This heavier lens could be a way to travel with lighter gear: Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 review for travel and landscape photography

news7g05/13/2024

1 5 minutes read

This Heavier Lens Might Be a Way to Travel With Lighter Gear: Experiential Review of the Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 for Travel and Landscape Photography

Using a trio of zoom lenses is the most common approach to ensure that you have the necessary range. But what if a lens could let you dramatically reduce the amount of gear you carry?

The reason why camera brands, tripod brands, and other accessory brands focus so much on creating specialized “travel gear” is because traveling, especially the act of exploring Exploring new locations requires a lot of unpredictability. If you’re a photographer and your goal is to find unique scenes and breathtaking landscapes everywhere you visit, that most likely means you’ll be able to photograph anything you see. Interesting no matter how big or small, no matter how close. or far, and regardless of lighting conditions. Unlike most types of photography that we can do from the comforts of common areas in our homes, the challenge is being able to bring everything you might need while also ensuring that you still have enough mobility to move. Whether you need to fit all your cameras and lenses into a small carry-on or pack them with three days worth of camping gear, the challenge is finding the balance between getting ready and packing effective.

Travel with Trinity zoom lenses

The most common advice you’ll find online, not just for travel photography but for most types of photography, is to have a trio of zoom lenses. This means bringing a standard zoom lens, an ultra-wide-angle zoom lens, and a telephoto lens. Of course, there are countless alternatives to this combination but in general most of what you need to cover can be covered within the range of three zoom lenses. Yes, there are lenses with a wider focal range but most of them are limited in low light or have inconsistent optical performance across the range.

For more experienced photographers or those who know too much about what photography entails, these lenses can be swapped out for prime lenses depending on the photographer’s preference. Personally, I sometimes switch my 16-35mm ultra-wide zoom to a 20mm f/1.8 prime lens, especially if I anticipate that my need for the wide-angle lens will be for landscapes in night. Other photographers may work with a completely basic setup or not need a wide or telephoto lens at all. The key to finding a reliable set of lenses is knowing your own photography style and the compositional approaches you want to take. However, for nervous travelers like me, there’s a lot of comfort in knowing that you have a trio of zoom lenses in your bag. The downside is that there will most likely be physical discomfort that comes with it.

How taking photos with a 35-150mm lens can change the way you travel

On a recent weekend trip, I took a stab at seeing what switching up my lens kit could do, but this time, with a relatively new zoom lens option in the form of Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 Di III VXD Combined with super wide angle lens. To make the impact of this change clearer, I have chosen to show it Sony 20mm f/1.8G because my ultra-wide-angle lens knew full well that it would be in my bag for the majority of the trip.

The Tamron 35-150mm certainly offers many unique perspectives. Walking around and exploring a new place, I don’t particularly shoot wide-angle, so the difference between using the 24mm and 35mm lenses as my widest choice is negligible. Instead, it’s more obvious that I have a wider reach thanks to the lens’s ability to reach 150mm, which means that with my usual set of lenses, I would have to change lenses. Even though I usually shoot this way during the day, the difference of the f/2.8 opening compared to what I would have with a lens that goes around f/4 is noticeable. Even if the lens is bulkier and heavier, subjectively the difference seems insignificant compared to what’s in the bag you’re carrying.

The Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 Di III VXD widely known for being a heavy piece of glass. It weighs 1,165 kg (2.6 lbs), is 158 mm (6.2 in) long, and is 89.2 mm (3.5 in) thick. The barrel also extends as you zoom, but most of the weight remains on the closer end. Compared to the 70-200mm f/2.8 lens, this lens weighs 125 grams more than the Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 GM II (1045g) and 315 grams lighter in comparison Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 GM version 1 (1480g) so it’s safe to say that this lens weighs almost as much as a 70-200mm f/2.8 in general.

However, because of the difference in range, it greatly intersects the range of standard zoom lenses (24-70 mm) and telephoto zoom lenses (70-200 mm). If we look at the lens without considering other lens options it can be easy to say that it is heavy and bulky. However, if you come from the perspective of someone who would replace standard and telephoto zoom lenses with this lens, then that would result in having a heavier lens but typically carrying less gear and The total weight is less because it combines the functions of two lenses into one.

I specifically always travel with an ultra-wide-angle lens, a standard zoom lens, and a telephoto zoom lens (unless I know what to expect and which one I won’t need). Of course, we all know that most of the weight comes from the telephoto lens. The usual packing dilemma will be whether to bear the weight or endure the possibility of missing a shot because the lens that would have been perfect for it was left at home. Of course, this doesn’t apply to every photographer, there are those who have a certain focal length preference no matter where they go but for someone like me, there can be a lot of benefit from having Can combine two zoom lens ranges into one piece.

If that’s the case and I’m going to use it as a portable lens then it’s likely that the only lens left in my bag will be an ultra wide angle lens with a focal length of 373 grams (Sony 20mm f/ 1.8) to 680 grams (Sony 16-35mm f/2.8 GM) for me. While the lens on my camera may be heavier, the overall weight of the device is significantly less.

Besides the benefits of this unique product line, the Tamron 35-150mm also has excellent optical performance. It seems to perform very well at the widest aperture and continues to be sharp all the way to f/11 where it starts to soften slightly.

Being able to shoot at 35mm f/2 on your own is an incredibly satisfying experience knowing that you won’t have to change lenses to achieve it. Subjectively, I can say that it focuses very well and accurately in enough light but (although I can’t quantify) it seems less capable in very dark situations. On top of that, while I generally enjoy using this lens, my only concern is that it doesn’t come with a tripod to support a front-heavy setup.