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It’s a steep ascent in the rain and heavy winds for most of the afternoon. Even the hard shell has soaked through now. We haven’t seen another person all day. The wind shelter – as well as the first patches of green suitable for a pitch since leaving the valley – is certainly a sight for sore eyes. Getting out of the elements, we cook dinner while the caribou graze in the distance.
I’m far from the ideal person to review this lens. I like primes. I feel most at home around the 50mm focal length. I like lenses that are tiny and tactile, preferably made of metal with manual focus and equipped with aperture dials. The typical traits of Leica M-mount lenses.
The Tamron 70–300 checks none of these boxes. Despite this, I’m quite smitten with it. So I wanted to jot down a few words to break down why that is.
Still, as this type of lens isn’t quite in my wheelhouse, I’ll do a shorter review of it than I generally tend to.
With that mentioned, let’s dive in.
Launched in 2020, the Tamron 70–300 f/4.5–6.3 Di III RXD Model A047 – to call it by its (absurdly long) given name – is a full frame, variable aperture, telephoto zoom lens available for Sony E-mount and Nikon Z-mount.
The RXD designation means that the lens is equipped with Tamron’s higher end auto focus drive motor.
The lens also offers a degree of weather sealing.
The lens is equipped with a reasonably robust looking gasket at the mount.
Like most zooms it uses a complex formula with many elements, in this case also including an element with low dispersion characteristics. It’s a from the ground up mirrorless design.
Compared to similar options, the Tamron is small, light & very competitively priced, offering – on paper at least – a lot of bang for the buck.
Not much more than a long, dark gray cylinder, the A047 is certainly a plain and understated looking lens.
There’s a generously wide and ribbed focus ring up front, with markings for the major focal lengths through the zoom range, as well as an unmarked focus ring.
Aside from the metal mount, the lens exterior is made of plastic.
The injection moulded housing is honestly quite bland looking, bordering on unsophisticated. It sort of brings to mind early 1990’s consumer grade home electronics. Par for the course at the price point perhaps, but something more refined looking would’ve still been nice to see.
Build quality feels reasonably high though. Mould marks are subtle and the housing feels solid overall. The plastic avoids picking up fingerprints and has held up well durability-wise so far, without showing noticeable scuffs or wear.
Plus, the pared back construction allows the lens to be very light for its size. Compared to most other lenses offering a similar focal range, the Tamron is a good deal lighter.
Speaking of size – the A047 is marketed as the smallest option in this range. So, compared to other options, it’s slightly smaller.
That doesn’t mean it’s not a pretty massive piece of kit though. Compared to the lenses I generally use (like the Leica 90/4, just to give one example), the size differential becomes borderline comical.
The A047 is small for its spec, but compared to lenses I tend to use, like here – placed next to the Leica Elmar-C 90/4 that I quite like – it’s certainly noticeably larger.
It’s a big piece of gear to lug around, and you’re a lot more conspicuous shooting with it than with a small prime. The lens also extends significantly when zooming in (though focus is internal), making it even more eye catching from a size perspective.
Considering the range at play here though, that’s to be expected. And it even compares well to many lenses for smaller formats. So it’s mostly just an adjustment for me, as I’m not being used to shooting zooms.
So, I try to remind myself about the flexibility it brings, as well as the fact that it’s the smallest option available in the range. Still – “small” is certainly not the best adjective to describe it.
The lens comes with a deep, circular hood made of a similar plastic as the lens housing. It clicks in to place confidently and reverses for storage.
The pinch on lens cap is plastic too, but well made and robust as far as caps tend to go. It’s easy enough to get on and off the lens. It’s a slightly darker black than the lens housing.
In terms of handling, the A047 is pretty much a what-you-see-is-what-you-get sort of deal.
The main control points work without surprises and there aren’t any frills beyond the basics.
Both control rings are slightly rubberized, offering a solid and comfortable grip, even in challenging situations.
The zoom action is smooth and well dampened, but with a slightly uneven resistance through the range on my copy. This is far from bothersome (or even noticeable) in use.
The focus ring moves with a reasonably well balanced amount of resistance. Travel is slightly gritty and dry though. In terms of feel, it’s certainly a far cry from a nice manual focus lens. Still, in use, it’s perfectly serviceable – focusing manually is easy enough.
As mentioned, the lens lacks added niceties such as configurable buttons, focus mode switches or a zoom lock. That’s pretty unsurprising given the lens’s price point, but the experience is quite no-frills. One omission feels a bit more unfortunate than the others though – the zoom lock. As the zoom can creep and extend when walking around, this would’ve been a nice feature.
The A047 offers very competent performance, especially considering its spec.
The overall rendering is transparent and regularly quite compelling too.
The Tamron 70–300 is, for the most part, a very sharp lens.
The on-axis performance is excellent already at the widest aperture settings. Resolution is very high, as is micro-contrast. Contrast at lower frequencies is also impressive, with a good deal of clarity.
Definition drops slightly towards the frame peripheries. The edges and corners are a little less crisp, in particular shooting wide open at 70mm and at longer distances. This is in part induced by astigmatism and a bit of field curvature. Consequently, the definition difference can be more or less noticeable, depending on the subject and shooting distance.
Honestly though, in use, this decrease in definition is minor enough that I generally wouldn’t worry much about it. Still, stopping down slightly (or zooming in a little from the 70mm mark) does yield crisper edges and corners.
Performance is strong towards the long end of the zoom range as well, though there’s a slight drop in micro-contrast closer to the long end. I’d probably rate it the highest around 200mm.
Performance also holds up well at both far and near distances – there’s little penalty in working at the closest focusing settings.
On the whole then, images out of the A047 are generally very crisp, clear and sharp. Performance might not quite reach benchmark levels, but it’s not far off. Frankly I find it quite stunning when considering the lens spec.
At this point of my reviews, I tend to offer up a few image crops. Generally, I’m cautioning to not read too much into them though – for proper analysis a larger number of images need surveying.
That’s even more true for a zoom, where there are so many factors at play, influencing performance (zoom setting, focus distance, aperture setting, the contrast of the scene, etc). So in this instance, I think crops would distract more than help and I’d suggest referring to the written summary above. As one added data point though, I would mention that when examined at full magnification, the image above (shot at 77mm f/8) is pin-sharp across the fram. I’ve made a larger print from this file too, that looks great.
The color rendition out of the A047 is neutral and realistic. The palette isn’t the most saturated, but the lens does well to represent tricky shades faithfully and separates close hues well.
An impressive showing then. Especially considering that consumer grade zooms frequently tend to be compromised in this area.
The modest aperture of the A047 means that there’s a bit less separation than you might expect given the focal lengths at play.
Under many conditions depth of field will still be shallow though and bokeh will be prominent at times.
Fortunately the A047 does quite well with regards to out of focus rendering. Bokeh is generally smooth and unobjectionable.
Bokeh is smoothest at close range, here it generally looks absolutely buttery. At a distance it’s generally smooth too, as long as the conditions aren’t too challenging.
In high contrast scenarios things can look a little messy though – out of focus highlights can become quite pronounced and hard edged (with a bit of cats eye shape too), at times leading to a busy look.
The aperture stays round stopping down, so even if bokeh is reduced at smaller apertures, the generally soft quality of it is retained.
Transitions are quite gradual, which contributes to a well balanced rendering. It does mean that separation is sometimes a little less pronounced though.
The transition zone can be a bit energetic and adds a bit of busyness in some situations.
Foreground bokeh is well behaved too, with a smooth rendition of objects ahead of the focal plane. I’ve found this nice as it’s been fun to play with layered compositions.
Overall, with regards to out of focus rendering, I’d say the A047 does quite well for what it is.
In challenging situations out-of-focus areas can look a bit energetic and – in particularly difficult conditions – even end up a bit distracting (like in the first example above). Fortunately, those instances tend to be fairly rare, and for the most part bokeh tends to be quite smooth, especially for a zoom of this spec (the second example shows rather competent behavior, despite tricky conditions).
There are of course some trade offs in aberration control with any zoom. But I was surprised to see how minor they are here.
Sure, there’s a bit of vignetting as well as a little pincushion distortion on the long end. You can sometimes find trace amounts of longitudinal chromatic aberrations if you go look for them.
Overall though, those are very minor issues in practice.
Add to that a solid resistance to flare and ghosting and you have a very well behaved performer.
The A047 offers a transparent and competent rendering. Scenes are rendered in a true to life, neutral manner. It’s a well behaved lens with healthy amounts of contrast, competent control over aberrations, and mostly smooth bokeh.
Given the spec of the lens I must say I find the output impressive. Sure there are some compromises here and there, which is to be expected with any lens. But given that we’re looking at an entry level zoom with a huge range, they are far fewer and less pronounced than I had anticipated. And in all honestly, the output sometimes isn’t that far removed from that of some of the high end M-mount primes in my arsenal, which I find pretty fascinating.
Now, its rendering doesn’t necessarily strike a balance that brings it in to the realm of being called beautiful. This isn’t to say that it’s not possible to create beautiful images with the lens, of course. But rather that the rendering is more on the subtler rather than expressive end.
And to be clear, this is completely fine. A more neutral rendering often puts more emphasis on image content over a strong signature*. From that vantage point then, I can’t see the A047 as anything else than a success.
* As an aside, with the neutral character of the lens, I’ve regularly experimented with introducing some elements that take the edge of that "clinicalness" that can sometimes creep in with an overly efficient rendering – for instance, layering elements in the foreground, or shooting in less than ideal conditions. Sometimes this hasn’t panned out, but in other instances, I’ve quite liked how these techniques can help balance the output.
I hadn’t properly shot with a zoom in years. Let alone the long tele variety. But as I was planning a multi-day hike over summer, I became keen on adding one to my arsenal for the first time in ages*.
* For context – way in the past, I relied quite heavily on an older Tamron 70–300 for the Nikon F-mount. I was shooting a lot of live concerts at the time and the range was very handy for this use (that older lens was nowhere near as performant as the A047 though). I soon upgraded to an 80–200/2.8 though, mostly due to how challenging it was to shoot in lower light with the tech of the time.
After weighing some options, the Tamron seemed the best fit towards my wants and needs (basically I wanted a good amount of reach and performance, in as compact and light weight package as possible).
The 70–300 zoom has been a staple since the SLR-days. And for good reason – the range covers a lot of usable territory from a focal length point of view.
At the wide setting, you’re not too far from normal territory, and at the long end you get a really good amount of both reach and compression.
What that means in practice is that this lens lends itself to a lot of different uses and scenarios. Wildlife, portraiture, sports and landscape are probably the use cases that come most clearly to mind, but as with any lens and focal length, it’s all about what you’re keen on.
One aspect that drew me personally to the lens was to experiment with longer focal length landscape work whilst hiking. From that standpoint the A047 fit the bill very well.
I was keen on a lens in this range to play around with different types of compositions. It’s possible to get a fair bit more compression than I’m used to, which I’ve enjoyed experimenting with. I’ve also had fun with more abstract compositions, generally made possible at the longer end of the range.
Looking back at my overall use so far, I’ve made images I’ve liked throughout the entire focal length range. I’ve found myself shooting more frequently towards the wider end of the range than the longer end, but I’ve still found it great to have the flexibility at hand.
For the hiking use case in particular, the range has been wonderful, but I’ve also found it a surprisingly fun range to play around with in my day to day. I can’t say it’s the first lens I tend to reach for to document most of my everyday life though – it feels more of a specific case piece of kit, best suited for outdoor use. This is chiefly due to the range and speed, but also down to the sheer size of the lens.
The only thing I would maybe wish for in terms of coverage, is a slightly wider starting point. I found that some of the scenes I came across whilst hiking felt a little tricky to fit into the 70mm frame. Having just a slightly wider starting point would mean that I’d very rarely would feel the need to change lenses.
Now, at this point, you might think a super-zoom would be a better choice. But as someone that tends to prefer primes – due to how it’s easier to home in on compositions when you have fewer choices available – I suspect that this route would simply end up a little overwhelming to me. What I’ve found compelling with the range at hand here is that it’s still hemmed me in, in terms of mindset, towards longer focal length compositions, whilst allowing for flexibility that’s hard to achieve simply by walking (or zooming with your feet, as it’s sometimes called – I elaborate a bit on my thinking here in my note on what’s in my bag 2024). So a better choice to my tastes, vs a super-zoom. Still, within this stated frame of mind, I did sometimes wish for something wider, as mentioned (and I do realize that some of my preferences here likely sound rather counter-intuitive – so depending on your preferences, these observations might be a lot less relevant for you).
Overall, this range has been fantastic to have access to. It’s possible to capture wider landscapes (though for the first scene above, I did wish for a slight bit more coverage on the wide end), as well as grab the occasional wildlife snap.
With the A047’s emphasis on range and compactness, it’s no surprise that it’s a fairly slow lens in terms of aperture.
In use this means that there are some creative and technical limitations to be aware of.
From a technical point of view, depending on what you want to do, it can sometimes become challenging to get enough light through the lens. In particular at the longer focal lengths, where the aperture is at its smallest. Especially given that the lens lacks built in stabilization.
Now, shooting the lens on the stabilization-equipped Sony A7C, this hasn’t been a big issue for me. Even in situations when light has gotten low, I’ve been able to lean on the IBIS to keep ISO at reasonable levels (and given that the A7C offers quite clean images even at high ISO settings, this has been fairly trivial most of the time).
However, I’ve been mostly shooting fairly static scenes under these conditions. I would likely have quite a different view if I was often trying to capture fast moving action in low light, when a higher shutter speed is also required. Given how capable recent cameras are, you can still pull off shots of, for instance, indoor sports or wildlife in lower light. But, given a choice, I’d probably pick something faster if I frequently faced scenarios in that vein.
Generally, I’ve not felt too held back by the slower aperture offered by the A047. Though, for more challenging use cases – like giving it a go at one of my eldest’s, indoor, handball matches – something brighter would certainly be preferable.
The equation also changes if you’re looking for a lens to use on a camera that lacks stabilization. You’d definitely be more limited in terms of what conditions it would be practical to shoot under. Framing is also more challenging as the view in the viewfinder becomes quite jittery with longer focal lengths. So, once again, given a choice, I would likely opt for a lens with built in stabilization in this case.
Creatively there are some associated constraints too. Whilst it’s definitely possible to play around with a shallow depth of field using the A047, it’s sometimes a little harder than you might expect to achieve high amounts of separation. At longer focal lengths it’s generally fairly easy to isolate subjects, but given the slow aperture, depth of field is sometimes a bit deeper than you might want. Shooting wide open at close to mid range, and at longer focal lengths in particular, still nets you good amounts of separation. For subjects farther out, it’s more of a challenge though*.
* Do note that the opposite is also true: for a very deep depth of field, you’ll need to stop down more than you’re used to, if you tend to shoot at more modest focal lengths.
Still, beyond these caveats, the lens offers a high degree of creative potential. Plus, to reiterate, I’ve found it less limiting than anticipated with regards to low light shooting.
As mentioned earlier, the A047 comes equipped with Tamron’s RXD autofocus drive. This is a fairly high end motor that’s pitched to offer silent and quick autofocus performance.
That bears out in practice too, with snappy focus that’s only barely audible, even with the ear to the lens.
Mounted on the A7C I’ve found accuracy quite excellent too. Tracking has worked well. Face and eye tracking has been working fine too, though I’ve found it a little intermittent in terms of when it kicks in on the A7C in general.
On the older A7 I found it to be a little more hesitant overall, but still serviceable for more forgiving use cases.
There are certain conditions that can confuse the autofocus – whenever there’s very little contrast or fine detail in a scene, focus can hunt and sometimes fail entirely. This is not specifically tied to the lens but an unfortunate downside of how current focus technology works. However, I’ve found that I’m bumping in to these types of challenges more frequently with the A047 than with wider lenses I shoot. This is likely simply down to pursuing a different type of subject matter, as well as more pared back compositions than with my other gear. Still, I figured it was worth mentioning.
The A047 is far from a macro lens, but it still offers a fairly respectable magnification ratio (at least to someone like me, that’s used to the strict limitations of M-mount lenses in this area).
It’s not great at 70mm – 1:9.4, but zooming in allows you to get all the way to a 1:5.1 ratio at the 300mm setting.
Plenty of lenses offer plenty higher magnification, and at times I’ve been keen to focus closer than the A047 is able to. Still, I’ve found the capabilities here compelling and sufficient for the general close up work I’ve wanted to pursue.
As mentioned, it’s a bit unfortunate that the lens doesn’t come with a zoom look – the zoom can creep a bit when walking around.
It’s not been an issue in my regular day to day. But, during the aforementioned hike I had the camera hanging on a Peak Design Capture clip on one of my backpack’s shoulder straps most of the time (which I found a great way to have the camera accessible but out of the way). Every so often I’d notice that the zoom had extended, usually just a little, sometimes a lot. On a few occasions it got a little in my way. Not a huge issue by any means, but a slight nitpick.
On a positive note though – I ended up pressure testing the weather sealing during the hike and it held up great. There were a few showers that resulted in occasionally getting the lens wet. In a few instances rain got pretty heavy too. Despite the associated wetness, the lens didn’t skip a beat (nor did the A7C for that matter) – impressive!
There are quite a few options in this range. Both recent and more expensive first party choices, as well as old and cheap SLR mount lenses. I won’t deep dive here, but there are a few options I wanted to quickly call out.
This seems like a great lens. For my preferences though, the Tamron’s more compelling. The Sony is bigger, heavier and much more expensive. To be fair though, it also includes built in stabilization. Plus, image quality is reportedly a little better. To me though, the smaller size and lower weight of the Tamron are more important.
This is an interesting option. It launched just after I had picked up the 70–300. Choosing between the two would have been tricky. I’d be quite compelled by the wider angle staring point of the 50–300. The newer lens also includes stabilization, focuses significantly closer, offers a few additional handling frills and seems to have slightly higher performance to boot. On the other hand, it’s heavier and more expensive than the 70–300. As I wasn’t sure how much I’d like shooting at this sort of range prior to picking up the 70–300, I still think I chose the right lens. But I must confess that I’m considering an upgrade to the 50–300, at some point in the future.
Prior to buying the 70–300, I was also considering the predecessor to this lens, the 28–200. It offers crazy amounts of flexibility in a fairly compact package. The newer iteration pushes the boundaries even further. Having this sort of range available would certainly be compelling on hikes. To me though, there’s such a thing as too much range, from experience I would likely get overwhelmed by having this much choice and end up with even more wishy-washy images than I anyways tend to. If you’re unbothered by that, it’s still worth keeping in mind that, this too is a larger, heavier and more expensive option.
As I hadn’t shot with any lenses even close to this category in years, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect with the Tamron 70–300. Would I get on with the range? Would the speed feel too limiting? Would there be any chance of it offering appealing looking output?
But, my worries turned out to be unfounded. Overall the A047 has been a very positive surprise.
With my initially intended use in mind, it hit the mark spot on – it proved a fantastic lens to lean on when hiking. It hardly came off the camera during the trip that spurred the purchase.
Beyond that, it’s proven a fun and capable piece of gear to have around in scenarios more frequent in my day to day as well.
Having easy access to this type of range, in a comparably compact package with great performance is something I’ve found really compelling.
That’s not to say there aren’t trade offs – of course there are. It’s certainly far from a small lens. And there have been compromises made to reach the relatively compact size, as well as the competitive price. So, if you’re willing to spend a bit more – and also to lug around something heavier – there are some compelling options around.
But on balance; I find the A047 impressively successful in achieving what it sets out to offer. Surprisingly, I’ve also found it one of the most enjoyable additions to my kit in a long, long time. I’ve managed to create some work I’m really happy with while using it, as well as having fun along the way. To me, those are all hallmarks of a truly excellent lens!
Photos in this review were taken using the Sony A7C. Photos of the lens were made using the Sony A7 or A7C. Exif-data is intact. Open any image in a new window for a closer look.