Amateur Photographer – 16 August 2019

subscribe 0330 333 1113I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 10 August 2019 47

Thislarge-aperturewideanglezoomhits

thesweetspotforSonyfull-frame mirrorless

users,saysAndyWestlake

S

ony’sfull-framemirrorlesssystem

hasbeenaroundformorethanfive

yearsnow,butthebigthird-party

lensmakershaveonlystartedto pay

properattentionto it relativelyrecently.However

whilethelikesof ZeissandSamyanghavemade

a decentarrayof E-mountprimes,onlyTamron

hasyetmadea nativefull-frameautofocus

zoom.Followingonfromthehighlyregarded

28-75mmF/2.8DiIII RXDthatit launched

in early2018,thefirmhasnowreleaseda

wideanglecompanion,in theshapeof the

17-28mmF/2.8DiIII RXD.

Thisnewopticmaintainsthesamedesign

philosophy,beinga large-aperturezoom

thatachievesa compactsizebyemploying

a modestfocal-lengthrange.Indeedits1.6x

zoomratiois surprisinglyshort,giventhatsuch

lensesusuallyextendto35mm.Butthere’sa

gooddealof sensein Tamron’sapproach,as

mostuserswillsurelybepairingthelenswith

a standard zoom starting at 24mm or 28mm.

The17-28mmf/2.8goeshead-to-headin

themarketwiththeSonyVario-TessarT* FE

16-35mmF4ZAOSS,anda speccomparison

betweenthetwomakesforinterestingreading.

Thelensesarethesamelength,butthe

Tamronis slimmerand100glighter,at 420g.

TheSonyhasa widerzoomrangebutgathers

a stoplesslight,andwhileit alsoincludes

opticalstabilisation,thisis inconsequentialfor

usersof camerasthatincludein-bodyIS – in

otherwords,allexceptSony’sfirst-generation

full-framemirrorlessbodies.Crucially,the

Tamronis moreaffordable,witha launchprice

of £900comparedtotheSony’s£1,050

streetprice.Sohow does it perform?

Features

Despitethelens’srelativelyrestrictedzoom

range,Tamronhasn’tskimpedontheoptics.

The13-element,11-groupdesignincludes

threeasphericalelements,twolowdispersion

glass elements and an extra-low dispersion

Tamron 17-28mm

F/2.8 Di III RXD

glasselement,allwiththeaimof minimising

distortionandchromaticaberration.Tamron

alsomakesfulluseof in-camerasoftware

compensationtosuppressresidualaberrations.

Zoomingandfocusingarebothinternal,

whichmeansthatthelens’sbalancestaysthe

sameat alltimes.Theminimumfocusdistance

rangesfrom19cmat wideangleto26cmat

the28mmsetting,enablingstrikingclose-ups.

Moisture-resistantconstructionallowsoutdoor

shootingin challengingconditions,while

fluorinecoatingonthefrontelementrepels

raindropsandfingerprintsalike.

Filteruserswillappreciatethe67mmthread,

whichis unusuallysmallfora wideanglezoom,

facilitatingtheuseof relativelyinexpensive

accessories.It’salsosharedwithboththe

Tamron28-75mmf/2.8andSony’scompact

24-70mmf/4standardzoom.A petal-shaped

lenshoodis includedin theboxandreverses

neatlyforstorage,whilethefrontelement

retracts further within the barrel on

LENS TEST Testbench

Withitswideviewand

largeaperture,thislens

is idealforshooting

low-lightinteriors

SonyAlpha7 III,17mm,

1/30sec at f/2.8, ISO 100