.

So far I have been using this lens this morning shooting Arielle. It’s been really easy to use. The auto focus is fast, which has been one of my biggest concerns. “Does the auto focus work quickly?” And it does. I am going to test in also in video mode to make sure it is going to track and do well in video mode. It’s super light-weight, super small and easy to use.

I really want to take a look at color. So I photographed Arielle against this red wall here to see exactly how this lens works with the sensor. It is not muddy. It gives you great contrast. And I think the color is pretty. It looks really nice. So I felt like the lens did exactly what it needed to for the color. It is not muddying it up or causing any issues. It is letting the sensor do its work.

I’m now going to test and see how this lens does in video mode as far as with the auto focus tracking. I will have her walk to me and then walk back. Then I will have her do the same with 180mm and see how it stays on the face.

Here’s a look at the auto focus tracking and video mode. At 70mm it is absolutely fine. It stays right with her. At 180mm it stays with her but sometimes it is just a little less responsive. But it stays with her. Something to keep in mind.

We just got done shooting some images. Let’s take a look at some of them we shot walking around here in Hollywood.

Why would you buy this lens? There are a couple of reasons:

It is not near as expensive as a Sony G-Master 70-200mm lens. It is much less expensive so you will be able to buy a couple of these Tamron lenses for the same price as one of the Sonys. And it is as sharp. It is going to give you a beautiful sharp image. It will be fast to use and it is lightweight. Whereas the 70-200mm Sony is not going to be in that category. A 70-180 is a slight compromise because of the telephoto. The reality is, a 180 mm it is just a little bit of difference. If I just walk forward a little bit you see the difference. I move in and change the perspective slightly. You still get the same effect. The focus falls more out of focus in the background when you move in. The same as when you zoom in. So it really accomplishes the same things. The compromise is worth it because of the price. And also because of the weight.

So who do I think this lens if for?

This lens is really about portraits, street portraiture, advertising, fashion and those kinds of applications. You get that longer lens, 2.8, so the background is going to fall nicely out of focus. The auto focus will track and make it easy to photograph someone moving around while you are shooting.

When you are using strobes. I use strobes with these lenses all the time. I shot some with the strobes this morning.  (Westcott FJ400 and Westcott Switch Beauty Dish) With strobes you really need a lens that is not going to change. It is going to stay at that constant 2.8. Then I can keep my settings. I can zoom in and shoot and I can zoom back out and shoot. It makes it really seamless to use.

If you are traveling photographer doing nature and images where you are traveling the world. This series of lenses is perfect for that because it is just so easy to pack several lenses in a bag and go. And it is not like you are carrying a ton of weight all of the time.

In video mode this is great because if you are setting up for an interview you can just frame in on the person and let the background fall nicely out of focus. And it doesn’t matter where you are at. It gives you a great image and a great interview set-up.

All of those things added together makes this a very positive lens. The 28-75 is an incredible lens from Tamron. People love it. We use it here at The Slanted Lens all of the time on our Sony rig. This new lens falls into that same category. It gives you a little longer lens so things can fall more out of focus in the background. They have successfully made a lens that fits into the series. All of them 67mm so it matches everything they have in the series, including the 20mm, 24mm and 35mm. So it makes a great package all across the board.

Lightweight and nicely done. It is a very positive lens and I can’t wait to keep shooting with it.

So there’s some thoughts on the new Tamron 70-180mm. Keep those cameras rollin’ and keep on clickin’.

(We used the Fotoprousa E6L Eagle Series Tripod)

Visit our SPONSORS:

Tamron Lenses: http://bit.ly/2mZgkoz

SKB: http://www.skbcases.com/

Platypod: http://www.platypod.com/

Westcott: https://www.fjwestcott.com/?acc=d09bf41544a3365a46c9077ebb5e35c3

Luminar by Skylum: https://macphun.evyy.net/c/2073517/645022/3255

Datacolor: http://bit.ly/2lZk8Bi

FotoproUSA: http://www.fotoprousa.com/

Triple Scoop Music: http://www.triplescoopmusic.com

LITRA: https://litra.com/

Discounts:

15% off Lens Pro To Go www.lensprotogo.com Use Discount Code: SLANTEDLENS15

$10 off Luminar by Skylum https://macphun.evyy.net/c/2073517/645023/3255 Use Discount Code: LuminarTSL10