Samyang 75mm f/1.8 FE review by SonyAlphaBlog: “excellent value for money”

Samyang 75mm f/1.8 FE lens is in Stock at Amazon, BHphoto and Adorama.

Marc Alhadeff from SonyAlphaBlog concluded:

The Samyang 75mm F1.8 AF (440 euros) is an excellent lens for Sony A7 system. It is an unusual focal length but very practical on day to day. The lens is designed to get a maximum of performances in the smallest form factor possible
Everything is not perfect but the lens scores very well on all the main points : very good to excellent sharpness, very good color rendition, beautiful blurry background , good bokeh balls wide open & at F2.8 , efficient AF, small/light/cheap on a full frame mirrorless
It is also a very innovative lens for Sony E mout with a button that allow to either use the focusing ring to focs or as an Aperture ring without going to crazy price. An excellent idea and almost a reason for me to buy this lens
The lens will be perfect up to 42 Mpix , on the 61 Mpix although results are not top notch wide open (only very good) you need to close down to F2.5 to get excellent results. But this is similar to the Sony FE85mm F1.4 GM that cost 4 times more !
Shooting with this lens is a pleasure and overall it is an excellent value for money

Pros
Very good to excellent sharpness in the centre
Very Small and lightweight
Reasonable price
Large aperture
Possibility to switch the focusing ring into an aperture ring
Creamy background
Good Bokeh balls at F1.8 & F2.8
Very good color rendition
Very Good and silent AF
Unusual but very practical focal length
very low distorsion and reasonable vignetting wide open
Very good build quality

Average
Corners sharpness wide open could be better, optimum only at F5.6
Resistance to flare good but not exceptional
Small level of CA
Bokeh Balls no more circular as of F4 (9 shaped)
Rare AF pumping in video

Cons
No weather sealing

Tamron 28-200mm test by ThePixelConnection: “overall sharpness is a step above the Sony 24-240mm FE”

Preorders:
In USA at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto and FocusCamera.
in EU at Fotokoch. CalumetDE, WexUK. ParkcamerasUK.

The Tamron 28-200mm FE might be the best FE travel zoom on the market. And I am seriously considering to buy it for my hiking tours. ThePixelConnection tested the new lens and concluded:

Having used Tamron’s other zooms and primes for Sony E-Mount, the RXD motor is a great choice by Tamron. The autofocus is quick and accurate, much like the 28-75, and considerably faster than the OSD motor found in the trio of prime lenses. Close focus capabilities are impressive, with a minimum focus distance of just 7.5” on the wide end (about 2” from the front element), and 31.5” at 200mm. The compact and lightweight design made it easy to carry around all day to take a variety of photographs without having to carry a camera bag. While the lens doesn’t have built in stabilization, the majority of Sony bodies have IBIS which should help greatly.

Eye-AF worked great for both people and animals, even in lower light conditions, as did the other AF modes. Like most recent lenses with focus by wire manual focus, the ring can feel a bit loose, but manually focusing isn’t too difficult. 

Chromatic aberration is considerably less present than Sony’s 24-240mm, and overall sharpness is a step above it as well, especially in the corners.

While it may not appeal to all professionals, the 28-200mm f/2.8-5.6 is bound to be a hit with entry-level photographers, travel photographers, and those looking for a lens that covers a large focal range without breaking the bank.

More tests:
Tamron 28-200mm – “Das Schweizer Taschenmesser” (Krolop&Gerst)
Tamron 28-200mm FE test at Mobile01

More videos:

Preorders:
In USA at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto and FocusCamera.
in EU at Fotokoch. CalumetDE, WexUK. ParkcamerasUK.

Tamron 28-200mm FE review by Amateur Photographer

This is Amateur Photographers review and conclusion about the new lens:

Reviewing the new Tamron 28-200mm has got me thinking about how mirrorless technology has changed the landscape of lens design. Ten years ago, the firm’s equivalent DSLR offerings were decidedly compromised, with sluggish autofocus and lots of optical aberrations, but this lens is much better in almost every way. It produces sharper, cleaner images by integrating optical and software compensation, while providing rapid, silent autofocus. The fact that offers a significantly larger aperture than its main rival, while managing to be smaller and lighter, is the icing on the cake.

However, two drawbacks bring pause for thought. First is the 28mm wide setting, which feels restrictive now we’ve got used to using 24mm as standard. I frequently found myself wishing for wider when shooting subjects such as landscapes. You could pair the lens up with a wideangle zoom or prime, but that rather negates the point of an all-in-one zoom.

The second question mark is the lack of optical stabilization, which leaves you dependent on the camera’s in-body system. This is unlikely to be as effective, particularly at telephoto; indeed the camera visibly struggles to stabilise the viewfinder image at 200mm. But for some users this will be an acceptable trade-off for the larger aperture.

In conclusion, the Tamron 28-200mm F/2.8-5.6 Di III RXD puts an intriguing spin on the all-in-one superzoom concept. It’s capable of producing very decent images, while offering a different set of strengths to the Sony FE 24-240mm F3.5-6.3 OSS. There’s not necessarily a clear winner between the two; it just depends on each user’s priorities.

Preorders:
In USA at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto and FocusCamera.
in EU at Fotokoch. CalumetDE, WexUK. ParkcamerasUK.