Tamron 16-50mm f/2.8 A Lens Gives APS-C Photographers Cause To Celebrate
Tamron has announced a new 16-50mm f/2.8 A (Model B091) zoom lens for APS-C mirrorless cameras, promising a compact, versatile, fast option for Sony, Canon, Nikon, and Fujifilm APS-C camera owners.
APS-C owners are getting a lot of love these days. Less than a week after Sigma unveiled the 50-120mm f/2.8 for APS-C Sony, Canon, and Fujifilm cameras, Tamron is bringing its own heat.
On Sony, Nikon, and Fujifilm mirrorless cameras, the new Tamron 16-50mm f/2.8 A lens delivers a 24-75mm equivalent focal length range with that fast, constant f/2.8 aperture. This is notably wider than similar zooms like the Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 DC DN Contemporary and matches the Nikkor Z DX 16-50mm f/2.8 VR. However, while the Tamron 16-50mm f/2.8 A goes toe-to-toe with the Nikkor Z zoom for Z-mount camera owners, it costs about $350 less. On APS-C Canon RF-mount cameras, with their slightly higher crop factor, Tamron’s new lens is equivalent to a 25.6-80mm lens on a full-frame camera. It’s still plenty wide for a wide range of situations.
Tamron positions its new zoom lens as well-suited to landscapes, travel, and even portraiture. The company wants the lens to be a photographer’s “go-to zoom.” To that end, the lens promises high-end image quality, good bokeh, reliable handling, and swift autofocus. The lens has Tamron’s usual Voice-coil eXtreme-torque Drive (VXD) autofocus system.
The lens focuses as close as 0.15 meters (six inches) at the wide end and 0.29 meters (11.5 inches) at the long end. This is a maximum magnification ratio of 1:4.5 at 16mm and 1:4.8 at 50mm.
A big part of the Tamron 16-50mm f/2.8 A’s appeal comes down to its compact form factor and lightweight design. While Sony, Canon, and Nikon shooters can always mount a full-frame lens on their APS-C mirrorless cameras, one benefit of the smaller APS-C image sensor is that lenses can be smaller and lighter. Fujifilm owners, of course, already know this very well.
The Tamron 16-50mm f/2.8 A weighs between 305 and 315 grams (10.8 and 11.2 ounces), depending on the mount, and is 77.6 millimeters (3.1 inches) long on RF mount. The E- and X-mount versions are both nearly 80 millimeters (3.2 inches) long, while the Z-mount version is 81.6 millimeters (3.3 inches) long.
Optically, the lens includes 14 elements arranged across 10 groups. The lens has a seven-bladed aperture diaphragm. As the sample images provided by Tamron show, the lens promises strong image quality across the board.
Sample Photos
Pricing and Availability
Tamron is employing a staggered release schedule with its new 16-50mm f/2.8 zoom lens. The lens arrives for Sony E-mount and Canon RF-mount on October 29, priced at $529 ($729 CAD) and $549 ($749 CAD).
The Nikon Z-mount version arrives on November 19 for $549 ($749 CAD). The Fujifilm X-mount lens ships on December 17 for $529 ($729 CAD).
Image creditsTamron. Sample photo credits are in the individual image captions.
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