Becoming an artist of any kind requires a spark to that interest. As a photographer, I got my start years ago in middle school, photographing planes at Cincinnati Airport. I followed and participated in aviation photography communities worldwide, and organized a group of professional photographers in Phoenix for planespotting. When the TAMRON 50-400mm F/4.5-6.3 Di III VC VXD Z-Mount Lens was unveiled, my immediate, visceral reaction was “this lens is the PERFECT planespotting lens!” For this PRONEWS Review, I took this lens with my Nikon Zf to Haneda Airport to test out how well it performs as a planespotting lens.
Why Planespotters and Aviation Geeks are Important to the camera industry
First, I want to address something about niche photography and the industry. I believe firmly it is important for all photographers to examine the different fields of their craft. Someone who is heavily working within portraiture, for example, would not normally look at airplane photos. However, planespotting requires a lot of proficiency in camera operation. Techniques that planespotters use in light control and stabilization translate very well into other fields of photography. Those techniques will translate to how the Tamron 50-400mm lens operates.
Every trip I make to Haneda Airport, either to photograph some planes or to fly back to the States for Thanksgiving, I always see numerous photographers on the rooftop viewing deck. All of these photographers have some of the most impressive, and expensive, lenses and cameras. Many do photography as a side hustle and profession, but for planespotting, that is a driving passion which, for the planespotter, includes a multi-thousand dollar lens purchase here and there.
That is exactly why I thought the TAMRON 50-400mm lens is perfect for planespotting. Quite a few of my photography colleagues use Nikon, so having this lens for the Z-mount really adds versatility to Nikon photographer arsenals.
Let’s pack up our gear, head out to Haneda, and put it through its paces!
The TAMRON 50-400mm F/4.5-6.3 Itself
This lens has been available for the Sony E-Mount for some time now, but was just announced for Nikon Z-mount systems back in August. Pulling it out of the box, I immediately found it to be surprisingly lighter weight than expected. The construction is of high quality materials, and everything operates quite smoothly. it also has 3 programmable functions (which I did not set or test), and a function button, which I set to focus hold via my Nikon Zf settings. The lens is compatible with the TAMRON Lens Utility App, but I did not test that either, as I own an iPhone 15 PRO MAX.
TAMRON includes a tripod mount with the lens. That itself was quite easy to use, allowing for quick and easy switches from portrait to landscape.
Balance-wise, carrying my Zf on my neck with the lens was a smidge imbalanced, but the combination of the lens and camera was perfectly fine with tripods, even my lightweight SLIK tripod. In the wind it did get buffeted a bunch but any telephoto lens would have that issue. Operability was smooth, quick, and easy. Autofocus speeds impressed me, as well.
Planespotting at Haneda Airport with the TAMRON 50-400mm Z-Mount Lens
Having this singular lens eliminates the need of having multiple prime lenses in a camera bag. When going to the airport, packing light is key…at least for me it is. In the bright August sun, this lens performed very well from the getgo. Let’s get to shooting!
Photography-wise, my visceral reaction about the TAMRON 50-400mm being one of the best planespotting lenses was confirmed right out of the gate. I saw a far-away Starflyer taking off, and could snap it with ease. The planes parked at the terminal were easily shot by just zooming back to 50mm.
This beautiful ANA 777 landing, captured with the TAMRON 50-400mm, at a pretty closed-down iris of f/6.3.
One of the drawbacks of using a zoom lens is you’re not always going to be happy with the aperture constraints. Prime lenses allow for very fast apertures, but zoom lenses, especially at this price point, have less leeway. At the 400mm zoom level, you’re looking at a MINIMUM iris of f/6.3. However, the 400mm zoom does give the astonishingly high max iris of f/32. That’s thirty two.
In bright daylight, a super-fast lens does not matter so much. You might, however, run into a bit of a vignetting handicap. This can be resolved in-camera using Nikon settings, or through some precise editing on your favorite photo software. My Zf has a vignetting control function which fixed some of the initial vignetting I ran into.
Shooting video with this lens
Nikon’s vaunted image stabilization control, however, was tested big-time. Wind speeds that day were pretty high…approaching 15mph sustained and gusts to 25mph. As mentioned above, buffeting affected stability to a degree. After a few tests, I realized I needed to use the SPORT VR function on my Zf to reduce shakiness in video taking. With the Zf, that does result in a bit of a crop handicap. However, since you’re filming distances, that handicap is not such a big deal. Ideally, I’d recommend using this lens with the Nikon Z6III.
Trainspotting with this lens
One of my favorite places in Kamakura is a convergence point of a few Japanese railway lines. Often, express and freight trains pass on by, along a curve. This location is a great spot for train photography, so I took the 50-400mm Z-mount there one afternoon. Here’s a few of the photos I took:
Portraiture on the TAMRON 50-400mm Lens
One of my colleagues at our office, Miki, graciously volunteered to be a model for testing out the TAMRON 50-400mm for some portrait photography. Most portrait and model photographers I know use prime lenses because you can capture models in precise focus with beautiful bokeh. This lens, however, performed quite well. I sent Miki all of the photos I took and she chose 4 of her favorites. Have a look!
As you can see, the versatility of this lens is evident, both with the ultra-wide 50mm shot that I am used to with film photography and with the close-up 400mm shot. I shot these in golden hour too, where I’d prefer to have a much more open iris on the lens. Even at f/6.3, with the full-frame sensor of my Zf, it captured Miki beautifully.
Final Thoughts: This Lens Beats Expectations.
I was thoroughly impressed with the performance from the TAMRON 50-400mm F/4.5-6.3 Di III VC VXD Z-Mount Lens. Now I will always sing the praises and rationality behind using a prime lens over a zoom lens for light-sensitive photography. However, in all honesty, this lens is almost too versatile to pass up purchasing. For the hobbyist looking to get their feet in the planespotting photography or videography door, I cannot recommend this lens enough for Sony E or Nikon Z users. The versatility of the lens combined with the image stability and light performance of the Nikon Z full-frame system makes this combination one of utmost versatility.
Enjoy some more photos taken with this lens!
Written by Zach Kuhn – Profile
Zach is the web editor and additionally is a gear tester for PRONEWS Global. His work in social media content creation stretches back to the early days of social networking sites. His Instagram is here.
