Why am I doing it again?

It’s been two years since my comparison article between the Sony 24-105mm and the Tamron 28-75mm. It is still one of the most popular ones, together with the corresponding video. In that article I concluded that I will pick Sony over the Tamron, because of a few reasons. The Sony has optical stabilization (Optical Steady Shot or OSS). It has an assignable button. Has better corner sharpness. Has better range, and on a high megapixel camera like A7RIII or A7RIV you end up with a 37-152mm lens in APS-C mode.

Two years later, with a A7RIV in hand, and after 1-2 major firmware updates from Tamron, I decided to test and compare the two lenses again. First to see if Tamron improved the video autofocus, and second to see how both lenses handle the 61Mpx resolution. In addition, Tamron increased the price of their lens with $80 and Sony reduced theirs, so they are now even closer price-wise. I’m currently preparing two videos (comparing sharpness and AF speed in stills and video) to supplement this article. I will place a link here once they are live.

When the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 Pandemia the World became a quiet place. Empty streets, empty shops, empty restaurants, empty schools and offices. There were some differences around the world but the general approach was to keep social distance, to avoid gatherings of people, and all non-essential businesses were practically closed. Including the photography business. And while everyone switched to “survival” mode, following news on the TV, storing toilet paper and hand sanitizer, the photography companies used the time to evaluate their businesses, create new strategies, and build new products. A calm before the storm.

Half of the year passed and now we see the calm is about to end… it’s time for a storm. Of course I’m speaking about the photography industry, not the pandemic, although I wish it would have ended by now.

We have some Canon models that are about to launch soon – Canon R5 and R6, we have the long awaited Sony A7SIII coming, and we have news from Nikon as well – the updated Z6s and Z7s. Some lower end bodies have been rumored to be released soon too. Plus, all manufacturers are preparing some “mouth watering” lenses for us, starting with the new Sony G Master 12-24mm f2.8, which was already announced a few days ago. I told you… the storm is coming.

Several times, in different article comments, I’ve written that Nikon needs new naming nomenclature for their DSLR cameras. The only line that still makes sense is the Pro line – now expanded with the new Nikon D6, but more about that later. At some point, about 10 years ago, it all started to look messy and out of logic. Yet, if you think about it, it started messy from the beginning.

Some history

From 1999 to 2007 we had D1 and D2 series as Professional models, then D100 and D200 as Advanced cameras, followed by D70 and D80 – Mid-range. D50 and D60 were forming the Upper-Entry wing, then D40 was the Entry level camera. Till that moment they all were APS-C cameras. Are you confused already… so do I. However, I think this all comes to an end as the DSLR line is slowly fading away and they won’t need any more letters and numbers to continue forward. Simply because they won’t… continue forward.