Tamron interview: No fast primes, our focus is on zooms that do not exist elsewhere
Phototrend had a chat with Jean-Christophe Thiry, president of Tamron France. Here are a couple of points he made:
Best selling Tamron lenses:
The queen lens in our store is the 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III VXD G2. It is the one that sells the best, thanks in particular to its availability in Sony E and now Nikon Z mounts. For its part, last year’s star, the 35-150mm f/2-2.8 Di III VXD, is also still very efficient.
Development of fast primes:
At Tamron, the strategy is to differentiate. We offer zooms that do not exist elsewhere, that is our core business.
It would obviously be interesting to announce lenses like 24mm f/1.4, 35mm f/1.4, or even an 85mm f/1.2, these are lenses that make you dream. But today, from a commercial point of view, there are already a large number of players who offer this type of optics and we are rather trying to play the agility card. So we are focusing on our strengths with our zooms.
E-mount market share within Tamron lenses:
I don’t have the exact numbers, but Sony’s E-mount lens sales are maybe a little less than 50% of the total. But don’t underestimate Fujifilm’s APS-C and Nikon’s emergence.
For example, our Tamron 50-400mm f/4.5-6.3 Di III VC VXD lens, which we announced this year, is selling 10 times better in Nikon Z mount than in Sony E.
Wrap up:
I kind of agree with Tamron that they have to focus on making some unique zoom lenses. We already have a ton of f/1.4 primes out there!