Tamron 28-200 F/2.8-5.6 Di III RXD for Sony Mirrorless Full Frame/APS-C E-Mount, Model Number: AFA071S700, Black

The Tamron 28-200mm f/2.8-5.6 Di III RXD is a fantastic all-in-one zoom lens that has become a staple in my camera bag. Its versatility, image quality, and affordability make it a great choice for photographers of all levels. The 28-200mm focal length range covers a wide variety of shooting scenarios, from landscapes to portraits and wildlife. The f/2.8 maximum aperture at the wide end allows for beautiful bokeh and low-light shooting. Despite its impressive zoom range, the lens is surprisingly compact and lightweight, making it easy to carry around. The built-in image stabilization helps to reduce camera shake, especially at longer focal lengths. Compared to other lenses with similar focal lengths, the Tamron 28-200mm offers excellent value for money. The lens produces sharp, detailed images across the entire zoom range. The colors are vibrant, and the contrast is excellent. The autofocus is fast and accurate, even in low-light conditions. It's great for capturing fast-moving subjects. The lens feels well-constructed and durable. It's weather-sealed, making it suitable for outdoor shooting in various conditions. Overall, the Tamron 28-200mm f/2.8-5.6 Di III RXD is a highly recommended lens that offers exceptional value and versatility. It's a great choice for anyone looking for a single lens that can handle a wide range of shooting scenarios.

For videographers prioritizing portability and comprehensive coverage, the Tamron 28-200mm F/2.8-5.6 Di III RXD is a game-changer. Its incredible 28-200mm versatility means rarely swapping lenses, saving crucial time. Image quality is sharp for crisp 4K, and the f/2.8 at 28mm excels in low-light with cinematic blur. The fast, quiet RXD autofocus tracks subjects reliably without audio interference. Its lightweight design is comfortable for handheld and gimbal use. While the f/5.6 at 200mm is a common trade-off, it's minor given the convenience and stellar real-world performance for documentary, travel, and events. This lens is a must-have for Sony mirrorless videographers, simplifying gear and enhancing workflow with excellent results in almost any situation.

Well well, it appears I forgot to leave a review for the last year. I was too busy doing cool sh*t and documenting it using this lens. As a rock climber, hiker, skier, backpacker, and adventure photographer, changing lenses isn’t always an option. More frequently than not, pulling the lens off of my a7ii would mean exposing my sensor to dust, mist, wind and the elements, all while hiking peaks, hanging off of a cliff photographing other climbers, or standing face to face with a 1500 pound bison in the backcountry. Typically I would be forced to swap between a wide angle lens for my usual landscape photography, a portrait lens for taking photographs of my friends, or a telephoto for when some wildlife pops out from around a switchback on a trail. With this lens I never have to think twice about a shot, if I see a sprawling vista, I can shoot a quick panorama to capture all of the grandeur. If a moose jumps in front of me on the trail, I slam it in to 150mm to capture a close up. The short focal length makes macro shots a breeze, and the wide aperture means that low light shooting and astrophotography shots are a breeze as well. I’ve been shooting with this lens for the last year and it hasn’t left my camera once, except for the occasional cleaning. To be fair I can’t afford the high end portrait, telephoto, and wide angle lenses. That being said, even if I could, I don’t know if I would bother to spend the money unless I absolutely needed certain lenses for professional studio/field applications. One specialty lens costs between 1000 and 2000 dollars, this one costs about 800. And it does the work of 3 of those lenses together, albeit not quite as well, but comparably. Using this lens, I have a self contained pro quality photography unit that when in its case occupies a space the size of a cantaloupe, easily fitting camera and lens, with batteries, charger, cleaning kit, sd cards, and filter kit. All included, it fits in my backpacking kit, it fits in my daypack, it fits in my climbing gear, and it can sit at the ready in my car while I’m road tripping. If I had to sum it up in one phrase; a jack of all trades and a master of none, but a jack of all trades is better than one.

This lens is incredibly versatile and exceedingly high quality for the price, and I fell in love with it after one rental. It's perfect for travel, as you get a full 28-200mm range (and can easily crop in to 400mm equivalent on a high-resolution body (see my attached bird in bush picture). No more fumbling with lenses as your kids run ahead and your spouse taps their foot; you can cover pretty much everything with just a flick of your wrist. It even handles semi-macro well (see attached bee photo). Typically superzooms trade off sharpness and maximum aperture for their versatility, but this lens instead narrows its range by 4mm to maintain both a wider F2.8-F5.6 aperture and outstanding center sharpness. Be aware that this lens does not feature stabilization and is best used with a camera that has in-body image stabilization. That said, the brighter apertures of this lens allow you to compensate with faster shutter speeds as well. Overall I would strongly recommend this lens to anyone who is looking for a first or travel lens for an A7X body, as it is a jack-of-all-trades for a very reasonable price.

Overall, this is a fine all-around lens, especially if you’re traveling, a beginner and/or on a budget. With that said, the auto focus capabilities leave much to be desired. I’ve been using this Tamron lens on an a7iii for the past 15 months or so. It was a long overdue replacement to the kit lens and an old telephoto a-mount lens I was using. The 28-200mm focal range covers a large area and is very appealing. The lens is not overly heavy or large, making it great for traveling. For many photographers, this can be a decent all-around lens, limiting how many lenses you have to carry. It is an upgrade from the kit lens in most areas. I primarily shoot landscapes and storms. When I first used this lens, I thought I was doing something wrong. The auto focus was very slow, sometimes not able to focus at all. After several months of use and research, I’ve accepted that it’s just not very good with auto focus. I’ve tried every focusing mode imaginable and upgraded firmware. Maybe the a7iii body is part of the limitation, but I think it’s largely the lens itself. When I’m storm chasing, I need a quick and accurate focus, especially when there’s a tornado. These phenomena rarely last longer than a few minutes, so every second counts. It seems like auto focus with this lens is good with close or “obvious” subjects, but I cannot get it to consistently lock in on clouds and other distant objects, even when zoomed in and on a tripod. On the bright side, I was pleasantly surprised at how this lens performed for the April 2024 solar eclipse. With a filter, zoomed in to 200mm (NO teleconverter), manual focus and using the a7iii, I had low expectations. I was able to capture multiple solar prominences and had shots that I’m proud of, after some modest editing. I definitely have mixed feelings on this lens. It does outperform the kit lens with clarity. The extra reach is great, but the auto focus is no better than the kit lens. For the first few months of use, I forced myself to stick to this lens to get comfortable with it and the focusing still disappoints me. I later upgraded to the 16-35mm GMii lens and that lens is in a whole different league. For most landscapes and storm chasing, I need the wider angles anyway. The native 16-35mm rarely leaves my camera, outside of portrait shoots. I’m just disappointed that if there’s a tornado on the horizon, I can’t switch to the Tamron lens to zoom in with any confidence. I recently had another storm chase with a tornado last week and I needed the extra zoom. Auto focus wouldn’t work with this lens and I quickly snapped to manual focus, but due to time constraints, I was shooting handheld and didn’t get the best focus before the tornado dissipated. Honestly, prior to the eclipse, I was ready to give this lens away. I was surprised at how this lens handled that event, even at 200mm with a filter. That performance won me back, but then recent tornado events reminded me about how bad this lens can be with auto focus. I am planning on upgrading camera bodies in 2025, probably the a7Rv, so I am curious to see how this lens handles in that case. I’ll update this review once that happens and I’ve had some time to play with it.

I am by no means a professional photographer, but I used this to take photos at my friend's bridal shower and it literally made my photos look like they were done by a paid professional. So easy to use and on my Sony camera it did all the heavy lifting for me. Hoping to take it out to see how it does with landscape vs portraits, but this was a 10/10 purchase and I wish I'd done it sooner.

For the affordable price, photos are good.

This lens was weirdly nostalgic for me. When I bought my very first brand new 35 mm SLR back in 1996, I had a strangely similar lens to this, a first generation Vivitar 28 to 200 3.5 to 5.6 in Nikon F mount. At $99, I felt really lucky to find a clearance deal on that lens, but I still had to save my lawnmowing money for a couple weeks. My friends who were more serious about photography were aghast that I dared show up with such an embarrassing piece of glass and plastic. Of course, I was shooting mostly Tri-X and 800 ISO Kodak print film, so it’s not like anything I was printing was sharp enough to show the defects in that lens anyway. But still, decades later I remembered the stigma of such a ridiculous lens. So imagine how I felt in 2023 when I saw the advice of a Sony user group to pick a lens for my niece’s wedding after stepping up from an APS body with awful timing. Head to head against the 28-75 2.8, you actually only lose one stop at the long end. This lens is still only f/4.0 at 75 mm, and it’s barely larger than the shorter fixed aperture lens. It’s like you basically get a free extra 2.8x zoom on top of the same volume and performance as the flagship mid zoom lens, and it really is free because versus that lens there is almost zero price or weight penalty. I took this lens to Alaska and back and only felt in need to take it off when I needed wider or longer, the Laowa 15 at one end and the even more awesome Tamron 150 to 500 at the other end. I really have no complaints to offer about the performance of this lens in all of that travel so far. Pretty good for kayaking too.