Today, we’re announcing an update to our Tamron 70-300mm lens review. During our review of the Sony a1 II, we tested the Tamron lens with it. During our testing, Tamron issued a firmware update for the lens — and so we found that it was the perfect time to test it out. This lens has always been one of the best budget lenses that you can get for Sony cameras. But how does it do with even better autofocus?
Here’s the added text from our updated review, which you can check out in its entirety right here:
Update November 2024
Recently, Tamron offered a firmware update for the 70-300mm lens. I had to go to Tamron’s website, download the Sony camera driver along with the Tamron firmware update, and then when I ran the program it was updated quickly and simply enough.
The new firmware offers the following upgrades:
- Improved AF tracking performance when shooting moving objects
- Compatible with AF Assist function during video recording
We’re not a video website, so the latter doesn’t really pertain to us. However, improved autofocus tracking is a nice offer for sure. So how did it do?
Honestly, with the Sony a1 II, I couldn’t really tell much of a difference with tracking performance. The lens was always good as it is. We’ve tested it when shooting sports and wildlife in the past and when using Sony’s higher end cameras, it always did well. If anything, Sony’s scene detection just needs to improve.
The Tamron 70-300mm lens is something that won’t necessarily be purchased by folks who reacher for higher end cameras. Instead, they might go for Tamron’s excellent 150-500mm. But if you want to keep the overall package smaller, then the 70-300mm lens could be a nice option.
Either way, this lens now has even better tracking performance. In most cases though, you might not really notice it because of how Sony and Tamron work together. Tamron is partially owned by Sony, so the autofocus will naturally just be better with them than it is with products from other brands.
