Tamron 150-500/5-6.7 Di III VC VXD for Fujifilm X

Last time, I “reviewed” the Tamron 11-20mm f/2.8 Di III-A RXD for Fujifilm, and today I have another Fujifilm lens—but this time from the completely opposite end of the focal length spectrum. And that is the beast, the 150-500mm f/5-6.7 Di III VC VXD.

Teda, hned na úvod, pro mě je to sice dělo, ale ono to ve skutečnosti až takový dělo není. Pokud teda vezmete v úvahu, že to je stejná konstrukce jako pro fullframové bezzrcadlovky (dělá se jak pro Sony E mount, tak pro Nikon Z), tak v porovnání s ostatními objektivy podobného rozsahu je na tom velikostně i váhou ještě poměrně dobře. Nicméně pro někoho, jako jsem já, který fotí maximálně na 70-180mm je to poměrně slušná změna 😀

The lens itself is well-built, just like all recent Tamron lenses, and feels robust and high-quality. It comes with a tripod collar that is Arca-compatible right out of the box, so you won’t need to look for additional plates or adapters to use it on a tripod. (In this case, I highly recommend using the tripod collar, as the lens’s weight could otherwise put too much strain on the camera mount.)

Speaking of weight, the lens comes in at 1,710g, which is quite something! 😃 However, for its category, it’s actually one of the lighter options. It is sealed against moisture and dust (including the USB-C port), which is fantastic because this lens is primarily designed for landscape and wildlife photographers—situations where weather sealing can be crucial.

The lens features multiple switches, including stabilization mode selection, stabilization on/off, an autofocus range limiter, and manual focus speed adjustment. Additionally, it has a USB-C port for firmware updates and customization via the Tamron Lens Utility.

The lens offers two zoom lock options. The first is a traditional “Lock” switch, which prevents unwanted lens extension, for example, when carrying the camera with the lens pointing downward or hanging from a strap.

The second function is more interesting because not many lenses have it—if you push the zoom ring forward, away from the camera, it locks the zoom at its current position. This can be quite useful in various shooting situations. :)

Since this particular lens is designed for Fujifilm’s APS-C lineup, it’s important to consider the crop factor when shooting. In this case, the crop factor is approximately 1.5x, meaning the effective focal length on a Fujifilm camera (or any other APS-C system) is around 225-750mm, which is quite impressive.

I primarily used the lens for city photography, and I have to admit that it often felt a bit too long for my needs. In most situations, I would have preferred the focal range available on a full-frame camera, starting at 150mm rather than the equivalent of 225mm. Similarly, I only used the longer end of the zoom range while testing the lens, but not in real-world scenarios. However, I can easily see how this APS-C crop factor could be a great advantage for wildlife photography.

S foťákem jsem fotil na dvou tělech - Fujifilm X-E3 a X-T5. A důvod proč na dvou byl jednoduchý - chtěl jsem vyzkoušet, jak se bude chovat na rozdílných snímačích. X-E3 je starší kousek, který má 24mpx snímač, naopak X-T5 je nejnovější z řady X-T a má 40mpx snímač. A dopadlo to tak, jak jsem si myslel - na 24mpx je objektiv excelentní, což už ale nejde říct o 40mpx snímači. Tam už se mi objektiv zdál měkčí a ne tak ostrý, jako na 24mpx. To platí především o delším konci objektivu, na kratším konci nebyl ten rozdíl až tak znatelný.

The lens has excellent stabilization, and when paired with a stabilized camera body like the X-T5, shooting handheld at 500mm is no problem—which I find really impressive. It features Tamron’s newer VXD autofocus system, so the only real limitation on focusing speed comes from the lens’s aperture.

As always, the more light that enters the camera, the faster and more accurately it can focus. With an aperture range of f/5 to f/6.7, it naturally won’t be as fast as lenses with f/2.8 or wider apertures.

Considering the price of this lens, which is essentially half that of competing lenses that are about a third to half the size (depending on the mount), it’s a very interesting option for those who can fully take advantage of it. For my personal use, it would be too long on an APS-C camera for everyday shooting. On the other hand, it got me thinking about how it performs on a full-frame camera and whether I would actually use it there. Well, I guess I’ll have to test it on a Sony and find out… 😃

And as always, if you’re interested in this lens (or pretty much any other Tamron lens) and want to get it at a slightly better price, you can register on www.penta.cz or www.epenta.sk and enter the discount code David10 at checkout for approximately 13% off—even if the lens is already on sale! 😊