Lens Comparisons
The Tamron 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3 Di III RXD is one of many telephoto zoom options for Nikon and Sony mirrorless bodies. We’ve already tested some of the alternatives in our lab at Photography Life, and I’ll be testing more in the future. Here’s how it stacks up against some of them.
Note that full comparisons with sharpness data are available in separate articles, linked in each section!
1. Nikon AF-P 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6E VR
This Nikon lens shares the same focal lengths as the Tamron, and both are lightweight telephoto options for full-frame cameras. However, because the Nikon AF-P 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6E is an F-mount lens, it requires the FTZ adapter in order to use it on a Nikon Z mirrorless camera.
How do they compare optically? In terms of sharpness, the Tamron lens is better in the center at 70mm and 100mm, while the Nikon lens is sharper in the corners at those focal lengths. (Midframes are pretty comparable.) Meanwhile, the sharpness performance at 200mm and 300mm is similar on both lenses. Other image quality considerations like distortion, chromatic aberration, and vignetting favor the Nikon lens.
- A detailed comparison (sharpness tests, other lab tests, build quality, and more) can be found here: Nikon AF-P 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6E vs Tamron 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3
2. Nikon Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR
This Nikon Z lens isn’t a direct competitor to the Tamron 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3, thanks to the different focal lengths. However, at the time I’m publishing this review, it is Nikon’s only lightweight telephoto zoom for their full-frame mirrorless system. So, I wanted to see how the two lenses compared, especially as an owner of the Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR myself.
Here’s a brief summary. At 70mm and 100mm, the two lenses have similar central and midframe sharpness, but the Nikon lens wins because it has sharper corners. At 200mm, the situation reverses. The two lenses are very similar in the center, while the Tamron is clearly sharper in the midframes and corners. Not to mention that the Tamron lens still has quite good performance at 300mm, while the Nikon lens can’t even reach that focal length.
On balance, the Tamron is probably the better lens optically in the shared range of focal lengths, by a slight margin. But the more important difference is which range of focal lengths better suits your needs.
- A detailed comparison can be found here: Nikon Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 vs Tamron 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3
3. Nikon Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S
To put the Tamron’s performance into context, I also wanted to see how it compared to a high-end telephoto zoom like Nikon’s Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S. This Nikon Z lens is much heavier and far more expensive than the Tamron, but is it worth it?
That depends on your requirements, but the Nikon lens is certainly better optically. It’s sharper throughout the shared range of focal lengths, especially at 100mm and 200mm, where it simply blows the Tamron out of the water. The Nikon Z 100-400mm is also the better lens in terms of distortion, vignetting, and chromatic aberration – but it’s far larger and more expensive, so it really depends on what type of lens you’re looking for.
- A detailed comparison can be found here: Nikon Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 vs Tamron 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3
4. A Few Notes
Frequent readers of Photography Life may be surprised that this section looks different from usual. In the past, I always added full sharpness test results to the “Lens Comparisons” page of a review. However, I wasn’t thrilled with that setup – it focused too much on sharpness, and it limited the number of head-to-head lens comparisons that I could fit into one review.
Instead, I’m going to write dedicated comparison articles for each lens review from now on, like the ones I’ve linked to above. Naturally, they’ll still include full sharpness comparisons, and they’ll also go into detail on considerations like build quality, price, and other aspects of image quality. Plus it allows me to compare more lenses without making these reviews too long. I hope you like the new system and find it more useful!
As a final note, I’ve begun setting up our lab to test Sony lenses (and Canon lenses) in as much detail as Nikon lenses, with Imatest numbers that are comparable across brands. Since the Tamron 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3 is currently made for both Nikon and Sony cameras, I will be adding full comparisons with Sony lenses as soon as I run those tests.
Table of Contents