Howdy again everyone it doesn't seem Like long ago that I was testing the Handy tamon 70 to 180 mm t2.8 lens a Clever fast telephoto Zoom design that Managed to be a lot smaller and lighter Than traditional 70 to 200 mm t2.8 zooms While still being impressively sharp Well it must have been a hit on the Market because hot on its heels comes a New G2 version with image stabilization Which was absent on the original lens And the G2 version also has upgraded Optics one or two new features and an Even closer maximum magnification when Shooting at the widest angle all that For a still quite reasonable price of $1,300 or about 1,350 here in UK nice with the zoom Flexibility and kind of images this lens Could get for you nowadays that's a Reasonable price especially if the image Quality is up to par I'd like to thank Ton's UK distributor very much for Learning me this lens for a couple of Weeks although as usual this is a Totally independent review in terms of Build quality the lens is made of Plastic but has a smooth high quality Finish to it and at 855 G or 40 G Heavier than the original it's still Much lighter than a 70 to 200 mm f2.8 The lens is based on a metal mount with Weather ceiling and there's also a USBC Port on as side for future firmware
Update tamon claimed that the lens is Well weather sealed across potential Moisture Ingress points at the bottom There's a plastic Focus ring which turns Nice and smoothly some good news here is That whether you're zoomed in or zoomed Out the lens doesn't really suffer from Much Focus breathing the lens's Autofocus is accurate silent and quite Fast in single shot mode in autofocus Continuous mode the lens focused very Quickly so it's a good job from tamon Here it's nice to see tamon and sigma Really upping their autofocus game Recently new to the G2 version of the Lens is a focus hold button and a custom Switch which works in conjunction with a Focus hold button to give you a number Of extra apture and focus settings Including Focus limiting manual focus Speed adjustments and linear or Nonlinear settings oh and the G2 version Of the lens now has its own image Stabilization something missing from the Original here's some footage with it Turned off and now turned on as you can See it's doing a very nice job here Holding everything nice and stable but When you pan and tilt the lens it does Misbehave a little getting a bit jerky Still if your camera does not have Inbody stabilization this will be a huge Help the biggest control point on the Lens is obviously it's large rubber Zoom
Ring it turns fairly smoothly and evenly Without any stickiness and without Collapsing under its own weight so That's all good news too tamon have been Working hard to keep all its filter Sizes to 67 mm where possible and this Lens is no exception it also comes with A quite generously sized plastic Hood Which clips into place quite confidently Overall lovely build quality here and After using the bigger heavier 70 to 200 Mm f2.8 lenses so often in the past this Thing's compact size is still a breath Of fresh air Okay so let's look at image quality on a Fullframe camera my 42 map Sony a7r 3 in Camera Corrections are turned on for This test at 170 mm and f2.8 the lens is Razor sharp in the middle of the image With excellent contrast and the corner Image quality is almost as good stop Down to F4 and the corners become razor Sharp also the lens Tays to Sharp down To F16 where defraction begins to soften The image let's zoom in halfway to 120 Mm again in the middle the lens is razor Sharp with excellent contrast this time If we look into the corners we see razor Sharpness there too even at f2.8 again The lens stays this sharp down to F16 Nice finally at 180 mm and f2.8 the lens Is fantastically sharp in the middle of The image again with great contrast and The corner image quality is nearly as
Good it's topped down to F4 everything Looks about the same in the corners but At f5.6 and f8 we see perfect quality in Those Corners again so overall really This tamon lens is offering pretty Spectacular image quality just about up There with the best 70 to 200 mm f2.8 Premium lenses available today and it is Indeed just a little sharper than Ton's Original 70 to 180 excellent okay let's Turn off those in camera Corrections and Take a look at Distortion and vignetting On a full frame camera at 70 mm we're Getting some clear Distortion here with Strong vignetting at f2.8 stop down to F4 or f5.6 for those Corners to brighten Up pin cushion Distortion only gets Stronger as you zoom in to 180 mm at F2.8 vignetting is worse than ever Although again stopping down to F4 or F5.6 quickly brightens up those Corners All right let's see about close-up image Quality and with this lens you have to Zoom out to 70 m met for the closest Possible results and with a minimum Focus distance of only 30 cm this Thing's macro ability is impressive the Further good news is that even at f2.8 Closeup image quality remains lovely and Sharp although stopping down to F4 is Needed to yield perfect sharpness and Contrast again let's see how the lens Works against bright light good news Here too whether zoomed out or zoomed in
Flaring remains very low here and Contrast remains High even at f/2.8 Important for this lens is the quality Of its Barker which I'll tell you right Away is excellent even a little smoother Than the original tamon 70 to 180 mm Lens which was pretty good in itself I Really like the look of this thing's Background and related to to Baka comes Longitudinal chromatic aberration Whether you're zoomed out or zoomed in There's a little color finging on bker Highlights to be seen at f2.8 but Stopped down to F4 for it to quickly go Away overall well you have seen the Results for yourself the original tamon 70 to 180 was a real sweet lens but the G2 version by adding image stabilization Extra features and even slightly sharper Optics becomes outstanding if 180 mm is Enough reach for you and for many people It will be then I can highly recommend This fabulous lens without a moment's Hesitation Well I had a simple conclusion there Didn't I but there's not much else to Say yet another lens is leaving my Office which I'm sad to see the back of Anyway thanks for watching everyone and A special thanks to my patreon Supporters of course they get all kinds Of exclusive bonus videos and other Content as well as a warm fuzzy feeling Inside for knowing that they've helped
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