Tamron Announces APS-C 11-20mm F2.8 and FE 150-500mm F5–6.7 Lenses

Tamron has announced two brand new zoom lenses for Sony E-mount. The 11-20mm F/2.8 Di III-A RXD for APS-C cameras and the 150-500mm F/5-6.7 Di III VC VXD for full-frame cameras.

11–20mm F2.8 Di III-A RXD

The Tamron 11–20mm F2.8 Di III-A RXD APS-C lens is a fast-aperture ultra-wide zoom lens which has a 16.5mm-30mm full-frame equivalent focal length.

The lens is constructed of 12 elements in 10 groups, including two Glass Molded Aspherical (GM) elements, one Extra Low Dispersion (XLD) element and two Low Dispersion (LD) elements. Tamron’s Broad-Band Anti-Reflection Generation 2 (BBAR-G2) coating is designed to keeps ghosting and flares to a minimum.

There’s a seven-blade aperture diaphragm and a minimum focusing distance of 5.9” at 11mm and 9.4” at 20mm.

Tamron’s Rapid Extra-silent stepping Drive (EXD) stepping motor is used to drive the autofocus, and Tamron specifically mentions that this lens is compatible with Sony’s Eye AF.

The lens measures only 86mm (3.4”) in length, 73mm (2.87”) in diameter and weighs only 335g (11.8oz).

The Tamron 11–20mm F2.8 Di III-A RXD is already available to pre-order and should start shipping on June 24th. This lens will cost $829.00 in the US and £819.00 in the UK.

150–500mm F5–6.7 Di III VC VXD

The Tamron 150–500mm F5–6.7 Di III VC VXD, a compact ultra-telephoto zoom lens for full-frame Sony E mount cameras.

The 150-500 is constructed of 25 elements in 16 groups, including one Extra Low Dispersion (XLD) element, five Low Dispersion (LD) elements and two Hybrid Aspherical elements. Just like with the 11–20mm lens, Tamron’s Broad-Band Anti-Reflection Generation 2 (BBAR-G2) coating is used to keep ghosting and flares to a minimum.

There’s a seven-blade aperture diaphragm and the lens has a minimum focusing distance of 60cm (23.6”) at 150mm and 1.8 meters (70.9”) at 500mm.

The focus is driven by Tamron’s VXD linear motor focus mechanism and the lens also features Tamron’s VC mechnism for optical stabilization. There are three VC settings available on the lens body: a standard setting (mode 1), a panning setting (mode 2) and a framing priority setting (mode 3).

The lens also features a zoom lock mechanism to help prevent lens creep, there’s an included Arca-Swiss compatible tripod mount with attachment holes, and a lens hood.

The lens measures 21cm (8.3”) long, 93mm in diameter and weighs in at 1.72kg (60.8oz) without the tripod mount, which weighs 156g (5.5oz) itself.

The Tamron 150–500mm F5–6.7 Di III VC VXD is already available to pre-order and should start shipping on June 10. This lens will cost $1,399.00 in the US and £1,379.00 in the UK.

At this price point it means that the Tamron is just $600 dollars cheaper than the excellent Sony FE 200-600 lens in the US, but only £220 cheaper in the UK at current prices. It will be interesting to see how these two lenses compare head to head.