Tamron 35-100mm F2.8 Di III VXD Review: A Compact Travel Zoom

The Tamron 35-100mm F2.8 Di III VXD is a lens announced at the start of 2026, at the CP+ show in Japan. It is a standard zoom designed for mirrorless bodies and able to cover the 24x36 mm full-frame format, offered in two distinct mounts: Sony E and Nikon Z. The base reference is model A078, with the Sony E version designated A078S and the Nikon Z version A078N; the copy examined here is the Sony E-mount version.

With this lens, Tamron is aiming at demanding photographers who travel, shoot reportage and shoot portraits, and who want a single lens capable of covering most situations without compromising on image quality or on brightness for playing with depth of field.

For travel, the manufacturer has managed to design a relatively compact and light lens, roughly 12 cm long and weighing 565 g, easy to carry and to use in the field. It also has a construction protected against the weather, with sealing gaskets and a fluorine coating on the front element.

Its great advantage is of course the generous constant aperture of f/2.8, which allows shallow depth of field and pronounced bokeh effects when required. It relies on an optical formula of 15 elements arranged in 13 groups, with the BBAR-G2 coating that strongly reduces stray reflections and ghosting even into the light.

Focusing is handled by the linear VXD (Voice-coil eXtreme-torque Drive) motor, described as fast, precise and quiet. The minimum focusing distance is 22 cm at 35 mm and 65 cm at 100 mm, giving magnification ratios of 0.33x and 0.17x respectively. It should be noted that the Tamron 35-100mm F2.8 Di III VXD has no optical stabilisation.

The lens is particularly compact and light. On the scales, the Sony E version comes to 565 g, with a length of about 12 cm when retracted and a diameter of 8 cm. That makes it very easy to use handheld and to carry on a shoulder strap, which suits travel well.

The lens is not of constant physical length as it zooms. Its construction is reinforced against moisture with sealing gaskets and the special treatment on the front element, which is a real advantage in the field when the weather turns.

On the handling side there is a substantial zoom ring, pleasant to operate with a moderate throw, and a manual focus ring without end stops that drives the autofocus motor to move the elements. The lens also carries a customisable button and a programmable three-position switch. A USB-C port sits on the side, which makes it easy to connect the optic even while it is mounted on a body. The Tamron Lens Utility application handles firmware updates and allows the lens to be configured in depth, particularly for video use.

Tamron does without a switch for changing to manual focus and without an aperture ring. There are no controls relating to optical stabilisation, since the lens does not have any. That said, because the optic is configurable, the button can be assigned to switching to manual focus, or the ring to aperture control.

Otherwise the lens is sober and elegant, and the build quality is there.

The measurements described here were recorded with a Sony A7R IV and its 61-megapixel full-frame sensor, capable of delivering images of 9504 x 6336 pixels. The captures were made in JPEG at Extra Fine quality with in-camera lens corrections set to Auto, since Sony applies digital corrections for vignetting, chromatic aberration and distortion.

Sharpness is the trickiest quality to describe. It corresponds to what might be called the sensation of sharpness, or the precision observed in an image, and it can vary appreciably from one lens to another according to focal length and aperture, as well as between the centre and the edges of the frame. Behaviour is studied by measuring blur in different zones of the image, at the centre, at two-thirds of the way out and in the corners, at different focal lengths and with the aperture varied.

The optical performance of the Tamron 35-100mm F2.8 Di III VXD is excellent on this front. Sharpness is very high and already at its maximum from the widest aperture of f/2.8, and that holds at every focal length. The lens shows very consistent general behaviour, with sharpness constant from the widest aperture at the centre and at two-thirds of the frame all the way to f/16; beyond that, diffraction begins to appear. Homogeneity is excellent despite a slight shift at f/2.8 at 35 mm. The 100 mm end appears to be where the lens shows its weakest performance, but that remains very relative given the general standard on offer.

Distortion is well controlled on this zoom. Sony also applies digital corrections directly in the camera body, although those are potentially less thorough and precise on a Tamron lens than on a native Sony optic. The measurements indicate a perceptible level of distortion at 35 mm at 0.23%, but a negligible level beyond that, at 0.04% at both 70 mm and 100 mm.

Chromatic aberration, also corrected digitally in the body, produces the same conclusion. It proves negligible and imperceptible, measured at around 0.02%.

The Tamron 35-100mm F2.8 Di III VXD is an unusual zoom. It is a standard zoom that includes the 50 mm focal length, seeing further and less wide than a traditional 24-70 mm, and framing less wide than a classic 24-105 mm. The 35-100 mm range is particularly versatile in practice, suited to reportage and portraiture, and it includes key focal lengths such as 35 mm, 50 mm, 85 mm and 100 mm.

The lens is offered in Sony E and Nikon Z mounts. Used on a body with an APS-C sensor, it becomes the equivalent of a 52.5-150 mm once the 1.5x conversion factor is taken into account.

The particularity of this lens lies in its bright constant f/2.8 aperture, which gives it versatility and creative scope, with pronounced bokeh effects especially at the longer focal lengths. It allows the same exposure settings to be kept whatever focal length is selected, while its generous brightness gives excellent flexibility as the light fades, at night as well as indoors. An aperture of f/2.8 also makes it easy to play with depth of field and bokeh, particularly at the longer end of the range.

Constant f/2.8 24-70 mm zooms and constant f/4 24-105 mm zooms are familiar territory. More recently, constant f/2.8 24-105 mm designs have started to appear, with a Canon RF 24-105mm F2.8 L IS USM Z and a Sigma 28-105mm F2.8 DG DN Art, while Sony offers an FE 28-70mm F2 GM and Canon an RF 28-70mm F2 L USM. Here, Tamron chooses to compromise on the widest focal lengths in order to contain the weight and bulk of the lens, which are often considerable on constant f/2.8 24-105 mm or 28-105 mm designs. Thanks to that constant f/2.8 aperture, it offers more versatility than a 24-105 mm f/4.

Vignetting, another phenomenon corrected digitally by the camera body, remains visible at every focal length and mainly at the widest apertures. At 35 mm it disappears from f/8; at 70 mm and 100 mm it clears from f/5.6. In any case, this flaw is easily corrected in post-production. For some creative purposes it can also be regarded as an asset, closing in the image and drawing the eye towards the centre of the composition.

The lens has no optical stabilisation. Users therefore have to rely on the mechanical sensor stabilisation of their camera body, and on the wide f/2.8 aperture, to keep handheld shutter speeds comfortable. It is a bold decision by Tamron, probably taken to contain the weight and size of the optic, but a debatable one in use because the missing stabiliser becomes more noticeable at the long end in low light.

As for autofocus, the manufacturer fits its linear VXD (Voice-coil eXtreme-torque Drive) motor. This is the best Tamron does in this area, with performance that matches the demands of modern camera bodies: the system is very fast, precise and particularly quiet, and the motor also proves very effective in video.

As is usual for the brand, Tamron has also worked on minimum focusing distances, and therefore on close-up possibilities. At 35 mm the lens focuses down to 22 cm, and at 100 mm to 65 cm with a magnification of 0.17x.

The Tamron 35-100mm F2.8 Di III VXD is almost alone in its niche, with no similar or equivalent native model at Sony or Nikon. As alternatives, the Sigma 28-105mm F2.8 DG DN Art is more versatile at the wide end but larger, the Tamron 35-150mm F2-2.8 Di III VXD is more versatile still and bulkier, and the Samyang 35-150mm F2-2.8 FE is its equivalent in Sony E mount.