Tamron has announced the development of the 70-180mm F2.8 Di III VXD telephoto zoom lens for Sony full-frame E-mount.
The lens will weigh just 815g (1.8lbs) which is extremely light compared to the 1480g (3.26 lbs) that Sony’s own FE 70-200 F2.8 GM lens weighs in at.
At 149mm (5.9″) in length (most likely at 70mm) it’s a full 51mm shorter than the Sony 70-200 F2.8 GM. It also uses the same same 67mm filters as the two other popular Tamron lenses: the 17-28mm F2.8 and 28-75mm F2.8.
The minimum focus distance is just 0.85m (33.5 in) and there’s also a newly developed VXD linear motor focus mechanism. Tamron says that the lens is moisture-resistant and has a fluorine coating.
With the success of the Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 Di III RXD (Amazon, Adorama) and the Tamron 17-28mm F2.8 Di III RXD (Amazon, Adorama) there is little doubt that this lens will be very popular and will certainly bite into the sales of Sony’s own FE 70-200 F2.8 GM lens (Amazon, Adorama) and also their FE 70-200 F4 G lens (Amazon, Adorama).
Tamron says that the 70-180mm F2.8 Di III VXD will be available in Spring of next year.
Press release text here.
Where is the OSS mentioned on their announcement which you need for a lens this size if hand holding even if your camera has IBS. The Sony GM has OSS which works with the IBS, and missing 20mm is not a huge deal. I have been waiting for this lens, and I was disappointed when reading the release notes. Yes, lighter, but that is all it has going for it at this time.
They haven’t mentioned OSS so I’m guessing that it’s not included and will rely on the cameras IBIS which we know isn’t brilliant. I imagine it will still sell well even without OSS providing it’s sharp and fast focusing. Sports shooters shooting over 1/1000 will get away with just IBIS and landscape shooters choosing it for it’s small size will most likely be shooting from a tripod so not care too much about OSS. So yes definitely disappointing but I don’t expect this will stop it selling well if their previous two lenses are anything to go by.
I agree, it will be a good seller if it is sharp and has good focus. There is a big market for light lenses on a mirrorless body, and some would claim that the Tamron 70-180 is being built for compactness regardless of limited features, but all F2.8 lenses in this range are going to have some significant size to them. I think a lens in this range should be the best one in your arsenal, and that is why I am going to move forward with the sony glass tonight. I will be good with that since I purchased the Tamron 17-28 and 28-75 instead of the very tempting Sony g masters, and I really don’t want to wait until Spring.
It will be interesting to see if Sigma brings a similar lens designed for mirrorless and not an SLR port at some point, looks like Tamron have beaten them to it for now though. The Sony 70-200 2.8 GM is a lovely lens, I’ve owned it for a couple of years and can’t see myself letting it go anytime soon! Still interested to see how the competition shapes up though 🙂