Tamron 50-400mm F/4.5-6.3 DI III VC VXD Review

In the world of ultra zoom telephoto lens photography, Tamron has previously released a version of their new lens for Sony E-Mount cameras, approximately a little over a year ago, competing with Sony FE lenses. Now we have the fantastic Tamron 50-400mm with a wide aperture for full frame mirrorless cameras.The 50-400mm lens offers a great focal length for such an ergonomic lightweight zoom lens. This surely up’s your game when shooting travel photography, or even portrait photography. It also has a wide maximum aperture of f/4.5-6.3 which means using this lens as a super telephoto lens or a super zoom lens. You can expect high image quality with sharp images across its entire focal range.

This lens comes with good versatility such as being able to mount the lens on a Full Frame camera, or an APS-C cropped camera as well. The VC Stabilization gives you better results when shooting handholding photography. As we often mention, without a good optical or mechanical stabilization motor, you may be susceptible to blur and shake usually associated with handheld shooting. Therefore having a great image stabilization mechanism is so important. You can take stabilization to the next level by getting the optional companion tripod mount. 

The Tamron 50-400 comes with exceptional build quality, with 24 elements in 18 groups including 5 special dispersion elements and 2 aspherical elements powering the VXD linear motor focus mechanism and VC image stabilization mechanism, giving you amazing image quality with this tele lens.

Remembering the lens mount that you need for compatibility with your camera body is crucial. As this lens was manufactured for the Nikon Z Mount cameras and previously Sony E Mount cameras, you have some choices of what to work with depending on what model full frame mirrorless camera you use.

This lens competes with Sony FE ultra telephoto zoom lens lineup and those from Sigma (such as the Sigma 100), Canon and other lens manufacturers as well.

Let us walk you through some of the tremendous specs of this Ultra Zoom Telephoto lens.

Image Capturing

Focus and Magnification

The Tamron 50-400 is a great choice for a telephoto zoom lens. It has near silent operation thanks to the RXD, or it’s (Rapid Silent Drive) made by Tamron. This new lens gets amazing image quality in your exposures at your desired angle of view, with a zoom range of 50-400mm and a zoom ratio of 1:2 at up to a wide end 70mm focal length and 1:4 at the 400mm focal length. You can be certain to get the shot that you want due to this lens having a magnification ratio and maximum magnification of 8x zoom length all the way through the entire focal range. In addition, the lens has a 9.8” minimum focusing distance up to 400mm will serve wonderfully as an ultra-telephoto zoom lens. The 8x magnification can even be achieved at the 50mm focal length setting. This is trying to up the game from the standard Tamron 100-400 mm lens.

Now photographers can create images that not only capture a subject close-up, but also utilize the background to get a beautiful bokeh effect. With this new lens configuration, users can enjoy shooting a broad range of subjects from landscapes and wild animals, portrait photography, fast action sports, and small group photos, all with one single ergonomic and compact lens.

The Autofocus allows for the in-camera settings to accurately capture clear and sharp images all the way through the long end of the focal range.

The Tamron 50-400mm DI III VXD lens has a focus limiter function which limits the autofocus search range that can be accessed through the Tamron lens utility software for PC or MAC, and a mobile app available on the Google Play Store. We will go into this software in more detail below.

Stabilization and Protection

The VC VXD lens from Tamron gives you sharp images that are shake free even at the maximum focal length of 400mm. It also offers an optical design which has 24 Elements in 18 Groups offering extra low dispersion. This is made with vibration compensation to reduce chromatic aberrations like fringing and vignetting or ghosting. The image stabilization will help ensure that you get wonderful image reproduction. This is like the feature on Sigma lenses which they refer to as DN OS or Digital Optical Stabilizer.

The TAMRON 50-400mm F4.5-6.3 VC also comes with Tamron’s proprietary BBAR-G2 (Broad-Band Anti-Reflection Generation 2) Coating. This will minimize ghosting and flares as well and is suited for even harsh lighting conditions without sacrificing image detail.

There is also fluorine coating on the lens for moisture resistance, helping with dust, moisture and fingerprint repellent. This increases the longevity of your lens as it makes wiping and cleaning the lens much easier.

Design and Functions

The Tamron 50-400mm F/4.5-6.3 DI III VC VXD lens is the perfect compact ultra telephoto zoom lens for your photography stable. Featuring a length of just 185.8mm (7.3in) and a light weight of 1,180g (41.6oz) this lens is extremely portable for a long focal length telephoto zoom lens. This makes the lens smaller and lighter than traditional 100-400mm focal length lenses or like the Tamron 150.

There are custom switches to set the lens for autofocus or manual focus located on the focus ring. There are three custom function buttons that you can set up with your desired settings, therefore, you can quickly and easily alternate between in-camera settings. There is also a zoom lock switch, which will lock in the current focal length for your photography scene. A lens hood and front and rear lens caps come standard with the lens. 

This lens comes equipped with TAMRON’s VXD (Voice-coil eXtreme-torque Drive) linear motor focus mechanism which gets you that quiet operation you desire from a telephoto zoom lens. So, shooting still photos or videos in quiet environments is right at your fingertips.

Download the Tamron Lens Utility software via the USB-C port and a cable to attach to your PC. This software is compatible with desktops, laptops and notebooks running Windows 10 or 11. It is also compatible with an Apple MAC device, running macOS 12, macOS 13 or macOS 14, but will require that you have at least 4GB of RAM. This should not be an issue as this is usually the bare minimum amount of memory that a PC or MAC device would have. In addition, you can download firmware updates via this software, so your lens is always operating at peak efficiency.

Conclusion

This ultra telephoto zoom lens is the perfect companion for your Full Frame Mirrorless camera or APS-C camera. The Tamron 50-400mm lens works great as an everyday prime lens or a zoom lens to get those close-up shots from available longer focal ranges and a wide aperture. The lens which Tamron announced on August 29th, 2024, is available for pre-order now at $1,299.00 USD, and will begin shipping on September 19th, 2024. If you have previously used the Sony E-Mount version of this lens, you should be familiar with the lens functions and capabilities.