Conclusion

Tamron continue to bring lenses to market that are markedly different to the mainsteam alternatives, and the new 70-300mm F4.5-6.3 Di III RXD is thankfully no exception to that rule.

This is a telephoto zoom lens for your Sony Alpha camera that's more than compact and light enough to carry around all day - indeed, it's over 300g lighter than the Sony own-brand equivalent, so if portability is key, this is the 70-300mm lens to go for.

We won't get into the pros and cons of buying a 70-300mm zoom with slowish maximum apertures - some people love the versaility, others can't really see the point of them - but what we will say is that the 70-300mm F4.5-6.3 Di III RXD is an excellent example of this kind of lens.

Centre sharpness is satisfyingly high wide-open throughout the focal range, and although performance drops off at the edges, optically this lens has a lot of good things going for it, and not too many drawbacks.

There's some obvious vignetting at the maximum apertures and the bokeh effects are never going to be as good as faster lenses, but overall this is a great 70-300mm all-purpose telephoto zoom that's a real testament to modern optical technologies.

And with a price tag of £649.99 / $549.99, it's not going to break the bank either, seriously undercutting the £$1000 Sony FE 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 G OSS.

Overall Tamron have scored another hit with the 70-300mm F4.5-6.3 Di III RXD, and it's very much worthy of our Highly Recommended award.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4.5
Features	4
Ease-of-use	4.5
Image quality	4
Value for money	4.5