2nd Follow Up: Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 Di III VXD. First portrait session.

Recently reviewed this lens and posted a first follow up.

Many stated that this spec would make for a perfect event lens and I agree. Would have loved to have had a lens like this at a local Korean festival years ago.

I was shooting Fuji at the time and I lucked up by having a station at the corner of the stage where I could switch lenses depending on the type of act that was approaching the stage. The 35-150mm on full frame would have afforded me a faster equivalent aperture and a matching focal length in one lens. While I was swift as I could be I know that I missed shots and one lens for all purposes would have been ideal.

Would have also been very handy at a local JapanFest where I did portraits…

…and event photos.

That day I used two Sony bodies (here and here) and two lenses (here and here) and once again I am certain the 35-150mm and one body could have covered it all.

I mentioned in the last post above that this is a lens that could have easily taken the place of the two zooms (here and here) used for a wedding shoot outside…

…and the two primes (here and here) used for the wedding reception shoot inside.

Would have had to lean on higher ISOs a bit due to the smaller zoom aperture, but the camera used would have done just fine.

I also mentioned that this lens would also make for an excellent all-purpose portrait lens and could have also taken the place of the three primes (here, here, and here) used in a recent engagement session.

I came to this conclusion based on daily use, but this weekend I had my first opportunity to test this theory out in the wild. My son’s high school graduation portrait session. Instead of grabbing precious 1 and precious 2 I used the 35-150mm for the bulk of the shoot. How did it do? Great! Below I will share different photos taken at different focal lengths with commentary and then share my final thoughts.

For starters I grabbed this quick shot of my son’s freshly braided hair at 35mm while he was checking his belt.

Took another at 35mm just because I could.

Then I immediately jumped to 150mm.

Here is one at 59mm.

It was really nice to frame a photo the way I wanted to and just choose the focal length that suited the scenario best. Below is the same setting using 150mm.

Here is a different setting still at 150mm.

Back to 35mm.

Same setting at 91mm.

Again at 91mm.

Here is a shot at 110mm.

65mm in the same setting.

113mm.

Another last shot at 86mm.

Final Thoughts

Repeating what I said in a previous post, I had great expectations for this lens based on a walk down Tamron memory lane. After my first experience using it in the wild I can say that this lens far exceeds these expectations. Why?

Weight and Size

Some have mentioned that this lens is large and heavy. In isolation, I see their point. But it made this last session a breeze. Every other shoot mentioned above involved two cameras and two lenses. Often times these lenses are as large and even larger than this 35-150mm lens. Since I did not have to ever switch to another camera body I did not even bother with a camera strap this time around. It was great using one camera and simply twisting the zoom ring instead of switching bodies.

Smaller Than Prime Apertures

Low light: Not an issue at all in actual use. These newer Sony bodies, as is the same with near any modern digital camera, perform so well at higher ISOs that f/2-f/2.8 is more than sufficient in the real world.

Subject isolation: Compared side by side of course you would see a difference. Here is a test shot I took on the same day with the SIGMA 105mm f/1.4 Art doing what it does best, blowing backgrounds to smithereens.

But the 35-150mm did just fine blasting backgrounds itself.

The 35-150mm does so well there was one shot, because I thought we lost the jacket and tie first, that I thought was taken with the 105mm instead.

But nope. 113mm at f/2.8. Could the 105mm have blown out the background more? Certainly. Would it have made for a better photo? I do not think so.

Autofocus

Fast, silent, and accurate. Could not ask for any better.

Image Quality/Sharpness/Colors

Every bit of a match for any lens I have used before.

Conclusion

This is a great lens. I am essentially a hobbyist first and foremost. When I do a photo shoot it is by choice currently, but whether a family member or friend I treat each session with professionalism and seek to provide a quality product. This lens simplifies the logistics of a shoot so much that it really makes me want to seek out more work.

I never once felt a need to reach for another lens on this day. That is the whole reason this lens exists and Tamron was successful in that pursuit.

Well done Tamron. Ongoing gallery here.