Budget lenses often sacrifice features like weather sealing or opt for a narrower aperture, but the first full-frame autofocus zoom lens from a China-based company takes a different approach. The Thypoch Voyager 24-50mm f/2.8 packs in a shorter zoom range than the classic 24-70mm, but trades that versatility for a compact, weather-sealed design.
Thypoch says that the lens, which was previously teased at the Photography & Video Show in March but has now been fully announced, is the first full-frame zoom lens with autofocus to come from a Chinese optics brand.
Thypoch – a brand largely known for its manual focus prime lenses – considers the new lens to be three popular primes in one, as it offers the common 24mm, 35mm, and 50mm focal lengths in one f/2.8 lens. Adding to that theme, the lens uses an internal zoom – which means the length of the lens doesn’t change as the lens zooms in and out.
The lens is the brand’s first optic to include autofocus, but Thypoch says that it has been tested with most current-generation Sony Alpha bodies (excluding the newly announced but not yet shipping Sony A7R VI) and supports features like eye detection autofocus.
Autofocus performance is difficult to judge on paper, but DCW’s Alan Palazon got to take a few test shots at Thypoch’s booth at the Photography & Video Show and said the autofocus locked on “in a respectable time” for an indoor product shot.
The lens is built with 16 elements in 13 groups, including two aspherical elements, three extra low dispersion elements, and three high-refractive elements. That’s mixed with a 10-blade aperture for more rounded bokeh. That design, the company says, is designed to control chromatic aberration while creating a soft transition from sharp subjects to soft backgrounds.
Cutting off some of the zoom range of the typical 24-70mm also makes Typoch’s first autofocus lens more compact – it comes in at 92.88mm long – which is under four inches. The lens weighs 432g, which is about 15.2 ounces.
While the lens barrel has a more plasticky build, the new lens does include weather sealing to help prevent dust and moisture from entering the lens when used with a sealed camera body.
The lens is expected to begin shipping in early June with a $619 list price, which is about £460 / CA$850 / AU$857 at current exchange rates.
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