The Tamron 150-500mm F5-6.7 Di III VC VXD ($1,399) is one of the most affordable super-telephoto zooms for the Sony system, zooming in for tighter view than the premium FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS, without taking up any more room in your bag. The 150-500mm competes in image quality, focuses fast, and is made to high standards. It faces some real competition from the Sigma 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports, our Editors’ Choice winner, in a practical photo finish. Sigma’s lens has a bit more reach for just $100 more, with performance that’s just as good.
Built to High Standards
Telephoto lenses are, as a rule, pretty big all around. The 150-500mm doesn’t buck the trend, but it’s one of the squatter zooms you’ll find that reaches a 500mm focal length. It measures 8.3 by 3.7 (HW) inches at its shortest position, about the same as the Sony FE 100-400mm (8.1 by 3.7 inches, 3.1 pounds), but is heavier at 4.1 pounds. Tamron makes the 150-500mm exclusively for the Sony mirrorless system.
The Tamron 150-500mm, Sony 100-400mm, and Sigma 150-600mm are all extending zooms—the inner barrel telescopes out to get closer to subjects. At 500mm, the 150-500mm is about 11.5 inches long. Sony also sells the FE 200-600mm, a big lens at 12.5 by 4.1 inches, but one of the few telezooms with a fixed-length barrel, a feature I found invaluable when using it to shoot pro soccer a few years back.
Construction quality is topflight. The barrel is a sturdy composite, and includes seals to prevent dust and moisture from getting in. The front element includes anti-smudge fluorine, a material that repels grease and beads away water droplets, and there’s a reversible lens hood included for some extra protection. A filter thread is also included; it supports large, but still reasonably priced, 82mm filters.
The lens ships with a tripod collar, a must-have for keeping a decent center of balance on a tripod or monopod. The collar and foot are aluminum, and the foot has a dovetail cut to mount directly into Arca-Swiss plates, in addition to a standard thread. The only things missing are 90-degree click stops—the collar is adjustable (a thumbscrew sets tension), but you’ll need to take care to set it at square angles.
The collar is removable, so you can leave at home if you work handheld. I used the lens for some tripod work, but typically work handheld. I like leaving the collar on all the time, though—it works really well as a handle to carry the camera.
Tamron includes a zoom lock switch, an expected feature on a big, extending zoom. It keeps the barrel set at its shortest length for storage and transport. Less common, but included here, is a locking zoom clutch. The zoom is lockable at any focal length—just push the zoom ring forward to set the lock, and pull it back to release and regain zoom control. It’s especially useful for scenarios where you want to keep the zoom set consistently from shot to shot.
Autofocus is speedy on the Sony a7R IV, our current test body for E-mount lenses. The pair locks focus quickly and tracks action, just as with other big telezoom lenses. There is a caveat for Sony a1 owners; the a1 supports 30fps continuous drive with many Sony FE lenses, but is limited to 15fps with the 150-500mm (and with other third-party options like the Sigma 150-600mm Sports).
Manual focus is a letdown in comparison. The focus ring is pretty narrow, and abuts right against the tripod collar—the foot can get in the way of setting it. It requires several full turns to move from close focus to infinity, so it’s really something to use to fine-tune after you’ve started off with autofocus. It’s quick to switch between focus modes; an AF/MF toggle is among the bank of controls on the left side.
A focus limiter is also included, useful to prevent the lens from hunting across its macro range when photographing distant scenes. It offers full range, 3 meter to infinity, and 15 meter to infinity settings. The macro focus range is only available with the limit set to full. Magnification is excellent for a zoom, 1:3.1, when focused to the minimum 23.6-inch distance.
Tamron puts optical stabilization in the lens. It’s very good, so you can get away with longer shutter speeds when working handheld. At 500mm, I enjoyed consistently blur-free results at speeds as long as 1/15-second, but found 1/8-second to show the blurred effects of handshake.
You’ll want to use Mode 1 for most photography and Mode 2 for shots where you’re panning during exposure. Mode 3 is also an option—it’s a bit more effective than Mode 1, but only engages during exposure, so you’ll see the effects of handshake in your viewfinder. It’s useful for times when you need to push the stabilization system to its limits, but a shaky viewfinder image is too much of a trade-off to make it an everyday setting.
The 150-500mm’s narrow angle of view is matched with a relatively dim f-stop. It’s not anything to worry about for outdoor sports and many types of nature photography, but you’ll end up pushing the camera ISO higher when working night games under lights, or photographing crepuscular critters under twilight.
Tamron doesn’t offer teleconverters for the lens, and it’s not compatible with Sony’s 1.4x and 2.0x extenders—you’ll need to buy the Sony FE 100-400mm (or 200-600mm) if they make sense for your work (keep in mind adding a teleconverter cuts incoming light, too). If you’re looking for more zoom power without spending big on Sony G and GM lenses, the Sigma 150-600mm Sports is a sensible alternative for $100 more.
In the Lab
The 150-500mm is an affordable lens, but its optics are good enough to meet the demands of high-end cameras. I tested it with the 60MP a7R IV and software from Imatest in the lab and noted strong results.
At 150mm f/5, the lens nets excellent center resolution (4,400 lines), and approaches outstanding levels when stopped down. It’s a little better at f/8, both in the center and toward the edges. If you’re using the lens for landscape work, working at f/8 and f/11 will net the clearest results from edge to edge.
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We see a little loss in clarity when zoomed in, but it’s nominal, even for high-resolution cameras. At 320mm f/5.6, the lens nets very good center resolution (4,000 lines) and holds up at 500mm f/6.7 (3,500 lines).
The strong central resolution is a plus for use with APS-C bodies, which only use the middle area of the full-frame image circle for imaging. It also delivers plenty of room to crop when working with an a7R or a1 series camera.
Sony cameras apply some optical corrections for JPG photographers. If you use Raw format, you’ll note some pincushion distortion. Adobe Lightroom supports one-click distortion and vignette correction for this one, and applies Tamron’s in-lens chromatic aberration corrections automatically.
The Big Zoom for Small(er) Cameras
The Tamron 150-500mm F5-6.7 Di III VC VXD has the big zoom power that sports and wildlife enthusiasts are after, at a price that undercuts Sony’s similarly sized FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS by a wide margin. It’s made just as well, fully protected from dust and splashes, and we’re big fans of its clutch-lock zoom ring.
It drops some features offered by the FE 100-400mm, though. Sony’s lens supports the fastest frame rates on its stacked-sensor a1 and a9 models, and works with teleconverters. Pros using high-end equipment are likely to give it preference, but its $2,500 price is a harder sell when comparing it with the Tamron. Photographers using smaller Sony cameras may find it a little easier to manage the Tamron versus the larger Sigma 150-600mm Sports—it’s a better match for the a7C, and a lens for a6000 series owners who want more reach than you get with the sized-down E 70-350mm zoom.
Sony system owners searching for a zoom with big power, without a heavyweight design, have an excellent option in the Tamron 150-500mm F5-6.7 Di III VC VXD. It falls just shy of being our Editors’ Choice, a nod that goes to the Sigma 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports, a longer zoom that’s just as good, but a half-pound heavier to carry and $100 more to buy.
