Tamron 70-300mm F/4.5-6.3 DI III RXD (Model A047)

The appeal of casual snaps lies in how you can freely capture images across a wide range of fields and subjects. Good photo opportunities are always popping up around you, and the key is whether you can react quickly enough. In my daily life and when travelling, I always walk around with my camera looking for subjects. And given that, what I require of my equipment above all else is portability. This compact system makes the shooting field wider and reaches farther than ever before.

The biggest draw of this lens (70-300mm F4.5-6.3) is size: it is the world’s smallest and lightest* to have a focal length of 300mm. I am usually a heavy user of wide-angle lenses. But depending on the subject, there are often scenarios where I want a telephoto range. By mounting a lens that overcomes this weak point of size, the breadth of expression has now been extended to those shots I could never reach or never capture before.

But it isn’t just the size that makes this lens special.

It may be small and lightweight, but it doesn’t compromise on expressive capabilities. The LD lens minimizes unpleasant chromatic aberrations, resolving crisp images corner to corner. The bokeh is smooth, allowing you to freely play with both foreground and background bokeh.

The AF is extremely smooth and zeroes in on subjects fast and with high precision. Casual snaps express movement more often than you would imagine. The AF reliably focuses on the moving subjects you encounter in daily life, from birds and animals to aircraft.

The enjoyment of a telephoto lens had seemed like a different world to me. This lens makes it accessible.

* Among 300mm-capable telephoto zoom lenses for full-frame mirrorless cameras (As of August, 2022: TAMRON)