Tamron 28-75mm F/2.8 Di III VXD G2 Standard Zoom Lens for Sony E-Mount

Great deal. I bought the 28-200, telling myself I wouldn't need this lens, but it is always tempting. If it were 24-70, I would have it. I do have the 17-28, 28-200 and the 70-180, as well as the 500mm zoom. They're all pretty good. The 28-200 sees the most use.

So, if you're looking for an excuse not to buy this, I have the 24-105 f/4 and bought this lens during the holiday season of 2023. I haven't use it as much as I thought.
My purchase thesis was: It's amazing just how much more light there is outside. Even on a cloudy day, there's just way more light outside than even an average-lit room. The 24-105 is excellent outdoors, but I found the f/4 limiting indoors (low light). I thought I'd use the Tamron 28-75 indoors
And I do. Except:

I can probably get even better (wide aperture) light gathering with an f/1.8 prime lens.
The 28-75 f/2.8 is just one stop away from the f/4 24-105, so it doesn't really give you all that much light gathering.
If your subject isn't moving, you can decrease the shutter speed (longer time) to make up. The 24-105 with its OSS helps keep things sharp.
If I can, I use a flash indoors, where the f/4 (24-105) vs f/2.8 (28-75) really doesn't matter all that much.
The Sigma equivalent (28-70) can be had for $720 or $710 periodically. (Digital Goja appears on the Sigma authorized retailers page.) It was a toss-up for me between the Sigma and Tamron. Point is that there will probably be a lens like this around this price in the future.
The Tamron (117mm) is in fact around the same size as the Sony (111mm). So, you're not really saving yourself that much space with this smaller reach lens.


Now, if you're looking for reasons to buy this lens:

I've only had the Tamron a few months, so really haven't gotten to use it nearly as much as 24-105. As a result, my above comment about using the Tamron less isn't apples-to-apples. (I've had the 24-105 for almost 2 years now.)
With wide aperture your DoF suffers, so even on a prime, you may want to go to f/2.8. At which point, you might use the Tamron 28-75 to compose better.
If you have limited range of motion (parties etc), having zoom (28-75) is better than the wrong prime (35/1.8 or 85/1.8). If you're indoors (closer quarters) you might not need the range of the 24-105 (except maybe the 24 on the wide end).
I do not regret purchasing this lens. It is lightweight and has good image quality.
I paid $799 but got 15% cash back on my Amazon Credit Card (equivalent to ~ $680). If you can get the 6% cash back for slow shipping on Amazon Credit Card, this is equivalent to $657, which is a smoking deal.


Edits: lots of clarity improvements, and staying on-topic. Squirrel! Also confused myself about shutter speed vs time. Added pricing comparison. Made everything bullets since I suck at writing paragraphs.

Ah thanks for the advice. I just bought the 28-200 so I'll stick with that for now