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A dozen years ago the line-up of 500 mm zoom autofocus lenses was really rich. Then, near 2013, different 600 mm models started to be launched on the market and nowadays they predominate in this segment.

When it comes to mirrorless systems, such lenses are in the line-up of most of producers, with an exception of Tamron. The situation is curious indeed, especially as it was that company that in November 2013 started a series of amateur zoom lenses with the maximum focal length of 600 mm. Currently, when such lenses are manufactured by practically everybody, Tamron stopped and focused on an original strategy – in April 2021 they presented the 150-500 mm f/5-6.7 Di III VC VXD model, as the Sony FE mount variant at first, but later they enlarged the offer by Fujifilm X and Nikon Z mounts.

The Tamron approach is interesting indeed. While the lenses produced by the rivals end at 600 mm with an aperture fastness of f/6.3, offering you an entrance pupil as big as 95 mm (of course only if the focal length really is as stated in specifications and there is no focus breathing). It entails significant physical dimensions and weight that can exceed distinctly 2 kilograms. In case of the Tamron the focal length is 500 mm and the aperture is a bit slower, amounting to f/6.7. Both these decisions made the exit pupil decrease to less than 74 mm, so over 20% smaller. As a result the weight of the Tamron is just 1725 grams and its length in a folded position reaches less than 210 mm. In other words you can walk easily with such a lens, and you are not forced to carry a tripod because it is not a stationary piece of equipment. What's more, such parameters allowed the producers to limit the price that now amounts to $1200, and is $400-$800 lower than the rival 150-600 or 200-600 models.

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Such interesting new constructions have always been in the sphere of our interest; small wonder as soon as we got one specimen of this lens from Focus Nordic, the Tamron distributor for Poland, we decided to test it. The results you can find in the following chapters – enjoy your lecture!

We would like to thank the Focus Nordic company, the sole distributor for Tamron devices in Poland, for lending us one specimen of the lens which we used in our test.

You are also invited to get acquainted with our test procedure, described in the article "How do we test lenses?" If you feel it’s still not enough, please go to our FAQ section where you can find some further explanation.