As any longtime videographer can tell you, there are things to love about all of the different lens brands. Some offer more sharpness or more clarity, whereas others offer more reliability or more versatility. Tamron is a brand known for a bit of all of the above plus affordability—which can often be a deciding factor for beginner or up-and-coming filmmakers.
So it’s exciting to see that Tamron has just announced its first Canon RF mount lens with a new compact, lightweight, and fast-aperture ultra-wide-angle zoom. Let’s look at this new Tamron 11-20mm f/2.8 Di III-A RXD lens.
Tamron 11-20mm f/2.8 Di III-A RXD Lens
So this new 11-20mm F/2.8 Di III-A2 RXD Lens from Tamron will feature a fast and constant f/2.8 maximum aperture along with a compact and lightweight design. Tamron reports that it’s been designed for landscape, astrophotography, and architectural shooting and should provide some increased control over depth of field along with enhanced low-light performance.
The Tamron 11-20mm f/2.8 Di III-A RXD lens’ optical design incorporates one XLD element, two LD elements, and two glass-molded aspherical elements and should be able to produce a highly corrected image with reduced chromatic aberrations and color fringing for improved clarity and color accuracy.
The lens will also feature Individual elements with Tamron's BBAR coatings which should suppress flare and ghosting for greater contrast when working in backlit and harsh lighting conditions. There’s also a responsive RXD stepping drive motor to help enable quick, near-silent autofocus performance for stills and video.
A 35mm Equivalent Focal Length Range for 18-32mm
Overall the Tamron 11-20mm f/2.8 Di III-A RXD lens will be an ideal versatile and ultra-wide option for Canon RF-mount APS-C-format mirrorless cameras with a 35mm equivalent focal length range of 18-32mm.
What’s also neat is that the lens will feature an AF drive system with an RXD (Rapid-eXtra-silent stepping Drive) stepping motor unit which sounds quite impressive. The lens will be able to accurately capture both stills and video and will feature lots of other elements to help with outdoors and other run-and-gun settings.
Price and Availability
As mentioned at the start, this new Tamron will be an affordable option for Canon RF shooters and is available to pre-order with units expected to start shipping in mid-December. Here are the full specs and purchase options.
- APS-C | f/2.8 to f/16
- 18-32mm (35mm Equivalent)
- Fast Ultra-Wide Angle Zoom
- Rapid eXtra Silent Stepping Drive Motor
- 1x XLD, 2x GM Asph., and 2x LD Elements
- BBAR-G2 Lens Coating
- Weather-Sealed Construction
- Rounded 7-Blade Diaphragm
