Tamron 28-200mm f/2.8-5.6 Di III RXD (Sony E-Mount)

The Tamron 28-200mm f/2.8-5.6 Di III RXD is an ultra-compact all-in-one zoom lens designed for Sony’s full-frame mirrorless cameras. With a bright f/2.8 aperture at the wide end and a versatile focal length range extending from 28mm to 200mm, this lens is perfect for photographers and videographers looking for a lightweight and convenient solution for travel, landscape, portrait, and sports photography. In this review, we’ll take a closer look at the build quality, image quality, performance, and overall value of this versatile zoom lens.

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Features / Specifications

The Tamron 28-200mm f/2.8-5.6 Di III RXD is a compact and lightweight lens, offering a generous zoom range and solid aperture performance in a single package. Its combination of portability, versatility, and image quality makes it an excellent all-in-one lens.

Focal Length: 28-200mm, offering a wide-angle to telephoto zoom range.
Maximum Aperture: f/2.8 at 28mm to f/5.6 at 200mm, providing good low-light performance, especially at the wide end.
Lens Construction: 18 elements in 14 groups, including special lens elements like low-dispersion glass to reduce aberrations and improve sharpness.
Coating: BBAR (Broad Band Anti-Reflection) coating to minimize flare and ghosting.
Autofocus System: RXD (Rapid eXtra-silent stepping Drive) autofocus motor, designed for fast, quiet, and accurate focus, ideal for both stills and video.
Minimum Focus Distance: 19cm (7.5 inches) at 28mm, 80cm (31.5 inches) at 200mm.
Filter Size: 67mm.
Size and Weight: 117mm (4.6 inches) in length, 74mm (2.9 inches) in diameter, and weighs only 575g (1.27 lbs).
Weather Sealing: The lens is equipped with moisture-resistant construction, offering protection against light rain and splashes.
Other Features:
- Compact and lightweight design ideal for travel photographers and videographers.
- Excellent focal range for everything from wide-angle landscapes to distant subjects.
- Fast, quiet autofocus motor for stills and video.

Build Quality

The Tamron 28-200mm f/2.8-5.6 Di III RXD features a solid construction that is both lightweight and durable. While it is not built to the same professional-grade standards as some of Tamron’s more premium lenses, it feels well-made and dependable for everyday use.

Materials: The lens is made of high-quality plastic and metal elements, with a metal lens mount ensuring durability and strength. It’s a robust design that balances performance with weight reduction.
Weather Sealing: The lens has moisture-resistant sealing to protect it from light rain and splashes, making it a good choice for outdoor photography in less-than-ideal conditions.
Zoom and Focus Rings: Both the zoom and focus rings are smooth and easy to operate. The zoom ring offers a moderate amount of resistance, providing a precise feel when adjusting the focal length. The focus ring, while not as large as some other lenses, is still functional for fine-tuning focus manually.
Overall Durability: The lens feels solid without being heavy or cumbersome. While not fully weatherproof like some pro-level lenses, it offers enough protection for general outdoor and travel shooting.

Size, Weight, and Dimensions

The Tamron 28-200mm is impressively compact for a lens with such a broad focal range, making it an excellent option for photographers who want a versatile lens without the bulk.

Weight: 575g (1.27 lbs). This is very light for a zoom lens with this focal range, and it’s one of the key selling points for those looking for a portable all-in-one lens.
Dimensions: 117mm (4.6 inches) long, 74mm (2.9 inches) in diameter. The compact design makes this lens easy to carry around all day without weighing you down. Its size is ideal for travel and street photography where portability is essential.
Portability: The light weight and relatively small size make this lens perfect for those who want a single, go-anywhere lens without the need to carry multiple lenses for different focal lengths.

Image Quality

The Tamron 28-200mm f/2.8-5.6 Di III RXD produces excellent image quality, considering its versatile zoom range and compact size. While it may not match the extreme sharpness and performance of some high-end primes or zooms, it delivers good results across most shooting scenarios.

Sharpness

Center Sharpness: The lens is sharp at the center across its focal range, with good detail retention from 28mm to 200mm. At the wide end (28mm), images are impressively sharp even when shooting wide open at f/2.8. As you zoom in, the sharpness stays consistent.
Edge Sharpness: At 28mm, edge sharpness is quite good but improves slightly when you stop down to f/4. At longer focal lengths (150mm–200mm), there’s some mild softness at the edges, but it’s not extreme and is still usable for most purposes.
Zoom Range: The lens shows some softening at the long end (200mm), especially wide open at f/5.6, but performance improves with stopping down, giving you better sharpness across the frame.

Color and Contrast

Color Accuracy: The lens provides accurate and vibrant colors. The contrast is good, with nice depth, but not overly harsh, which is ideal for both landscapes and portraits.
Flare and Ghosting: Thanks to the BBAR coating, flare and ghosting are well-controlled, even when shooting directly into bright light sources like the sun. This makes the lens suitable for outdoor photography, such as landscapes or cityscapes.

Bokeh

Background Blur: The lens produces a relatively smooth background blur, though it’s not as creamy as lenses with larger apertures. At the longer focal lengths (150mm–200mm), the aperture starts to create more pronounced bokeh, but it is not overly distracting.
Smoothness: The bokeh is generally pleasing, but as with many zoom lenses, you might notice some slight variation in smoothness depending on the focal length and aperture.

Optical Aberrations

Chromatic Aberration: Chromatic aberration is well-controlled but can still be visible in high-contrast scenes, particularly at the longer focal lengths (150mm–200mm). However, it’s not very prominent and can be corrected in post-processing.
Distortion: The lens exhibits some barrel distortion at the wide end (28mm) and mild pincushion distortion at the telephoto end (200mm), but these are minimal and easily corrected in post-processing or in-camera corrections.
Vignetting: There’s mild vignetting at f/2.8, especially at 28mm, but it’s not overly noticeable and can be corrected either in post-processing or by stopping down slightly.

Autofocus

The Tamron 28-200mm features the RXD (Rapid eXtra-silent stepping Drive) autofocus motor, which delivers fast and nearly silent autofocus. This system is ideal for both stills and video, as it offers smooth and accurate focusing with minimal noise.

Autofocus Speed: Fast and responsive, making it suitable for both photography and video applications.
Accuracy: The autofocus is accurate in most conditions, but it might struggle slightly in very low-light environments or with low-contrast subjects.
Noise: Very quiet autofocus motor, ideal for videography where focusing noise would be disruptive.

Performance in Photography and Videography

Photography

Landscapes: The Tamron 28-200mm is an excellent lens for travel and landscape photography. The wide focal range allows for capturing wide vistas and distant subjects with ease. While edge sharpness may soften slightly at the long end, it’s still sharp enough for most landscape applications.
Portraits: The f/2.8 aperture at the wide end offers nice subject isolation for portraits, especially at 50mm–100mm, where the compression from the telephoto range helps create flattering facial features. While the bokeh is not as creamy as prime lenses, it’s still usable for most portrait situations.
Wildlife and Sports: The lens performs well for wildlife and sports photography, with its long reach (up to 200mm) and fast autofocus. It is not quite as fast as more expensive lenses, but it can capture moving subjects with decent clarity. Keep in mind the aperture of f/5.6 at the long end, which can limit low-light performance in certain conditions.
Street and Travel Photography: Thanks to its compact size and versatile zoom range, this lens is a great choice for street and travel photographers who need a flexible lens for a variety of scenes without switching lenses.

Videography

Autofocus for Video: The RXD autofocus motor is fast, quiet, and accurate, making this lens well-suited for video work. Autofocus transitions are smooth, and the lens offers consistent performance without distracting sounds from the motor.
Focus Breathing: There is slight focus breathing when adjusting focus, especially at longer focal lengths. However, it is minimal and unlikely to be a significant issue for most videographers.
Manual Focus: The manual focus ring is relatively responsive, though it’s not as large or smooth as high-end video lenses. Still, it can be used effectively for manual focus pulls during video recording.

Use Cases

The Tamron 28-200mm f/2.8-5.6 Di III RXD is an incredibly versatile lens that excels in a variety of shooting scenarios:

Travel Photography: The compact size and wide focal range make it ideal for travel photographers looking to capture everything from sweeping landscapes to distant subjects without changing lenses.
Portrait Photography: The wide aperture at the 28mm end provides good background blur for portraits, while the telephoto end offers excellent compression for flattering facial features.
Event Photography: From weddings to concerts, the lens handles a variety of subjects, from wide group shots to tight close-ups of performers or guests.
Sports and Wildlife: The long focal length (up to 200mm) and quick autofocus make this a solid choice for action photography, though low-light performance may be limited by the aperture.
Videography: The quiet autofocus and smooth operation make this lens a good choice for videographers, especially for travel vlogs, events, and documentaries.

Price

The Tamron 28-200mm f/2.8-5.6 Di III RXD offers excellent value for money, providing a versatile zoom range, fast autofocus, and solid image quality at a relatively affordable price point compared to more expensive all-in-one zooms.

Affordability: This lens is priced competitively, making it an attractive option for photographers and videographers who need a wide focal range without breaking the bank.

The Tamron 28-200mm f/2.8-5.6 Di III RXD is a fantastic all-in-one zoom lens for Sony full-frame mirrorless cameras. Its compact size, versatility, and impressive image quality make it an ideal lens for travel, street, portrait, and event photographers. While it doesn’t offer the extreme sharpness or wide aperture of professional-grade lenses, it provides great performance for most applications, making it a perfect go-to lens for those who value portability and convenience without sacrificing too much on image quality.

Conclusion

Rating

Our overall rating: 8.5/10