Let's be honest: most photographers out there are budget-minded, including myself. Which is why I take seriously any gear buying advice I give. Fortunately, lenses like this one make my job much less stressful. What follows is the nitty gritty of why I chose the Tamron 70-180mm F2.8 (and also why it may be the right lens for you!).

The zoom ring is substantial, taking up a bit more than half the length of the barrel. It's marked at the 70, 100, 135, and 180mm positions, and moves from its shortest to longest position with slightly less than 90 degrees of rotation. The close up bokeh is smooth and creamy with acceptable optical vignetting and no visible onion rings. Sony A7rII | Tamron 70-180mm 2.8 | 180mm | f/2.8 Sony A7rII | Tamron 70-180mm 2.8 | 180mm | f/2.8 If it seems like a tribute review to my daughters, it’s not by choice. My wife won’t let me near her with a camera, so it was either my ugly mug or the kids – who are a little more photogenic. How close do you have to get for 1:10 magnification e.g. for a very tightly cropped head-shot? At its longest focal length the Tamron III achieves 1:10 at a distance of 1.88m (6.2ft.) while the Sony has a longer reach of 2.14m (7.0ft.) due to its longer focal length. [+] Bokeh is a word used for the out-of-focus areas of a photograph, and is usually described in qualitative terms, such as smooth / creamy / harsh etc.Chromatic aberrations, typically seen as purple or blue fringes along contrasty edges, are pretty well controlled with this lens - the example below shows the worst-case scenario. Light Fall-off Filter-thread: The Tamron G2 shares the same 67mm filter-thread with its shorter siblings the 17-28mm f2.8 Di III and 28-75mm f2.8 Di III G2 which is very convenient – and saves costs. The Sony GM II takes 77mm filters. [+]

Canon lost users [...] over the past decade. [..,] Tamron, Roki-Yang, and Sigma played key roles in much of that "mass exodus" from Canon.<< The 70-180mm F/2.8 Di III VC VXD G2 (Model A065) is the “G2” 2nd-generation successor to the 70-180mm F/2.8 Di III VXD (Model A056), a lens that won astounding acclaim from the marketplace and has been enjoyed by users around the world. The new model keeps its fast F2.8 aperture, while being newly equipped with TAMRON’s proprietary VC (Vibration Compensation) and offering greatly improved close-up capability. Even with these new features, the lens is the world’s smallest size and lightest weight for its class (156.5mm / 6.2in long at wide 70mm end) and weighs just 855g / 30.2oz as a result of its size-minimizing 180mm focal length at the tele end 2 versus bulkier 70-200mm lenses. In addition to offering the highest level of mobility, the optical design has been completely revamped from the 1st-generation model to further refine its exceptional optical performance. With the 70-180mm F2.8 G2, TAMRON has pushed both rendering capabilities and miniaturization to the limits. These advancements amplify the joy of capturing the world around you. Keeping in mind the low weight and reasonable price tag you should neither expect an all metal construction nor as fancy polycarbonate that is used for the Sony GM lenses. The build quality does not disappoint though, the 70-180mm 2.8 feels pretty much exactly like the Tamron 17-28mm 2.8, so if you like that you will also like this.

A trinity of fast lenses - Tamron’s third fast lens offering compliments the previous 17-28mm F/2.8 Di III RXD and 28-75mm F/2.8 Di III RXD options. These are specifically designed for Sony FE mount and all feature impressive optics, build and image quality. Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 Di III VXD Lens Specifications Lens type The Tamron 70-180mm F/2.8 Di III VXD isn't fully weather-proof but it does benefit from a moisture-resistant construction which helps to prevent moisture from penetrating the lens, although we'd hesitate to use it in the rain for a prolonged period. The front element has a hydrophobic Fluorine Coating that is highly resistant to fingerprints and debris. Here’s the results: With SteadyShot=on the combo produced results down to 1/50 sec (2 stops) which were at least as sharp as at 1/200 sec with SteadyShot=off. At 1/25 sec (3 stops) I had 3 out of 20 shots which were worse than the results at 1/200 with SteadyShot=off but 80% of the shots were very usable. At 1/12 sec (4 stops) results became quite erratic with 50% clearly blurred images and at 1/6 sec (5 stops) only 20-25% of the shots were usable – but only for smaller output sizes. This is a 3 stop advantage from the sensor-based image stabilization built into the Sony A7R II camera at 180mm focal length – which probably becomes even better at shorter focal lengths. Interestingly the Sony FE 70-200mm f2.8 GM with its built-in optical stabilization OSS did not produce much better results at 200mm focal length. What do you dislike about the R8? I mean it has the flagship autofocus system which not even sony does for entry level bodies and a multiple times higher drive speed making the entrance into action, which formerly almost needed the most expensive bodies, affordable for the masses. Let’s compare the Tamron 70-180mm f2.8 Di III (“Tamron III” for short) to the Sony FE 70-200mm f2.8 G Master OSS (“Sony” for short) and its DSLR sibling the Tamron SP 70-200mm f2.8 Di VC USD G2 (“Tamron G2”) which can be used via mount-converter. As usual I’ve rated the features with a [+] (or [++]), when it’s better than average or even state of the art, a [0] if it’s standard or just average, and [-] if there’s a disadvantage.

The most obvious competitor and a lens none of us has personally used for a longer time. Considering it is not as hot as other manufacturer’s 70-200mm 2.8 lenses and it is very expensive I would rather get the Tamron lens reviewed here. The 70-180mm F2.8 G2 is compatible with the dedicated TAMRON Lens Utility software (for PC and Android™ 3 OS) that was developed in-house by TAMRON 4. TAMRON Lens Utility lets users change lens settings, assign camera body functions, and update to the latest firmware 5 when necessary. In addition, when using the mobile version, functions unique to the mobile version can be operated remotely without touching the lens. Users may customize functions for various still photography and videography shooting styles, thereby providing a more personalized and fulfilling shooting experience. I’m not going to waste your time in this section. As a lens that is likely to be used extensively at f/2.8, the Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 Di III VXD performs very well wide open.This lens is even more expensive than the Zeiss Batis 135mm 2.8 but adds also some unique qualities. The sharpness is even outresolving the sensor of the A7RIV wide open and the added speed allows for way more subject isolation and low light capability. The autofocus is also one of the fastest in the Sony world. Conclusion good

I was handed this lens by Tamron Australia who kindly loaned it to me for a week. The timing isn’t ideal with the current coronavirus situation in Australia… Tamron has elected to not include their VC (Vibration Compensation) in this lens, choosing to rely on Sony’s IBIS (In Body Image Stabilization) to save size, cost, and weight. On the other two zooms, this has been a perfectly good approach, but it falls apart a bit here. In my tests, I found that I didn’t get as good of results I’m accustomed to seeing with in-lens stabilization. Sony’s IBIS worked quite well for video, but I got only about a 20% keeper rate with handheld shots at 1/13th second at 180mm on my a7RIII (I’d expect something closer to 75-80% with lens stabilization). There’s definitely a noticeable improvement in the tests compared to having SteadyShot off, but better doesn’t equal good on most of the shots. Moving to 1/25th second definitely brings an improvement, but at a pixel level almost none of my tests were perfectly steady. The higher resolution of the a7RIV would made this even more apparent, though the SteadyShot might work marginally better in that newer camera. Filter-thread: The Tamron 70-180mm f2.8 Di III shares the same 67mm filter-thread with its shorter siblings the 17-28mm f2.8 Di III and 28-75mm f2.8 Di III which is very convenient – and saves costs. The Sony and the Tamron G2 take 77mm filters. [+] I disliked everything about the R8 except its decent sensor, which is just on par with the now-ancient A7 III and Z6. And yes, the autofocus is a great step up compared to previous entry-level Canons.Sealing: yes, a rubber grommet at the lens-mount plus further special weather-sealing throughout the construction, just like the Sony and Tamron G2. [+] Superior image quality - Despite the low weight, this lens features 19 elements in 14 groups. It includes a total of six XLD (eXtra Low Dispersion) and LD (Low Dispersion) lens elements, three GM (Glass Moulded Aspherical) and hybrid aspherical lens elements. Special lens elements are generously and optimally arranged to correct chromatic aberration and maintain very high-resolution edge-to-edge performance. The lens is quite susceptible to flare when shooting directly into the sun, though, something that is mitigated somewhat by fitting the supplied lens hood. Macro