If you shoot any one of the major APS-C sensor brands, Canon, Sony, Fuji, Nikon, this is an APS-C sensor lens from Tamron. It’s a 16-50mm. So, basically a 24-75mm. A little different on Canon, but it’s a great f/2.8 lens throughout. An affordable, lightweight, small lens that works on any of those platforms. They have for all those different platforms. What a great step up from a kit lens, a great f/2.8 at an affordable price. Let’s take a look at it and just see how it works.
So, this lens from Tamron is really a great step up from a kit lens. So, you get a 16-50mm lens, which is basically a 24-75mm, and it’s f/2.8 throughout, which gives you great low light performance. If you’re in any kind of low light situation, you shoot at f/2.8, which allows you to control the shutter better. Allows you to have better, lower ISO in those situations. Just a great lens. Anytime you get a zoom lens at f/2.8, it’s incredible. It has a 55mm lens filter on the front. So, a 55mm means it’s a much smaller lens, compact lens. It’s about 3.2 inches long and about 10.8 oz. So, it’s really lightweight, compact, short. It’s great for those small compact type cameras that you’re going to want to carry with you. It’s great for vlogging. It’s great for taking out camping, you know, just life events. If you want to, you know, shoot for birthday parties and any kind of sports or things where your family’s involved, this becomes a lens just over $500 that makes it really easy to get into and gives you great performance. I mean, that really is this next series from Tamron. I look forward to seeing others in this series because I feel like this is a great offering. On Tamron’s lens mounting now, they say 16-50mm f/2.8 A. So now on all their lenses that A will mean that it’s an APS-C sensor. So if there’s no A, like the 12-20mm didn’t have an A on it. That’s a full-frame lens. This is a 16-50mm f/2.8 with an A. That means it’s for APS-C sensor. So very easy to identify the lenses that they have that are for APS-C sensors and those that are for full frame.
So, this lens has the exact same high-speed quality, quiet autofocus mechanism that they put in all of their lenses. So, it’s quiet enough for video as well as stills. It’s got the VXD motor, which is very quiet and seamless. It’s the same mechanism that they put in all of their lenses regardless of the price. And it’s just over $500. So it’s quiet, it’s great for video, it’s great for stills. The autofocus works seamlessly. It also tracks extremely well. When you want to track something, it allows you to track, which is great if you’re doing any kind of, you know, kids sports or if you’re doing, you know, a party, you want to just stay on one individual when there’s lots of kids running around. Just makes it very seamless to use. So the autofocus in this lens is high-end. It really is.
So the close focusing distance with this lens is pretty, I mean it gives you a respectable close focus distance which allows you to get in tighter on things which gives you a totally different angle. It’s about 6 inches. When I get super close on the 16mm end it’s about 11 or 12 inches on the 50mm end of the lens. It’s hard when you’re on 16mm because that six inches is from the film plane to the subject matter. So the lens starts to get right on top of what you’re shooting and it’s so super close. So if I take a picture here, I’m getting in super close on that 16 mm. When I go to 50 mm, I’m only at about 10.5 to 11.5 inches. You can get slightly closer with that 16mm at that six inches, but you do have to deal with the shadow and the lens becoming very close to your subject matter. But excellent for doing any kind of a closeup of something that you find interesting. I think it gives you, it’s not a macro lens, but it certainly gives you a great perspective that I think most of the Tamron lenses allow you to do this, which allows you to get in close, get a different perspective, and just a great addition to the lens.
So, the glass on this lens is really made to suppress any kind of chromatic aberration. So that red fringing that you get, it’s going to minimize all of the blurring in the corners so you get a really sharp image from edge to edge and it’s going to cut down on any kind of color fringing. So the glass is really lined up to give you a beautiful clean image. So let’s look at some more of those images.
So, at 16mm, this lens gives you enough area that you can crop when you use electronic stabilization, so that you get a usable image that’s going to be really great for video. And so, it really makes it excellent for putting on a gimbal. It’s going to be on a lightweight camera. It’s going to give you a wide view, so that 24mm, and it’s going to give you enough of a view so that a slight crop on it, electronic mode is not going to bother you, and it’s going to look excellent. So, it’s great for video, especially on a gimbal.
So, the USB-C port is weatherproofed and it allows you to use Tamron’s utility both on the Sony and the Nikon version. That allows you to do things for video like setting focus stops and things which gives you a lot of capabilities when it comes to video. So, they’re using that USB-C port and the Tamron utility is a pretty useful item if you’re going into more professional kinds of video. But it’s super important also to just update your lens when new firmware comes out or you get a new camera.
So it comes with that BBAR coating. Its a second generation of that BBAR coating and it suppresses the ghosting and flare caused by reflections inside the lens even in backlight situations.
So, I absolutely love Tamron’s new lens cap that they premiered with the 12-20mm. It’s just got a nice deep grip so you can take it off really easily and put it back on. So easy to use. Just that little kind of clamp in the middle, releases it, puts it back on, and it looks cool. Plus, it’s got a little strap hole on the side, so if you want to put a little leash on it, you can stick it on your lens or your camera, and that way it’ll just dangle and you won’t lose it. Definitely a cool design upgrade on the cap.
So, let’s wrap this up. Who buys this lens? You know, this is a superior step up from a kit lens for an APS-C sensor. You’re getting an f/2.8 lens at 16-50mm, which is basically 24-75mm. That gives you a great mid-range. It’s a range that works for, you know, any kind of time you’re out walking around, family events, some sporting events. It’s easy to carry with you when you’re going to backpack or you’re going to go out rock climbing, those kinds of things. It’s a small, lightweight camera that gives you a superior image. Those are the people who are going to buy this for just over $500. What an easy step for your next lens when you buy an APS-C sensor to get away from that kit lens. Quite frankly, I would buy an APS-C sensor camera and this lens. I would not waste any money on a kit lens. I would get a camera like the Sony’s, the Canon, the Fuji, Nikon, they all have great APS-C sensors, but then I would buy it without a lens. And then I would get this lens because it’s an f/2.8 lens and it’s going to give you superior images. So, I love the lens. It’s fast. The autofocus is great. It really is a lens that just gets you a little more of a professional look in that APS-C sensor category. So, for me, I think it’s a home run. So that’s what I think of the 16-50mm Tamron f/2.8 A lens. So you keep those cameras rollin’ and keep on clickin’!
