It's Great!! BUT... _ Tamron 35-150mm F_2-2.8 Review for Portraits Travel Landscape Street Video 4K

A portion of this video is sponsored by Squarespace. This is the Tamron 35-150, and the reason why this lens is so hype is because the starting aperture is at F2. And while it does vary when you zoom, it's only up to F2.8, which is quite impressive for the amount of range you're getting off this lens. And Tamron's done such an incredible job keeping the barrel size small, only 82 millimeters in diameter. This is a very unique range, something that's not very common. And they claim this is world's first, but who really knows? Anyways, who is this for? Being a 35-150 covers plenty of range for any type of photography and video, but I find it particularly useful for portraits, events, and video. We have all the popular focal lengths for portraits here, 35, 50, 85, and 135. Running between F2 to F2.8, these are enough to give you that nice subject and background separation. And just for your information, these are the focal lengths where the aperture begins to change. And these are impressive numbers because we're still getting F2.2 at around 50 millimeters. And it's not until 82 millimeters that we are hit with the F2.8 aperture. And F2.8 is still plenty good when you're shooting 85 millimeters and beyond. It still gives us enough bokeh, that creamy background blur that many desire. So weddings, this would be ideal for events, especially concerts, festivals. It has great lengths for plenty of coverages. Wide, medium, telephoto. And we can take that same principle for video as well. And especially for video, we want the different angles, right? We want our wide, our mediums, and our close-ups to cut to. And this will be a great lens for that. In our other recent video on the Xperia PRO-I, we shot about 70% of that with the Tamron, and we were just blown away with how many varying shots we can get, especially with its crazy close minimum focusing distance. While it's not macro close, it's still good enough to capture some amazing details. This lens here really takes some of the best focal lengths from the more common 24 to 70, and 70 to 200, and just meshed them together, leaving out the wider 24 millimeter and the closer 200 millimeter. Though I will have to admit, I kinda do wish this lens was just a little bit wider. That's just a personal preference, something that I'm just used to from using a whole bunch of other different versatile lens and them having 24 millimeter in them. While the 35 millimeter is still considered wide angle, it's not enough in most cases where you really wanna show more of the environment. But this can be largely forgiven, given the fact that the reach is a generous 150 millimeter, which we found we used a whole lot. Even if it doesn't have the same reach as the 200 millimeter on the 70 to 200, a flip to APS-C mode will usually get us to where we need it. Moving on to autofocus capability, it is using a linear motor focus mechanism, which works incredibly well with Sony's autofocus calculation. We found the autofocus to be very snappy in photo mode, which is great, and we found the autofocus transition in video to be very smooth. No pulsing, no choking, and it even kept up really well as I'm walking towards the camera. On the other hand, manual focus, the throw can actually be set in the lens utility software. Unfortunately, I didn't bring the provided USB-C cable with me on our travels, and none of my regular USB-C cable works. So keep that in mind, don't lose that cable. So unfortunately, I wasn't able to change anything, but the loaner unit that was sent to me seemed to have the manual focus throw at 360. It's incredibly responsive with the focus change as you're twisting the lens, it's very well controlled. Focus breathing here is also very well controlled. As I'm twisting the focus ring here, the framing stays relatively consistent here on the sides. The lens utility software also brings in other features that are helpful to video shooters, such as the AB focus rack and the focus speed preset, where you can set the focus distance between subject with a push of a button and change how fast or slow the focus shifts between them. There are three different custom slots you can program up to, and there are three buttons around the lens that you can press to activate the different program settings. For A7IV, A7S III, FX3, A1 users, I think the built-in focus shift control on our cameras might honestly be good enough already since we can actually adjust the speed and sensitivity with number-based settings. But for older Sony cameras with the vague speed and sensitivity settings, you know, instead of numbers, it's just literally slow, medium, fast, the Tamron lens utility will bring more focus control and smoother change rates to your cameras. Now, this does not have lens stabilization, but I'm not docking any points. Any recent Sony full-frame cameras will have in-body image stabilization, and we found this combination to work very well. A lot of the handheld videos look smooth, and I think that's in combination of the weight of the lens as well. On top of that, I was able to get a few photos at a very, very slow shutter speed handheld. Now, speaking of photos, image quality. It is incredibly sharp, even at the widest aperture. Personally, I think the corners are handled well, no crazy noticeable fringing, and the bokeh balls are nice and round. Now, the Starburst at F9, on the other hand, they look like they can kill somebody. I mean, is it just me, am I crazy, or do these look extra pointy and sharp for some reason? But speaking of flares, like some of the other reviews have already pointed out, it's not terrible, but it can be distracting if you're shooting directly at the sun. For scenic shots, it might look like a cool effect, but for portraits, it might ruin it. All right, so look and feel of this lens. This lens feels like it's very, very well-built, and the zooming action is very smooth, and the zooming direction is the same as Sony counterclockwise, and the focus ring is right above the zoom ring. I know certain lenses like to have it the other way around, which kind of throws me off, but I like having the focus ring right up here. We also have a autofocus manual focus toggle built onto the lens, which is always nice to have, and a lock button, which is also really nice to have, so when you're not using the lens, the barrel doesn't slowly protrude out, which can happen, given how heavy this lens is. Which brings me to my next point. As versatile as the range is, as awesome as the F2 starting aperture is, once you have it in your hand, it's hard to ignore how heavy the lens is. It's 1,165 grams, or 2.57 pounds, making the entire setup incredibly front-heavy. While there isn't another exact lens like this, here are some of the other closest comparisons in terms of weight. For professional work, I think the weight can largely be ignored, as you'll be in the zone shooting. You're probably not gonna be thinking about the weight too much, more so on getting the shot. However, you might feel it by the end of the day. For my video shooters, if you plan on using this on a tripod or monopod, make sure to use a larger base plate. However, if you plan on using this lens casually as a general walk-around lens, during those down times when you're just walking around and not shooting, it can be a drag to carry around all day. So, during our travels here in Paris, we've also brought the Sigma 18-50 F2.8, and while it is an APS-C lens with a much shorter reach, we find ourselves gravitating to this lens more just because of how lightweight and small it is, and it has more than enough range and versatility for what we do. Funny enough, 90% of the product shot of the Tamron in this video is from the Sigma 18-50. Of course, the image quality and the bokeh may not be as comparable as the full-frame lenses, but for its size, we honestly don't mind it. But if you're looking for a nice, casual, full-frame, versatile lens, then the Tamron 20-75 has always been a hit amongst the alpha community. And if you need certain focal lengths at a faster aperture, pick up some 1.8 prime lenses to pair up with the lens. With all that said, I'm still glad I brought this with me to Paris. The reach of the 150 oftentimes came in handy, and it was nice to be able to zoom all the way back to 35 for a wider perspective without having to change lenses. So if you can largely look past the weight, this lens is amazing. And finally, let's move on to price, $1,899. May seem like a steep price, probably Tamron's most expensive lens for Sony. But given the fact that there are no other equivalent out there, and still priced lower than the 24-70 G Master and 70-200 G Master, while still offering the best focal lengths in between, honestly, it's not a bad price. Like I mentioned at the beginning of the video, if you love shooting portraits at varying focal lengths, or if you do a lot of events or a lot of videos, and you can look past the weight of this lens, then this is probably the best lens to pick up for those use cases. On top of that, the Tamron 35-150 can be a solid replacement for a 24-70, 70-200 combo. Downsizing to this one lens would actually save you on the weight. Although, I suspect the new 70-200 G Master version 2 will probably be a lot better at focusing in terms of high-speed action shoots like sports. Otherwise, I mean, I still highly recommend the Tamron 20-75 over this lens. And they recently just launched a version 2 of that with the updated linear motor focus mechanism, which is gonna be excellent for video. But really, for its price, $899, excellent range with a constant f2.8 aperture, great image quality, extremely lightweight, just a joy to bring around with you wherever you go. If you guys enjoy this video, be sure to give it a like and comment down below what you personally think of the 35-150. Will you get this lens, or will you choose from Tamron's other amazing selection? And if you guys wanna support the channel and see more videos like this, the best thing you can do is just to stick around and listen to what my sponsor, Squarespace, has to say. Vivian and I always strive to bring you guys the best and most unique image and video samples whenever we talk about cameras and lenses. And oftentimes, we have high production costs to make this all happen. It's sponsors like Squarespace that help funds our production budget so we can keep bringing you guys more high-quality samples. So the best way to support us and to help us continue to do what we do is to simply check out how Squarespace can help you. Link down below. Squarespace is an all-in-one platform to create beautiful websites. No coding knowledge whatsoever. Perfect for people like me because I just wanna make YouTube videos for you guys and not have to worry about coding my entire website. Simply just select one of their templates to get started. Every aspect is easily customizable with their drag-and-drop feature. Whether you're in need of a portfolio, an e-commerce store, or even a simple blog, design it with Squarespace. Use my link down below to test it out, and when you're ready to launch your first website or domain, use my code JASONWONG to save 10% off. Guys, thank you so much for watching. I'll see you guys in the next video. Peace.