Tamron 90mm F2.8 Di III VXD Macro

PCMag editors select and review products independently. If you buy through affiliate links, we may earn commissions, which help support our testing.

The Tamron 90mm F2.8 Di III VXD Macro ($699) is the company's first revision of its classic, affordable 90mm Macro for SLRs to come to mirrorless systems, in this case, Nikon Z and Sony E. The prime lens focuses close enough for 1:1 reproduction, includes full dust and splash protection, and provides excellent optical performance. It's missing a couple of useful features, including the AF/MF toggle that Sigma puts in its 105mm F2.8 DG DN Macro Art ($799), our reigning Editors' Choice for Sony cameras, and doesn't include the optical stabilization you get with the Nikkor Z MC 105mm F2.8 VR S ($999.95), our winner for Nikon. The Tamron undercuts both of those options on price, however, so you might be able to forgive those oversights.

Design: Sized in Line With Alternatives

The Tamron 90mm F2.8 is a mid-sized prime with pretty typical dimensions for the category, given its focal length, aperture, and 1:1 focus support. It measures 5.0 by 3.1 inches, weighs 1.4 pounds, and supports the same 67mm filter size as much of Tamron's line, a plus for creators who employ creative filters and want to use a single set for multiple lenses. It's not far off from the Sigma 105mm F2.8 DG DN Macro Art (5.3 by 2.9 inches, 1.6 pounds, 62mm filters) or the Nikkor Z MC 105mm F2.8 VR S (5.5 by 3.3 inches, 1.4 pounds, 62mm filters) in size—none of the trio is significantly smaller than another.

The 90mm F2.8 Di III houses its optics in a polycarbonate barrel. The housing feels sturdy, with no flimsy plastic. It includes internal seals to limit dust and splash ingress, plus anti-smudge fluorine on the front element.

The lens ships with a few basic accessories. Front and rear caps are standard, and a sizable lens hood is also in the box. The hood adds a couple of inches of length to the lens, but is worthwhile to use as I found the 90mm F2.8 prone to flare. It bayonets on and off in a snap, and reverses for storage and transport. I also like that the hood has a cut-out window so you can readily adjust a circular polarizing or variable ND filter.

Handling: Controls Could Be Better

The 90mm F2.8 Macro includes a few on-lens controls, including a manual focus ring, focus limiter switch, and configurable function button. It falls short of the standard set by the Sigma 105mm F2.8, which has all of those plus an aperture ring and an AF/MF toggle, and the Nikkor Z MC 105mm F2.8, which has both an AF/MF toggle and a configurable control ring.

It's missing one of the basics I look for in a macro lens: a quick toggle to switch between manual and autofocus. I see this as a must-have for a macro lens, as the discipline often requires fine-tuning adjustments and bringing the lens closer to the desired focal plane to aid your camera's autofocus system.

You're not completely out of luck, however, as you can remap the on-lens function button to act as an AF/MF toggle via the Tamron Lens Utility app, a free download for Android, macOS, and Windows systems, and the on-lens USB-C port. You must do this through the app, as the option is not available via Nikon or Sony camera bodies. It's a workable solution, though I miss having the simple operation and visual feedback that a simple AF/MF toggle provides. Both Nikkor Z MC 105mm and Sigma 105mm Macro lenses include an AF/MF switch.

You do get a focus limiter switch with the Tamron. This three-stage toggle limits the autofocus distance to near (0.23-0.7 meters) or far-off subjects (0.7 meters to infinity) and has a Full setting to disable it. It's an expected feature on macro lenses and a useful one, as it speeds up the autofocus system in practice. I'll call out a missed opportunity here: Tamron could have added a Manual Focus stage to the limiter switch.

Autofocus: Quiet and Responsive VXD

The focus ring works as expected and can be swapped between linear and nonlinear response via the Lens Utility app. Linear focus is based on rotation angle (configurable from 450 to 720 degrees), while nonlinear focus responds based on speed—turn the ring slowly for fine focus or quickly for roughshod adjustment. I typically prefer nonlinear focus for photography, but the 720-degree linear option is very appealing for macro work.

Videographers tend to prefer linear focus as its predictable nature allows for repeated focus racks across multiple takes of a scene. The 90mm Macro is not ideal for rack focus video shots, however, as its optics exhibit significant focus breathing because the lens's angle of view is far narrower when focused on a near subject versus one that's far off toward infinity. This also makes the lens troublesome for focus stacked macro photography, a capture and editing technique that layers multiple exposures captured at different points of focus in order to achieve more depth of field while avoiding diffraction effects.

Tamron puts its linear VXD focus motor tech into the 90mm Macro. I've used many Tamron lenses with this type of focus motor and found them to provide fast, quiet, and accurate autofocus—a winning combination. The focus is fast enough to snap from close to distant subjects in a split second in most instances. I noted some hunting for initial acquisition when trying for shots at or near the lens's minimum focus distance, but that's expected with any 1:1 macro.

The minimum focus distance for the lens is a short 9.1 inches (measured from the camera sensor), so the working distance for 1:1 capture is only a few inches from the front element. You can leave the lens hood on and still get to 1:1, but in any instance, you should be careful to position your camera so it does not cast a shadow on your subject, something that's very easy to do when photographing at such a meager distance. At its nearest distance, the lens projects subjects onto the image sensor at life-size, which is why we say it has a 1:1 reproduction or magnification ratio.

The lens doesn't include an optical stabilization system, which raises concern for handheld macro photography. Even though most compatible cameras have built-in sensor-shift stabilization, it only kicks in during exposure, so you should expect to contend with a jumpy, shaky image in the viewfinder when focusing close and handholding your camera. This happens because every small movement is exaggerated and magnified at macro focus distances. It's not a problem if you work off of a tripod, but creators who prefer the freedom provided by handholding a camera may want to budget for a lens with stabilized optics. The Sony FE 90mm F2.8 G OSS and the Nikkor Z MC 105mm F2.8 VR S both have it, but they also cost more at $1,100 for the Sony and $1,000 for the Nikon.

Image Quality: Excellent Marks With a High-Resolution Camera

I reviewed an E-mount copy of the 90mm Macro along with one of Sony's highest resolution camera bodies, the 60MP a7R IV. The pair puts up excellent marks on an Imatest SFRplus evaluation, notching around 4,400 lines at f/2.8 and 4,800 lines in the f/4-8 range. The field of focus is very flat, so we see similar scores from center to edge, a plus for technical work. The Tamron's resolution falls a little bit shy of the outstanding marks (5,200 lines) put up by the Sigma 105mm Macro when tested with the same camera body, but you're unlikely to notice a difference unless you're pixel peeping or cropping heavily.

The SFRplus scores start to drop off at f/11 (4,500 lines) and f/16 (4,300 lines), but those are still good marks, so you can comfortably use the lens across its full aperture range. Tamron doesn't include an f/22 setting with the lens, which is only a slight downside, as stopping down that far always comes with a loss of resolution due to diffraction. But it also means that the 90mm F2.8 doesn't draw dramatic sunstars with crisply defined tines—those are created by diffraction, and the 90mm simply doesn't show that much. If you catch highlights reflecting off of a surface or the sun coming through the tree,s you should expect starbursts with tines that streak out into multiple beams.

The 90mm F2.8 is prone to flare, so it's worth it to use the lens hood if you're out and about on a sunny day. I see a soft, white glow that causes a drop in contrast in scenes where the sun (or another bright light source) falls on the front element from the side. If you photograph directly into a strong backlight, you can expect to see some blobs of purple color, ghosts caused by internal reflections in images depending on the angle of incoming light. If you see this in your viewfinder, you can typically shift your angle slightly to avoid the effect.

It's very easy to coax bokeh from the lens. Its depth of field is minimal at macro distances, so even busy backgrounds blur into nothing. At middle distances, defocused highlights have a slightly hard-edged look, which can cause foliage and other complex patterns to appear a little busy. The lens avoids the onion skin bokeh texture we see from some others, however, and effectively eliminates false color caused by longitudinal chromatic aberration (LoCA). Defocused highlights are also well-rounded at wider f-stops, though we'll note the 12-blade aperture draws polygonal highlights from f/5.6-16.

Verdict: A Macro Lens for a Micro Price

The Tamron 90mm F2.8 Di III VXD Macro is one of the better values we've tested, and certainly has more marks in its favor than against. Its optics are sharp, autofocus is responsive, and 1:1 focus is ideal for photos of flowers, insects, jewelry, and other classic macro subjects. We really like the price too—at $699, it undercuts the Nikkor Z MC 105mm F2.8 VR S by $300, and it's $100 less than the Sigma 105mm F2.8 DG DN Macro Art, so it's a good lens to get if you're trying to keep your photography budget in line. Even so, we'll continue to recommend the Nikkor Z 105mm as our Editors' Choice macro for Nikon owners as its optical stabilization and better controls justify the difference, especially for handheld work, and still give preference to the Sigma 105mm Macro Art for Sony owners for its superior optics and on-barrel controls.