G-Master

[number361]

The Tamron puzzles me somewhat as its specification is so close to the G Master and yet it is just over one-third of the price. What would I miss out on there? It is 'only' £400UK more than having the kit lens, so it seems like a bargain of sorts.

You may consider this review: https://dustinabbott.net/2018/06/tamron-28-75mm-f-2-8-rxd-a036-review/

The Tamron is a consumer-grade lens. In comparison to GM lens it has a plastic build (but lightweight), less usable wide angle, a bit worse IQ everywhere (probably not much evident on 24 MP body) , and finally it's a third-party lens, which may (or may not) have some tricks with AF.

Generally the Tamron 28-75 is a great bargain.

You seem to dismiss this lens as a "consumer grade lens". The review you reference paints a much more accurate depiction of this lens and its value. I would encourage readers to see that video and make up their own mind. e.g. on the mechanical side, this lens has 6 internal seals and fluorine coating of the external lens element - things i wouldn't expect from a consumer grade lens.

I prefer the bokeh of this "character" lens to the more routine Gmaster lens. I bought this lens for zoom lens "mandatory" situations, expecting to continue to rely on my prime lenses. Now i'm not so sure, the lens hasn't been off my camera since i bought it.

The Tamron is more than a "great bargain" its a character lens that is highly desirable. Its close focus capability is fun and its sharpness in central areas is very impressive. And bokeh is attractive!!! I never much worried about edge sharpness and that seemed to be where this lens was marked down. I say its a nice tradeoff compared to the close focusing at 7.5" and the central sharpness.

I've heard the eye-focus function does not work with the Tamron, can you or anybody confirm this please? Otherwise there's almost zero sense to buy the Sony GMaster lens.

Do you mean, eye af issue when people are not looking at the cameea ?

I was even able to have eye af working on my a7r...

No, I mean the function was completely not working with the Tamron lens, EYE-AF only works with native sony lenses. That's what I've heard at least.

Not at all. It s working perfectly.

It s even working on my a7r.

The af motor on the tamron is not as fast as gm lenses but it s really close.

I am using this lens and eye af all the time on my a9 but I think on a7r ii and iii there are no differences.

The tamron sometimes is losing it briely if the subject is moving too fast, compared to the gm.

In this case it is switching to face detect for half a second and catch it again immediatly again.

If I would compare, the tamron keeps it 80% of the time compared to the gm.

That sounds nice. So 1/3 the price and almost as good as the GM? The build quality is not that good nor it is weather sealed, but heck. The A7III isn't weather sealed either so I doubt anyone would take it out in the rain.

 

[voronspb]

The A7III isn't weather sealed either so I doubt anyone would take it out in the rain.

What's wrong with the rain? The water seals are good on the upper part of camera, and poor on the bottom. This equals to water protection somewhere between IPx2 and IPx3, though the actual rating is never disclosed officially.

Don't put the camera into the puddle, or use it upside down, or stay longer than 10 minutes under rain (the IPx3 test duration is 10 min.), and risk of water damage will be kept to minimum.

 

[cpugourou]

The Tamron puzzles me somewhat as its specification is so close to the G Master and yet it is just over one-third of the price. What would I miss out on there? It is 'only' £400UK more than having the kit lens, so it seems like a bargain of sorts.

You may consider this review: https://dustinabbott.net/2018/06/tamron-28-75mm-f-2-8-rxd-a036-review/

The Tamron is a consumer-grade lens. In comparison to GM lens it has a plastic build (but lightweight), less usable wide angle, a bit worse IQ everywhere (probably not much evident on 24 MP body) , and finally it's a third-party lens, which may (or may not) have some tricks with AF.

Generally the Tamron 28-75 is a great bargain.

You seem to dismiss this lens as a "consumer grade lens". The review you reference paints a much more accurate depiction of this lens and its value. I would encourage readers to see that video and make up their own mind. e.g. on the mechanical side, this lens has 6 internal seals and fluorine coating of the external lens element - things i wouldn't expect from a consumer grade lens.

I prefer the bokeh of this "character" lens to the more routine Gmaster lens. I bought this lens for zoom lens "mandatory" situations, expecting to continue to rely on my prime lenses. Now i'm not so sure, the lens hasn't been off my camera since i bought it.

The Tamron is more than a "great bargain" its a character lens that is highly desirable. Its close focus capability is fun and its sharpness in central areas is very impressive. And bokeh is attractive!!! I never much worried about edge sharpness and that seemed to be where this lens was marked down. I say its a nice tradeoff compared to the close focusing at 7.5" and the central sharpness.

I've heard the eye-focus function does not work with the Tamron, can you or anybody confirm this please? Otherwise there's almost zero sense to buy the Sony GMaster lens.

Do you mean, eye af issue when people are not looking at the cameea ?

I was even able to have eye af working on my a7r...

No, I mean the function was completely not working with the Tamron lens, EYE-AF only works with native sony lenses. That's what I've heard at least.

Not at all. It s working perfectly.

It s even working on my a7r.

The af motor on the tamron is not as fast as gm lenses but it s really close.

I am using this lens and eye af all the time on my a9 but I think on a7r ii and iii there are no differences.

The tamron sometimes is losing it briely if the subject is moving too fast, compared to the gm.

In this case it is switching to face detect for half a second and catch it again immediatly again.

If I would compare, the tamron keeps it 80% of the time compared to the gm.

That sounds nice. So 1/3 the price and almost as good as the GM? The build quality is not that good nor it is weather sealed, but heck. The A7III isn't weather sealed either so I doubt anyone would take it out in the rain.

The build quality is very decent.

I have used this lens st the beach in Frsnce with a lot of wind and enbruns all summer.

At the end of the day the lens and camara were covered by salt, crap and whatevrr you name it. A good cleaning and done.

The only thing to be very carreful is that the zoom is not internal so you need to be carefull not to have crap entering it. So I kept it at 28 and used it over only when taking a photo.

 

[Thematic]

One of the best you can get.

Rent it until you can afford it.

Hope this helps.