Just a short note this Monday morning as it's my pool day. I haven't spent a minute on the table since the news broke about TypePad going under, the longest stretch I've missed since the pool table was delivered, in an example of serendipitously great timing, right before COVID-19 hit. That was sweet. I spent many hours on the table during those 1-2 years of mostly quarantine.
As a result of the previous post, I am learning about some new zoom lenses that I hadn't heard about before. I'm going to go light on posting "Featured Comments" in the month of September, because the whole site will be coming down at the end of the month anyway (plus I hope I'm going to be busy this month, starting tomorrow--today is Labor Day in the US, a holiday), but I'll do Featured Comments on that post. Lots of interesting opinions and options.
One I hadn't heard of is the Tamron 35-150mm full-frame lens. That looks interesting. I've generally liked Tamron bokeh and from online samples it looks like I'd like it on that lens. Barely more than 4x at 4.2x, the range is unique and interesting. (A 4x zoom range is my longtime limit of what I'll consider for purchase--the more extreme the zoom range, the harder the lens is to correct without making it huge.) That would be a good candidate for pairing with a 21mm-e as a great two-lens kit.
But the most interesting news (news to me, that would be): Sony now makes a lens with a unique zoom range, the 20-70mm ƒ/4. Only four inches long and a little over a pound in weight--nice. I wouldn't be bothered by the ƒ/4 speed--ISOs are so good so high now. The more extreme the speed with a zoom, the harder a lens is to correct without making it huge. And only 3.5x. It's meant to be a slower but wider full-frame alternative to the ubiquitous 24-70's that I was rather damning with faint praise yesterday (although, of course, we heard from several photographers for whom that range is perfect, and I've no argument with them--everyone's needs and prefs are different). Know how I'd use that one though? As a compact 30-105mm equivalent on the absolutely beautiful and wondrously solid APS-C Sonys that I liked so much, the current iteration being the A6700. I tried the A6300 and briefly owned an A6500, and loved them--such beautiful build quality and great hand-feel, with those big, beefy batteries that last and last. Round the zoom out with something like the Sony 11mm ƒ/1.8 for interiors and I'd be good to go with an efficient, portable, and nice-for-Mike two-lens kit. Yum.
Mike