Tamron 70-180mm F2.8 Di III VC VXD G2 review

New and improved, the Tamron 70-180mm F2.8 Di III VC VXD ‘G2’ goes to the next generation, coupling inherited finery with evolutionary features.

5 Star Rating
Tamron 70-180mm F2.8 Di III VC VXD G2
(Image: © Matthew Richards)

Digital Camera World Verdict

It’s less ‘Meet the Parents’, more meet the kids. Bring on Generation 2. Tamron bucked the ‘trinity’ trend with its first 70-180mm zoom, serving up a lens that was around half the price and half the weight of typical 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses. It was comparatively affordable and easy to live with, and the G2 is all about addition as well as ‘edition’. We love that the G2 adds optical image stabilization, uprated handling and revamped optics. And it delivers all this with a more affordable purchase price than the original lens, at least when it was launched. The G2 gets top marks from us.

Pros

  • +

    Super-sharp, lovely bokeh

  • +

    Optical image stabilization

  • +

    Custom modes and function button

Cons

  • -

    Slightly limited telephoto reach

  • -

    Inner barrel extends with zoom

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The Tamron 70-180mm F2.8 Di III VC VXD G2 is the second ‘Generation 2’ lens in Tamron’s alternative trinity for Sony E-mount cameras. It follows in the footsteps of Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 Di III RXD G2 standard zoom, and the Tamron 17-28mm F2.8 Di III RXD wide-angle zoom, the latter still in its original version. All three of the original lenses really impressed us, and we’re not the only ones. Nikon was very taken with them as well, and morphed them into NIKKOR lenses for its Z-system cameras. So let’s see what the 70-180mm G2 has to add to the equation.

(Image credit: Matthew Richards)

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Matthew Richards

Matthew Richards is a photographer and journalist who has spent years using and reviewing all manner of photo gear. He is Digital Camera World's principal lens reviewer – and has tested more primes and zooms than most people have had hot dinners! 

His expertise with equipment doesn’t end there, though. He is also an encyclopedia  when it comes to all manner of cameras, camera holsters and bags, flashguns, tripods and heads, printers, papers and inks, and just about anything imaging-related. 

In an earlier life he was a broadcast engineer at the BBC, as well as a former editor of PC Guide.