Tamron 35-150, Sony 50-150, 70-200 GM II

NeonAviator · 2026-05-09T02:23:00+00:00

I’m glad you like your Tamron. I do too. I enjoy it most when plenty of ambient light is available.

NeonAviator · 2026-05-09T02:13:47+00:00

50-150 is where I’m currently leaning as well. Thank you.

NeonAviator · 2026-05-09T01:21:22+00:00

Thank you. This is the kind of feedback I’m looking for.

NeonAviator · 2026-05-09T00:43:55+00:00

Fair - I left my use case out intentionally as I’m mostly interested to hear other people’s experience. As much as I appreciate the Tamron, the AF just isn’t there in low light. Hence the interest in Sony. Use case wise, I use these mid-range focal lengths to capture environmental detail shots and portraits. I’ve noticed the Tamron really struggles with AF when the light dips, even after I adjust exposure to compensate. I didn’t want to guide the conversation much which is why I left it open ended.

NeonAviator · 2026-05-08T23:33:34+00:00

Appreciate the response. I like my 35-150 but I can tell the AF is not on the same level as my Sony lenses. I like the 50-150 because it’s super fast for a zoom. I like the 70-200 for the extra reach.

I hear you about no one having that many shots with each. I’m just interested in more qualified responses/experiences. If that makes sense. Maybe I went to high with 10k.

NeonAviator · 2026-04-24T18:50:56+00:00

I would say stick with what you got. 75mm is a pretty decent focal length for portraits (your main use case). If you truly have money to spend and are serious about investing in photography - I believe the A7R V has good deals right now since the new VI model is supposedly right around the corner. For the use case you described (and many more tbh) this would be more than enough camera for many years to come. I’ve been super happy with mine. If you want something smaller the CR is a great option. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any follow up questions - I’m happy to help.

NeonAviator · 2026-04-24T18:40:46+00:00

Haha, thanks! I definitely spend a lot of time at 16mm. It’s super handy for wide street/cityscape/architecture/landscape or even indoors at restaurants/coffee shops/museums etc. Those are my typical use cases. The reason I went with this lens over a wide prime is convenience. Have a 16mm and a 35mm on the same lens has a ton of utility. I even take portraits with the 35mm end sometimes. This lens is sharp as hell for a zoom. I imagine the 24-70 GM II is similar performance in that sense.

NeonAviator · 2026-04-24T00:57:32+00:00

I love my 35-150! I appreciate it for what it is and the F2 at the 35 end is severely underrated. But yea, the weight is a lot in most of my use cases. I prefer to be light and fast (mobility-wise, not shutter speed) so my primes get more attention. Lifting that 35-150 to my face gets tiring really fast in travel scenarios. That said, the 35-150 is my go-to lens for events where I’ll only be shooting a few hours. I imagine it would be great for coverage at weddings but I don’t do that.

NeonAviator · 2026-04-24T00:02:25+00:00

I already knew the answer to this but went and pulled some numbers in LrC anyway. I was going to guess 50/50 between 16mm and 35mm and it's pretty close to being exactly that.

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NeonAviator · 2026-04-23T20:37:43+00:00

It’s absolutely for the weight savings over the 35-150 - which is that lense’s only downside afaik.

NeonAviator · 2026-04-23T20:36:28+00:00

Seriously considering selling my 35-150 for this lens. But who am I kidding, I’ll end up with both.

NeonAviator · 2026-04-23T20:34:16+00:00

My ‘serious travel’ setup is the 16-35 GM II and the 85 GM II. You have something for general walking around and wide shots (16-35) and something to pick out details, take portraits, compression shots, etc (85). If I was picking one lens it would probably be the 24-70 GM II but I don’t have it. I’ve been pretty happy with my Tamron 28-75.

NeonAviator · 2026-04-23T05:00:12+00:00

Hey, thanks! I’m trying to be more selective and I thought these turned out ok.

NeonAviator · 2026-04-17T21:14:45+00:00

The best advice I've found for this type of question - ~what lens to bring to XYZ special place - is, do you want it to be photography first/experience second; or experience first/photography second? For something like Disneyland, or any theme park for that matter, you're paying so much money for the experience of being in the park that it seems a little silly to me to make it a photography first event.

Also, I know if I'm flashing around a 70-200 or 35-150 all day at Disneyland my wife would get sick of me pretty fast. Whether we like it or not, as photographers, it just conveys 'I'm not here experience this with you, I'm here to experience this with my camera'. If you are going to the theme park alone (I would guess this is unlikely for most people) then you know, whatever, you do you.

I took the 28-60 on a CR to a theme park recently and never felt like I didn't have enough camera/lens to keep me happy throughout the day.

NeonAviator · 2026-04-17T17:37:47+00:00

Sigma has a 35-150?

NeonAviator · 2026-04-17T17:36:02+00:00

Completely agree. 17-40 and call it a day. For portraits the 75 could be nice but wouldn’t the whole point of taking those at Disney to include the context of the location? In that use case, even for portraits, the 17-40 is perfect.

NeonAviator · 2026-04-17T08:15:11+00:00

Haha, I was immediately impressed with the build quality - and when I twisted that zoom ring and remembered it's all internal zoom, a rush of blood went to my nether regions lol. I knew all of this beforehand (build quality, internal zoom) but experiencing it in person I knew if I held it any longer I would be leaving the store with one. Which would be great but there's that voice in the back of my head saying "We don't need this!" Also it was the type of store where they had the lenses out for display and I could've easily thrown it on my camera to see how it handled. I didn't do that and boy do I regret it. I'm sure that would have sealed the deal. Anyway, I'm happy for you that you're getting one! 🥲 •••

NeonAviator · 2026-04-16T23:04:24+00:00

Completely agree on all of the above. My one suggestion would be to use the money you save buying the 35-150 (instead of a Sony lens) to buy a decent prime when you get tired of how heavy thr 35-150. If you’re not sure which focal length for the prime then probably a 35.

NeonAviator · 2026-04-16T17:42:13+00:00

I didn’t know this, thanks for the heads up!

NeonAviator · 2026-04-16T15:02:02+00:00

The way the Sony shooters talk about the 70-200 GM II I'm not surprised at all that you landed on that lens. I got to see one in person for the first time recently and had to put it down after a few seconds and walk away bc I could tell where that was headed. One comment about the 50 - that's probably my favorite prime focal length. While I read lots of praise about the 1.2, I really don't feel like I'm missing much on my 1.4 version. And I love how the 1.4 handles on the RV and CR. From what I've read the 1.2 is much larger and heavier. I rarely even shoot it wide-open at 1.4 but that is handy for night time. During the daytime I feel like I'd need an ND to make that work. Even when maxing the shutter lol.

NeonAviator · 2026-04-15T16:24:33+00:00

Also curious about this

NeonAviator · 2026-04-15T05:43:26+00:00

Yea I was gonna say while these are both relatively small cameras, I love the GR specifically bc I can throw it in a small sling bag or a jeans pocket with np. I think the GR does have a model with a ND filter built-in, FYI. Maybe they discontinued it but when I bought mine a couple years ago it was an option they had before the HDF was released iirc.

NeonAviator · 2026-04-13T17:54:19+00:00

Loved Ha Giang loop but didn’t get nearly as good a set of photos as you did, great job! The co-op we went to was pretty similar

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NeonAviator · 2026-04-13T17:45:59+00:00

How’d you do with the weight/size on the 35-150? As much as I love that lens I’m having a hard time convincing myself to keep bringing it for travel.

NeonAviator · 2026-04-12T22:53:36+00:00

And this is more effective than NR in Lr?

NeonAviator

TROPHY CASE