[Update: the lens has been released, and it’s a doozy…]
According to Nokishita, the lens maker is close to releasing a 17-70 f/2.8, a novel lens type combining the standard zoom range of 24-70 with the range of a super wide angle lens. Tamron named the lens – including all of the silly feature and marketing abbreviations – The 17-70mm f/2.8 Di III-A VC RX D.
Tamron’s Di III series of lenses blew up the mirrorless camera lens market with lenses that are almost as good as the best first party versions of the standard zooms, yet costing about one quarter the price. Tamron previously had released a 17-28 and a 28-70 set of lenses that proved remarkable in terms of both image quality and price – both coming around or below $800 new.
The new lens will combine these ranges, which means that it is likely to sacrifice image quality for range, much like their 28-200 f/2.8-5.6 Di III lens proved to do. Tamron appears to be building two versions of its zoom range: one focusing on image quality and price, sacrificing range; and the other maximizing range at the cost of image quality.
Tamron’s Di III mirrorless series has been keenly focused on the Sony aftermarket – the largest available mirrorless pool of buyers. Previous lens lines opened up to additional mount options, but Tamron shows no intent yet to provide similar lenses to the Canon RF, Nikon Z or L-Mount Alliance formats.