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.

Yesterday, November 14, 2019, Sony released a repair recall for one of their professional lenses – the 16-35mm GM. The f/2.8 lens was released back in 2017, and since then it stood our for it’s high build quality and sharpness.

The phenomenon

Sony says that “some SEL1635GM FE 16-35mm F2.8 GM E-mount lenses may cause the camera to not operate correctly when the lens is attached”.

Sony “will repair your Affected Lens, free of charge, until March 31, 2023”.

Affected are lenses with serial numbers between 1800502 and 1823192 but not all lenses within the serial number range are affected.

From the day Sony announced their 135mm f/1.8 GM lens I was wondering if it will be a better option for me to replace the 70-200mm f/2.8 GM. Being smaller, lighter and faster – that sounded like a good option. Plus, on my A7RIII or A7RIV, with just one click (switching to crop mode) it turns to a 200mm lens. For my casual shooting I wouldn’t even think about this. But for professional work – like weddings and other events, the versatility of the zoom lens is a king. However, the new 135mm has a faster Dual front and rear XD linear motors to achieve fast, precise, and quiet AF. It also have smaller minimum focus distance and aperture dial on the lens.