Tamron announced that it is in the advanced stages of development of the 50-400mm F4.5–6.3 Di III VC VXD lens for Sony cameras that will reach the market towards the end of this year. It is a unique focal length and a lens with a number of surprising features, although the full specifications of the lens have not yet been revealed.
50-400mm F4.5–6.3 Di III VC VXD – what do we know?
As mentioned, the full price of the lens or its exact specifications have not yet been revealed, but from the official publication of the Termon company, you can learn some interesting details. First the lens is stabilized (VC) and includes Tamron’s new fast focus motor (VXD). The minimum focus distance of the lens (at 50 mm) is 25 cm with a surprising macro magnification ratio of 1:2, which may make the lens useful for close-up enthusiasts as well (at this time we do not have details about the 400 mm close-up) M).
A few other facts are known about the lens – it supports 67 mm filters (relatively small front element), it has a fluorine coating to prevent dirt (water drops, etc.), and it itself is supposed to be waterproof/dust resistant.
In terms of switches for the lens, an option to lock the zoom, a mode switch for the stabilizer and a focus limiter (with the option of adjustment via software). An interesting statistic published by Tamron is related to the zoom ring. According to the company’s publications, in order to go from a focal length of 50 mm to a focal length of 400 mm, a rotation of only 75 degrees will be required – a fairly short movement with the hand that may allow less precision but greater speed of operation.
The lens will not come with a collar, but it will be possible to purchase a collar separately with an Arca foot for those who wish. By the way, the length of the lens will be 18 cm (apparently for a closed lens with a focal length of 50 mm) and its weight will be only 1.1 kg.
As mentioned, this is a unique zoom lens for FF cameras with a zoom of 8X. It will be interesting to see what optical quality the lens will be able to produce (just remember that the Tamron 150-500mm lens that we tested here last year was able to provide quite good optical quality, but it has a zoom of 3X and a bit and as you know lenses with a significant zoom are often damaged to one degree or another in their optical quality).
Tamron’s future 50-400mm F4.5–6.3 Di III VC VXD lens
We will wait for the full announcement of the lens in the fall and hope that we will be able to test it as well when it arrives in Israel.
Ido GnotIdo Ganot is the editor and founder of the Megapixel photography website. He has been covering technology news since the late 1990s and has written and edited for a number of leading international magazines. He has been involved in the field of photography since 2009. Ido is also a co-founder of the production company Shooteat.co.il which is engaged in creating visual content for commercial companies.