Back in August, lens manufacturer Tamron released a teaser that promised four new optics would be arriving for full-frame mirrorless cameras – and now another teaser points to an October announcement.
The first teaser showed the company's existing 17-28mm f/2.8 Di III RXD and 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III RXD lenses joined by silhouettes of four others, one being a zoom and three appearing to be either wide-angle or standard prime lenses.
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So what do we know now that we didn't know before? Sadly, not a great deal. The new teaser shows them to be a little less obscured, and goes so far as to reveal metal mounts and a zoom Lock feature on one of the lenses, but doesn't give too much else new away.
The video is titled 'Bring Your World Closer. No Steps Required', which points to the zoom lens. Hashtags on the company's Twitter feed also point to compatibility with mirrorless models, and these are accompanied by the promise of more information to come in October, which presumably will be the full announcement – a third teaser would be pushing it.
Only for Sony users?
The fact that these cloaked optics were sitting alongside two lenses already available for Sony Alpha users suggests that these new optics will also arrive in the same fitting.
Sony isn't, of course, the only manufacturer of full-frame mirrorless cameras. It's unlikely that Tamron has plans to release any products for models within the L-mount alliance, but as yet the company hasn't released any lenses for the likes of the Nikon Z6 and Nikon Z7, or the Canon EOS R and Canon EOS RP.
At least for now, it seems unlikely that Tamron will be announcing any lenses for Nikon’s Z system.
Why is this? At the time of the Z-system's launch, it was reported that Nikon wasn't sharing the details of the new mount with third-party manufacturers, which would explain why Tamron hasn't yet announced any compatible optics. A handful of third-party lenses for Z-mount bodies do exist, although these are likely to have been the products of reverse-engineering rather than any co-operation with Nikon.
Could we see some Canon-fit versions though? Quite possibly. The RF range would certainly benefit from some cheaper and smaller options than the impressive but pricey lenses we've seen so far from Canon. But for now our money is on these new optics broadening the pool of options for Sony Alpha users, who've already welcomed many options from Sony and others this year, including Sony's recent FE 35mm f/1.8.