Price and Availability Announced for Tamron's 28-75mm Sony E-Mount Zoom

In February, Tamron announced the development of two lenses, a 70-210mm F/4 Di VC USD compact telephoto for APS-C sensors and the 28-75mm F/2.8 Di III RXD (Model A036). We now know the availability and price of the latter. It ships May 24th, 2018 for the cost of $799. 

The optical design features 15 elements in 12 groups including a XLD (eXtra Low Dispersion), LD (Low Dispersio), GM (Glass Molded Aspherical), and two hybrid aspherical lens elements. At 28mm, it touts a 7.5 inch minimum object distance and a total working distance of 2.24 inches. The MOD at 75mm is 15.3 inches. As one might expect, it also has a moisture resistant construction, flourine coating to wick away dirt and fingerprints, and Tamron's anti-reflection coating dubbed BBAR (Broad-Band Anti-Reflection). 

Compatible with Sony E-mount full-frame mirrorless cameras, the nine-blade circular diaphragm features a fast F/2.8 aperture and a new AF driving system, the Rapid eXtra silent stepping drive (RXD for short). Tamron says the new AF system "strikes a balance between speed and silent operation, making it perfect for video and still image capture." Additionally, the company mentions it will match camera specific features, including in-camera lens correction and Sony's Fast Hybrid AF, Eye AF, and Direct Manual Focus (DMF) system. 

It's worth noting the amount of E-mount lenses being launched. Earlier this year, Sigma announced that its Art prime lenses will be available via E-mount ranging from 14-135mm, including a new 70mm Macro and 105mm F1.4. Sigma hasn't said it will be offering E-mount zoom lenses, but if the primes do well, we're sure zooms will be available.

At the moment, Sigma offers a 24-70mm F2.8 for $1,299 which you will need to add the MC-11 converter to make it E-mount compatible. It costs an additional $249. The Tamron 28-75mm zoom comes in at $799, or about $800 cheaper. The only question we have left is what type of quality is being sacrificed at that cost.