Hey there, fellow travel photography enthusiasts!
If you’re searching for a versatile lens to get creative and innovate your travel photography, the Tamron 50-400mm lens is it.
This lens is my main travel photography sidekick, and I’ll explain why in this article.
I did an extensive test to review the Tamron 50-400 in the mountains of Iraq. I’ll show real-life samples, including settings, and share my take on its competitor: Tamron 50-400mm vs. Sony 100-400mm.
Let’s dive in; review, camera, action!
10-second summary
- The Tamron 50-400mm lens rocks for travel photography thanks to its focal length.
- Macro features make it an incredibly versatile lens.
- Because of its versatility, you can shoot a ton more content.
- It’s smaller and lighter than its Sony rival.
- Compared to the Sony 100-400mm, Tamron wins with better macros.
- Only bummer? You’ll have to buy the tripod mount separately
- But overall? This lens is a game-changer for travel photography.
In this article, all photos were shot using the Sony a7C and edited in Lightroom. Photos have been shot in RAW and converted to JPG. Depending on your browser they are served in JPG or Webp format.
Tamron 50-400 Review
Even after a year I still bring the lens to all my trips.
About The Tamron 50-400mm Lens
I’ll get straight to why I love the Tamron 50-400mm F/4.5-6.3 Di III VC VXD (catchy name, right?) and why it’s the best lens for travel photography.
The zoom range in combination with the macro capabilities.
The first time I brought this lens on a trip to the mountains of Iraq, I could shoot an incredible amount of content because of its versatility. This is so valuable for several reasons:
First, you can capture the true essence of an area in much more detail. Many telephoto lenses only allow you to zoom in a lot, but they are missing these macro capabilities. Let’s say I want to capture “spring in the mountains” for social media or a blog post.
Shooting macro images of flowers while also shooting landscape photos of green hills truly captures a location’s essence.
Second, you just get more content to work with! Coming home with a massive amount of different and usable photos is just amazing.
Key Specs
- Zoom lens for Sony e-mount full-frame with macro capability
- Focal Length: 50-400mm
- Aperture: f/4.5-6.3
- VC VXD Technology: Minimizes camera shake for sharp images
- Weight: 1,155g / 40.7 oz
- Weather-Sealed: Protection against challenging conditions
- Fluorine Coating: Easy maintenance and protection against dust and moisture
- The lens can be directly connected to a computer for future upgrades
If you’re looking to improve your photography skills check out my full guide on 9 ways to boost your mountain landscape photography skills.
Tamron 50-400 – Zoom Capabilities
The Tamron 50-400 ultra-telephoto zoom lens for Sony is an amazing lens for capturing distant scenes and subjects.
During my trip to the mountains in the northern part of Iraq, I was able to shoot an incredible amount of different footage, all from single points of view.
Because of the huge zoom range, you can zoom in on small parts of mountains or any sort of landscape, which are all different photos in the end.
So, the ability to zoom in a lot not only helps you get a subject close in your frame but also gives you the opportunity to select parts of landscapes. That’s why this 400mm zoom range makes it an amazing camera lens for landscape photography.
Below is the same canyon shot from the same position, crazy large zoom range right?
The photo has not been cropped this is exactly how it was shot. I edited the light for dramatic effect in Lightroom.
The same counts for shooting wildlife (with a camera!…). Because of the zoom range, you can get any distance animals much closer. Unfortunately, I haven’t encountered much wildlife yet here in Iraq, except for this donkey and horse, counts too, right?
But this lens is great for more than distant subjects… Let’s dive into the macro features.
Tamron 50-400 Macro Photography
The Tamron 50-400 macro capabilities are incredible.
The closest you can put the lens to a subject is at least a few centimeters. I had to remove the lens hood to get as close as possible!
As I mentioned, coming home with a ton of more content is an incredible thing and makes spending the money on this lens more than worth it.
It also forces you as a photographer to look differently at things when you have these options.
You not only have to look in the distance to see if you can shoot any landscapes or objects that are far away. You can look down right in front of you and discover things to photograph that you wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.
This lens challenges your photographer’s eyes to see and process much more. It will make you look differently at things because of its zoom and macro features.
I can honestly say that this lens improved my photography skills because of this.
So what about shooting in the dark with the Tamron lens?
Tamron 50-400mm Night Photography – To The Moon!
The 50-400mm is equipped with an aperture of f4.5-6.3. Which is not the fastest aperture, but does it matter?
Landscapes are typically shot starting from f9.
It would matter for night photography, but with the noise-reducing capabilities in Lightroom nowadays, this is barely an issue anymore.
Seen below is a photo I’ve taken of the moon in Erbil, Northern Iraq, without a tripod!
It shows again the incredible versatility of this lens, from macro to landscape to the moon.
The photo below of the moon has been cropped quite a bit, still an amazing view.
ISO:640 – 400mm – F/7,1 – 1/250sec
Tamron 50-400mm Weight And Length
Now bear with me…
The weight of the lens is 1,155 kg (40.7 oz) which is quite some weight to carry if you are hiking or traveling.
But, compared to other lenses in the same zoom range it is one of the lightest! The Sony 100-400mm weighs 1,39 kg.
Its also shorter then the Sony (more on that later). This was especially convenient for me because I have the PRVKE Lite camera bag, which is not the largest one out there.
A few less centimeters in length compared to the Sony can men a lot of difference.
Tamron 50-400mm Weather Sealing And Fluorine Coating
It’s weatherproof (not fully water proof so don’t go swimming with it), with a sealing and a fluorine coating on the glass of the lens for added protection.
The fluorine coating helps keep your lens clean by making it easy to wipe off dust, moisture, and oil-like sebum. Tamron’s coating is water-repellent and keeps any pesky reflections away, too.
This is an excellent feature while being in the outdoors.
Talking about the outdoors, what’s it like with this lens?
Into The Wild: Using The Tamron 50-400 Outdoors
Spending a day with this ultra-telephoto zoom lens for Sony outdoors is an absolute blast.
I recently took it for a hike in the mountains of northern Iraq.
Here are my key takeaways:
- Shooting landscapes such as mountains and the canyon is incredible. You can see that compression effect, which makes the mountains in the back look even bigger.
- I got my Sony a7C because it’s small, but using a big lens like this sort of cancels out that advantage! Still, it’s totally worth it because of the versatility it brings.
- When you’re hiking, I found it better to put it in my bag, and when I saw something I wanted to shoot, I took it out of my bag. Sometimes, you need both hands for balance.
- In my experience, the images were super sharp; I could not notice any unsharp images with autofocus.
- Once more, the macro capabilities are an amazing bonus that compels your photographer’s eye to see more.
- In my experience the lens is just lightweight enough not to become a burden on your shoulders or hands while carrying it. But after walking with it for about half an hour I did put it back in my bag until the next photo opportunity.
So how does all of this compare to its most famous competitor, the Sony 100-400mm?
Tamron 50-400 VS Sony 100-400
Like most passionate photographers in the market for a new lens, I have devoured every review I could find!
I was doubting for a while about going for the Sony 100-400mm. But in the end, I decided to go with the Tamron. Here’s why:
- Tamron has better macro capabilities. This opens up a ton of opportunities to shoot epic photos.
- The Tamron’s lens is black. I’m not sure about you guys, but when I’m walking around with my camera, I want to stand out as little as possible. A white lens, such as the Sony, is not helping with that. Does a white lens look cool? sure, does it matter? no.
- Tamron’s range is larger; it starts at 50 mm, which makes it useful for getting objects that are closer to the camera nice in a frame. It just has the edge over the Sony. Which again, provides more options for more content.
- Tamron is smaller and lighter. Although these lenses aren’t small or light in any way, the lighter or smaller, the better for traveling. The Tamron fits just perfectly in my relatively small
These 4 aspects made me go for the Tamron, and I never looked back.
A pro for the Sony would be to be able to burst shoot 60 fps photos, as opposed to the 30 fps of the Tamron.
They say it is slightly sharper, but I have not seen any differences in all the reviews and videos I have seen.
The Sony also has a slightly faster aperture, but with noise reduction capabilities nowadays, slightly more iso is not an issue anymore. Check out the moon shot above.
Besides, what’s more important, being able to shoot a ton more photos due to the versatility or having fewer photos but maybe perhaps a little bit 0,1% sharper… just my 2 cents 🙂
So aren’t there any downsides of the Tamron 50-400?
Downsides Of The Tamron 50-400
Regarding photography accessories, Tamron doesn’t pack it with a tripod mount; it is sold separately at a price on the range of 150 dollars.
It’s a shame because the lens is too large to use on a tripod without a mount in my eyes.
You could attach the tripod to the bottom of your camera, but that puts too much weight, in my opinion, to the place where the lens is attached.
What’s more, a downside is that the mount is less easy to find online than the lens itself.
Another thing I noticed is a very slight drop in sharpness at 400 mm. But this is probably due to the fact that I didn’t use a tripod. When zooming in that far every movement is magnified.
Other than that, I haven’t found any downsides to this amazing piece of photography gear.
Which brings us to the conclusion…
Final Thoughts On This Great Lens
Is the Tamron 50-400mm lens worth it?
Absolutely.
What’s great about this beast of a lens is its versatility. While traveling, you don’t want to switch lenses too often, and with this lens, you basically don’t need to switch lenses at all.
The only time I would change lenses is when I would need a wide-angle shot.
This can be particularly needed for street photography when there are many larger objects closer. (I will be testing the lens out on the streets soon.)
One thing I forgot to mention about what I love about this lens is the bokeh; zooming in on a subject blurs the background into a smooth image with amazing bokeh. It’s not specifically a nice feature for travel photography, but it’s a great thing overall.
Travel photographers who are looking for a versatile companion can trust the Tamron 50-400mm lens to shoot a ton of content and improve their photographer’s senses while delivering amazing and sharp results.
Hopefully, this review has helped you decide on your next camera gear upgrade.
F.A.Q.
What does “Di III VC VXD” mean in the Tamron 50-400mm lens?
“VC” stands for Vibration Compensation, which helps minimize camera shake for sharper images.
“VXD” represents Tamron’s high-speed, high-precision focus mechanism called Voice-coil eXtreme-torque Drive.
Is the Tamron 50-400mm sharp?
Yes, the Tamron 50-400 is an incredibly sharp zoom lens. It becomes a bit less sharp at 400mm but that is also because at that focal range every movement of your hand is being magnified.
