When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission. Nikon Z8 | Tamron 70-180mm F2. 8 | 180mm | F4 | 1/200 sec | ISO 125 Photos: Mitchell Clark Late last year, Tamron announced that it was bringing its venerable 70-180mm F2.
8 Di III VC VXD G2 to Nikon's Z mount. We took the opportunity to shoot a sample gallery with it, to get an idea for how it performs, and how much it asks you to give up compared to a heavier, larger and more expensive 70-200mm F2. 8.
That is a bit of a spoiler for what the experience of shooting with the lens was like. Its size makes it much more usable as an everyday walkabout lens than your typical 70-200mm F2. 8, and I found myself taking it places I normally wouldn't bring this class of lens, just because it'd be too much of a hassle to do so.
Even extended, the Tamron 70-180mm F2. 8 Di III VC VXD G2 isn't particularly long (unlike its name).
The autofocus motors in the lens were snappy enough that I never felt like they were holding the camera back, even when I was shooting fast-moving subjects like horses. I also appreciated the lens's inclusion of optical image stabilization, which, when paired with the Z8's in-body stabilization, let me get sharp handheld shots at shutter speeds that would typically be difficult to manage with a telephoto lens.
Optically, you do give up a bit compared to the more premium options; as evidenced by several photos in our sample gallery, there's some pretty heavy vignetting at F2. 8, though it's noticeably better at F4, and pretty much clears up by F5. 6. There's also, of course, the 20mm difference at the long end, though in most scenarios, most photographers won't really notice the difference between a photo shot at 180mm and one shot at 200mm. The lens is also reasonably sharp throughout its range, and has relatively pleasing bokeh wide-open.
The vignetting will be most noticeable when shooting relatively bright, featureless surfaces like the sky, and is less distracting in other situations.
Nikon Z8 | Tamron 70-180mm | 180mm | F2. 8 | 1/200 sec | ISO 80
Finally, there are the controls. The lens has a single customizable button, which is always a nice inclusion, and Nikon allows you to assign a wide variety of functions to it. I also appreciated the inclusion of a lock switch to keep the lens retracted. It's an extending zoom design (which isn't my favorite, but makes sense given its size), and having the ability to keep it from walking while I was carrying it around was much appreciated. However, it's worth noting that it's quite a strong lock; unlike with some of Sigma's lenses, you can't overpower it if you forget to deactivate it before raising the camera up to your eye.
My biggest complaint with the lens is the focus ring, which is quite sensitive, and is situated exactly where I'd typically rest my hand. This led me to frequently bump the camera into manual focus mode at inopportune times. If I spent long enough with the lens, I'm sure I'd adapt to it (and the focus ring's location will be more familiar to those who only shoot Nikon), but I ended up simply setting it to do nothing in the camera's settings.
The buttons are nice to use, but the focus ring can be quite touchy, and doesn't leave you much room to hold the lens.
Minor complaints and personal preferences aside, I found the Tamon 70-200mm F2. 8 Di III VC VXD G2 to be a capable and versatile lens, especially for the price. But be sure to check out the gallery below so you can make your own assessments.
Sample galleryThis widget is not optimized for RSS feed readers. Click here to open it in a new browser window / tab. . dpreview.com
2026-1-19 17:00
