Tamron has done it again. The third party lens manufacturer’s been on a hot streak lately and it’s looking like it won’t end any time soon, especially with the release of the Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8.

Strangely, Tamron positions the 35-150mm f/2-2.8 as an “all-in-one full frame travel zoom lens.” But I disagree — I think Tamron is underselling this beast.

I believe the 35-150mm f/2-2.8 has an immense potential to be one of the greatest workhorse lenses ever made. The community had set high expectations for this genre-bender of a lens since word first got out about its development. At $1,900, Tamron’s most expensive glass to date, just how good is it? Could it really be the one lens to replace them all?

My thoughts, and why I sold a few lenses for this do-it-all lens

At the end of the day, it boils down to personal preference. For some, this could be an awkward focal length – for me, it’s perfect.

I sold the popular Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 and Sigma Art 85mm f1.4 for this lens.

Why?

Well, for me it’s because I mostly shoot family beach photography, and would have to lug both lenses with me. I couldn’t get tight enough, or blur the background enough the with Tamron 28-75mm, so I had the Sigma Art 85mm f1.4 which would pick up where the former slacked.

Enter the Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 and all my problems are solved.

There is one notable con though; you lose those beautiful apertures between under f2.

Not a huge deal for me as I’m mostly shooting at a deeper aperture because I’m typically working with couples or families.

And keep in mind that background blur isn’t just an aperture number, instead, for all intents and purposes, it’s mostly a product of physical aperture size. In other words, 135mm f2.0 has more background blur than 85mm f2.0. And similarly, the tail-end of the Tamron, 150mm f2.8 is still pretty close to what the 85mm f1.4 can do…

Overall, for me, this lens was able to replace two, and for me, that’s a win.

And I’m not much of a “ruler photographer” but all I know is this lens has already captured one of my favorite pics…

Build Quality and Design

The newest Tammy on the block does fall into your general travel lens category with that extremely versatile 35-150mm range. It gets a lot more interesting really fast when you see its extremely fast max aperture at f2, a first for a zoom in the Sony E-mount system.

Update 10/2023 – This lens is now available for the Nikon Z-Mount system.

But just so everybody’s on the same page, note that this is a variable aperture lens, which means the maximum aperture changes as you go through the range. In the Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8’s case, you’ll start with f2 at 35mm, f2.2 from 40-60mm, f2.5 from 61-80mm, and then stay at f2.8 up to 150mm.

Having that much light made available to you in a lens that covers wide to telephoto, even as a variable aperture lens, is nothing short of impressive. To achieve such a feat, it’s going to need a very complex optical design with 21 elements in 15 groups. And you’re unfortunately going to feel all that glass.

At 1165 grams, it’s even 120 grams heavier than Sony’s 70-200 GM II. Size-wise, however, it’s a bit shorter than the 70-200 GM II at 158mm in length.

The Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 doesn’t look like any Tamron we’ve seen before, save for the familiar glossy finish on the mount. It looks more like a modern Sigma than a Tamron and it feels very rugged in the hands — it won’t look out of place in your bag of pro gear.

Moving on to the barrel, you’ll see a control panel of sorts for the AF/MF switch and a custom switch that lets you enter modes 1 through 3. You could configure these modes yourself to take advantage of the three custom buttons (that are set to focus hold by default) through Tamron’s utility software.

Zoom creep is not an issue and the zoom ring action feels solid, but Tamron has added a lock switch as well for added security for your timelapses and long exposures.

The Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 has solid weather sealing, complete with a rubber gasket and a total of 10 internal seals. What’s most controversial about the lens design is the inclusion of a bare USB Type-C port near the mount. Just like most smartphones, Tamron claims the port is waterproof.

Image Quality

All that weight and hype would be for nothing if it won’t deliver on image quality. Thankfully, Tamron’s MTF charts were pretty much bang on and is a great representation of what we’re seeing with real-world images. The 35-150mm f/2-2.8 is a spectacular performer overall, especially at the center of the frame.

 

Dustin Abbott, among many other pros who’ve had their hands on the 35-150 f/2-2.8, agrees that it’s been very consistently sharp at every focal length. Center to mid-frame sharpness is already excellent at any given max aperture, stopping it down to f2.8 in the wider end nets you pretty much peak results. Corners aren’t as sharp, as the MTF charts suggest, but the edges aren’t anywhere close to unusable. Bumping the aperture to f4 will sharpen up the corners nicely. Stopping it further down to f5.6 essentially gives you perfect sharpness across the frame.

For 100% crops, you can check out Dustin’s definitive review linked above. You can also watch Stefan Malloch’s review where he puts the Tamron through a progressive test throughout the zoom ring if you want to see how it behaves at every focal length at different apertures.

The Tamron 35-150 f/2-2.8 renders colors beautifully and manages to stay within neutral tones. Contrast is also another strong point. While there is flaring, it maintains a lot of contrast even when shot in backlit situations. Julia Trotti even likens how the Tamron 35-150 f/2-2.8 controls flaring to how the Sony 70-200 GM flares, which should say a lot about the Tamron’s level of optical design.

You can find a bit of chromatic aberration on some extreme cases, but really nothing you can fix up on Lightroom in three seconds. One apparent downside on this lens would be the mild pincushion distortion you’ll see as early as 50mm up to 150mm. However, know that this can be just as easily corrected in post with a few manual slider adjustments. Profile corrections for 35-150mm f/2-2.8 should also hit your editing software soon to address all these minor things.

Overall, we’re seeing a stellar performance from the Tamron 35-150 f/2-2.8. Image quality is right on par with the Zeiss and GM 35mm primes, 24-70mm GM and the 70-200 GM. Check out Julia Trotti’s review of the Tamron to see how it stacks against Sony’s flagship glass.

AF Performance

So far, the Tamron has performed incredibly well in the image quality department. But what does the AF look like? And can it keep up with flagship glass? This section will be a little shorter than the first two because there’s not much to knock on the 35-150mm f/2-2.8’s speed and accuracy; AF on this thing is immaculate.

It tracks moving subjects near flawlessly. The Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 behaves like a first party Sony flagship, thanks in large part to Tamron’s high-end linear motors they call VXD or “Voice-coil eXtreme-torque Drive” which does an awesome job at driving all those heavy elements.

You can see how spritely and accurate the Eye AF on the 35-150mm — it just latches on and rarely lets go, as you can see from Julia Trotti’s real time AF test here. It just tracks the subject running in and away from the camera without any hunting at all. The best part is, the AF on the 35-150mm is as responsive at 150mm and 70mm as it is at 35mm.

It’s also the same story with video mode. You can even see Julia intentionally covering her eyes and the Eye AF just homes in back to its mark as soon as it sees it again. There’s also no focus breathing issues to report, making it a really good do-it-all videography lens. Surely, wedding, events, portrait and even sports photographers would find this kind of AF performance to be more than confidence-inspiring.

Is the Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 The One Lens to Rule Them All?

We hear “prime killers” and “game changers” being thrown around a lot these days. While there are genuine prime killers out there, the Panasonic-Leica 10-25mm and 25-50mm f1.7 come to mind, it’s extremely rare for any product to be so disruptive that you’d be okay with all the marketing people calling it a “game changer.”

I think the Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 fits the bill perfectly as a true game changer of a lens. Image quality, as the comparison made with primes and telephoto zooms in its price range had made evident, is outstanding. AF is easily on par with first party flagships. It’s also got the build and weather sealing to withstand daily abuse as a workhorse lens. There’s nothing quite like this Tamron out in the market.

You’re getting a lot of quality and coverage with your money. While it doesn’t surpass any flagship glass in terms of performance, the Tamron 35-150mm sits within striking distance of every G Master in its range. And for 99% of the working photographer population, that’s more than good enough.

This presents a very interesting question, should you be selling off your bag of lenses to fund the Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8?

If you want top-notch image quality, and you work within the 35-150mm range like most portrait, event and wedding photographers do, the Tamron 35-150mm has a strong case for having a place in your bag. Perhaps even as a permanent replacement for standard zooms and primes that are going to be made redundant.

But if you need that extra bit of range, or you don’t see yourself handholding a telephoto-sized lens for a 10-hour wedding day, you’re not really out of options. Tamron has a great roster of lenses, the newly-released 28-75mm F/2.8 Di III VXD G2 and the Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 Di III VXD being strong alternatives.