Tamron 20-40mm f2.8 Review for Photo and Video
The Tamron 20-40mm Di III VXD is a wide angle zoom lens with a fixed aperture of f2.8. This is a full frame, E-mount lens so I am using for this portrait photoshoot on the Sony A7IV. Watch my review video below to see unedited, straight out of camera photos at 100% crop. Throughout the video I share comparison images with lenses of similar focal ranges. These comparisons include the Samyang 35mm f1.4 mkII, Sigma 45mm f2.8 DG DN, Sony GM 24-70mm f2.8 mkII and Sigma 35mm f2 DG DN.
model laura
makeup lidija j
video dan @ i make films
All photos edited with my Aspen Lightroom Preset Pack!
TAMRON 20-40MM F2.8 LENS BUILD
Considering it's focal length and aperture, this lens very small and light-weight lens at 365 grams. This lens features a zoom ring, a focus ring and a waterproof USBc port. You can use the USBc port to perform firmware updates and customise certain functions of Tamron lenses. There are 2 customisation options for the Tamron 20-40mm f2.8 Di III VXD. You have the option of changing the rotation direction of the focus ring. You can also change the manual focus method between linear or non-linear. This Tamron 20-40mm has a filter thread of 67mm and has weather sealing.
TAMRON 20-40MM F2.8 PERFORMANCE + IMAGE QUALITY
The images produced from this 20-40mm are sharp and consistent throughout all focal lengths. Skin texture looks flattering with this lens on the Sony A7IV. The colours straight out of camera look very neutral, a little on the cooler side. One of the first things I noticed when I started shooting with this lens is how fast it is to focus. I found Eye AF is reliable at all focal lengths and was extremely sticky on Laura's eyes.
This Tamron 20-40mm starts at an extremely wide focal length for portrait photography. Regardless, I found it produced flattering results with minimal distortion. This lens will be popular for travel, landscape and street photography. However, you are able to achieve beautiful results for portrait photography as well. At the longer focal length, you are able to create a good amount of background to foreground separation. Watch my review video above to see the exact focal length all these images were taken on.
TAMRON 20-40MM F2.8 BOKEH
The bokeh of this lens is circular from the centre of the frame all the way towards the edges throughout the entire focal range. In the photos from our portrait session, the bokeh looks textured - but this is likely because of the location. I took images on a different day and you can see the bokeh is quite clean. I have a sample gallery sharing examples of sharpness and image quality at every focal length, bokeh, chromatic aberration and lens flare you can download. These are high resolution JPG files from the Sony A7IV - please find a download link at the bottom of my blog post.
TAMRON 20-40MM F2.8 MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY
Not only is this is a fast, wide angle zoom - you can also use this lens for macro photography. At 20mm the close focus distance is 17cm which would give you a maximum ratio of 1:3.8. And at 40mm the minimum object distance is 29cm which gives you a maximum ratio of 1:5.1. So this lens really is extremely versatile.
TAMRON 20-40MM F2.8 VIDEO
Watch my review video above to see all video examples of the Tamron 20-40mm f2.8 on the Sony A7sIII. All footage is filmed in 4K 50p and I share both unedited and edited clips. I think this lens is going to make a fantastic option for video. I share what it looks like vlogging on the Tamron 20-40mm on the Sony A7IV.
TAMRON 20-40MM F2.8 CHROMATIC ABERRATION
This lens handles chromatic aberration extremely well. We only had a short window of sun on the day of our portrait session, but I made sure to take backlit photos while I had the opportunity! Around the hair where the sun is hitting is usually a prime spot for Chromatic Aberration to appear. You can't see any in the portraits I took of Laura. I did manage to capture chromatic aberration on a different day, I've included an example in the downloadable sample gallery.
TAMRON 20-40MM F2.8 LENS FLARE
The Tamron 20-40mm Di III VXD produces a medium sized lens flare. During out portrait photoshoot the lens flare appeared quite small. However, it kept popping up in inconvenient areas of my photos such as right across Laura's face. I've included more lens flare examples at different focal lengths in the sample gallery!
All photos edited with my Aspen Lightroom Preset Pack!
Please find a download link to the Tamron 20-40mm f2.8 sample gallery here! I have labelled each photo in case you don’t have software to see the metadata. I have included photos of the same location at all the main focal lengths so you can see the sharpness and image quality. I’ve included bokeh examples at each focal length, chromatic aberration and lens flare examples too. Please leave a comment letting me know what you think if you download this sample gallery. If you enjoyed this review, you might want to check out my review of the Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 G2!