pizzarulez
Active member
Hi all,
I have long chased the balance of having enough flexibility in my kit for whatever I want to shoot when I'm out exploring vs. size, weight, and ease of carry. To that end, I have always struggled with a longer zoom on full frame, understanding that these lenses are typically large and heavy. I've owned several over the years, including the excellent Sony G 200-600mm, but they ended up staying at home when I went on small hikes, etc, just due to the overall difficulty of fitting them easily in a shoulder bag or otherwise and the fact that I'd have to change lenses throughout the hike depending on what situation I was in. After trying several lenses, I honestly really considered buying a second m43 camera as a dedicated long-zoom setup - something that would have likely only added to difficulty in making decisions on what to bring as leaving the house to go somewhere.
Enter the Tamron 50-400. Not only is it a massive size reduction over the 200-600, but smaller than the similar Sigma and Sony 100-400's, while having a larger and more useful overall focal range:
Needless to say, i was immediately interested and purchased one after reading several positive reviews. I was at that time shooting with a Sony A7R IV, and will admit that my first experiences with the lens were not universally positive. While pics were really nice in the 50-200mm range, I found it very difficult to get pin sharp images at the long end of the lens shooting handheld (I never use a tripod). An opportunity then came up to upgrade to the A7R V for a reasonable discount and I jumped on it, and my level of enjoyment with the lens has shot up substantially - the difference in IBIS systems between the cameras being the likely cause. I've always seen the high resolution of the A7R series as a sort of cheat-code in efforts to reduce my overall gear footprint - I crop heavily to achieve tighter 'zooms' on most of my shots and am still very pleased with the results, and this camera + lens setup really opens up opportunities to do this. With the resolution of the A7R and improved IBIS, the Tamron can provide results from this at 50mm:
View attachment 767c5a0230a646f682a7f30cbc8c92d4.jpg
Sony A7RV + Tamron 50-400, shot at 50mm
To this at 400mm, cropped in further but to me, still very usable:
A7R V + Tamron 50-400, shot at 400, cropped in further
At this range, the usability of most of the photos I took were more dependent on the influence of heat haze than on any limitations of the camera + lens combo itself.
One other thing to note is the addition of focus stacking to the A7R V and the use of the 50-400 as a stand-in for a dedicated macro lens. I would never call myself a macro photographer, but its fun to get up and personal on items - I'm looking forward to testing out focus stacking with this lens, where some previous playing around (using the A7R IV) has shown it can take some pretty nice close-ups:
A7R IV + Tamron 50-400, shot at ~150mm, lightroom noise reduction applied
Anyways, just thought I'd share some experiences. To me, as someone that really likes to travel light and resists changing lenses while out on hikes, etc, the A7R V + Tamron 50-400 has emerged as my ideal kit.
Anyone else shooting this setup, or have a different ideal hiking kit they've landed on?
Cheers.
I have long chased the balance of having enough flexibility in my kit for whatever I want to shoot when I'm out exploring vs. size, weight, and ease of carry. To that end, I have always struggled with a longer zoom on full frame, understanding that these lenses are typically large and heavy. I've owned several over the years, including the excellent Sony G 200-600mm, but they ended up staying at home when I went on small hikes, etc, just due to the overall difficulty of fitting them easily in a shoulder bag or otherwise and the fact that I'd have to change lenses throughout the hike depending on what situation I was in. After trying several lenses, I honestly really considered buying a second m43 camera as a dedicated long-zoom setup - something that would have likely only added to difficulty in making decisions on what to bring as leaving the house to go somewhere.
Enter the Tamron 50-400. Not only is it a massive size reduction over the 200-600, but smaller than the similar Sigma and Sony 100-400's, while having a larger and more useful overall focal range:
Needless to say, i was immediately interested and purchased one after reading several positive reviews. I was at that time shooting with a Sony A7R IV, and will admit that my first experiences with the lens were not universally positive. While pics were really nice in the 50-200mm range, I found it very difficult to get pin sharp images at the long end of the lens shooting handheld (I never use a tripod). An opportunity then came up to upgrade to the A7R V for a reasonable discount and I jumped on it, and my level of enjoyment with the lens has shot up substantially - the difference in IBIS systems between the cameras being the likely cause. I've always seen the high resolution of the A7R series as a sort of cheat-code in efforts to reduce my overall gear footprint - I crop heavily to achieve tighter 'zooms' on most of my shots and am still very pleased with the results, and this camera + lens setup really opens up opportunities to do this. With the resolution of the A7R and improved IBIS, the Tamron can provide results from this at 50mm:
View attachment 767c5a0230a646f682a7f30cbc8c92d4.jpg
Sony A7RV + Tamron 50-400, shot at 50mm
To this at 400mm, cropped in further but to me, still very usable:
A7R V + Tamron 50-400, shot at 400, cropped in further
At this range, the usability of most of the photos I took were more dependent on the influence of heat haze than on any limitations of the camera + lens combo itself.
One other thing to note is the addition of focus stacking to the A7R V and the use of the 50-400 as a stand-in for a dedicated macro lens. I would never call myself a macro photographer, but its fun to get up and personal on items - I'm looking forward to testing out focus stacking with this lens, where some previous playing around (using the A7R IV) has shown it can take some pretty nice close-ups:
A7R IV + Tamron 50-400, shot at ~150mm, lightroom noise reduction applied
Anyways, just thought I'd share some experiences. To me, as someone that really likes to travel light and resists changing lenses while out on hikes, etc, the A7R V + Tamron 50-400 has emerged as my ideal kit.
Anyone else shooting this setup, or have a different ideal hiking kit they've landed on?
Cheers.
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