Bought and reviewed the excellent Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III RXD for Sony a year ago. This lens is so good that it stayed on backorder and had its price increased $100 since its release with barely a blink. I rocked up on mine at the local camera shop at its release by good luck.
As much as I appreciate this lens and the older DSLR 28-75mm lenses before it I do not use it often. Why? I have a 50mm-ish prime lens problem. But my two favorite primes are currently out of pocket. This led me to pull the Tamron back out of the bag and put it to work. Also used it for a recent wedding shoot. Conclusion?
If I were a rational, sensible man I would just leave this lens on my camera most of the time. It excelled at both formal wedding portraits and everyday use.
Portrait Samples
But how good is it? Let’s compare it with the much more expensive precious at a similar focal length. The Tamron first:
Now the 70-200mm precious:
Much less spend. Very similar result. This does bode well for the upcoming Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8. But at 20mm less at the long end and no fancy pants buttons and switches, I may stay with the precious. (Nope. I traded for the Tamron 70-180mm.) I will definitely be giving the 70-180mm a look when it is released.
Since the shoot it has been my everyday lens. This is one of the most versatile and well-performing lenses I have ever used.
Low Light
Fast and accurate focus
Great colors
Great bokeh and subject isolation
So what next?
Again if I used reason I would just keep this lens on the camera and be done with it. This one lens does it all. When I am all prime lensed up again I might still do that. A win either way.
Here is an ongoing gallery for it. If you have ever considered this lens I say go for it. I recommend it highly.
-ELW
Eric L. Woods 
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