Our Favorite WEIRD Zooms

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Most zoom lenses available today cover classic focal lengths, like 24-70mm and 70-200mm. But what about those strange zooms lenses with unconventional zoom ranges? Is there any merit to being weird? Chris Niccolls takes a look at some of the more interesting lenses currently available.

0:00 - Intro
1:22 - Tamron 35-150mm f/2.8
2:20 - Tamron 50-300mm f/4.5-6.3
3:37 - Sigma 28-45mm f/1.8
4:40 - Canon 100-300mm f/2.8
6:16 - OM System 8-25mm f/4
7:30 - Panasonic 25-50mm f/1.7
9:08 - Sony 20-70mm f/4
10:46 - The Wrap

[mitchell]

Tamron 35-150 is my go to lens. It basically only comes off when I'm using a prime lens or an ultrawide zoom. It's my working lens for concerts and weddings, my travel lens, and sometimes my street lens. Absolutely flawless

[ViktorasMakauskas]

Tamron 35-150 user for over a year now. The only issue with this lens is you can't find a good excuse to spend money on additional lens:)

[rogermanning]

You nailed it leading off with the Tamron 35-150 . . . outstanding lens!

[corysilkenphotography]

The 35-150 is a game changer, adjusting the trinity to 17-28 + 35-150 + 180-600. 70mm was hardly more useful than 50mm, so I'm thrilled to replace the 24-70 and 70-200 with just the 35-150

[ZOB]

35-150 is extremely versatile as a focal length. It covers everything you'd need for portraits in one lens, and is great for pretty much anything else you're going to need other than wildlife or sports. I often carry it with the Sony 16-35mm f/4 which is tiny and that is a perfect combination for travel that fits in one sling bag. You could also pair it with a 100-400 and have another really versatile pair of lenses. I wish Sony made one that would allow you to hold focus while zooming, but otherwise that Tamron is one of my favorite lenses ever.

[protolink]

Shoutout to the Tamron 20-40 which is fabulous for compact close quarters photography, I do some events at bars and restaurants and the 20-40 is nothing short of magnificent for that

[Noblegasloser]

5:05 that Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 sport lens will forever hold a special place in my heart: was my first dedicated sport photography glass and i used it for about 7 years on a weekend basis on several nikon D bodies, only retired it for the nikkor 180-400mm F4E.
The sigma is basically all you will ever need for shooting sport

[danieldougan]

I own the Olympus 12-40 and 40-150mm f2.8 PRO lenses. Those are 24-80 and 80-300mm equivalents. Either one is great for portraits with that 80mm equivalent, but then I throw a 2x teleconverter on the 40-150, and it becomes an 80-300 (160-600 equivalent), good for wildlife applications.

For portraits, I do still prefer my 45mm f1.8 (90mm equivalent) prime, but that's more because of the f1.8. The 45mm f1.2 PRO prime lens is also an option for an even brighter aperture and weather sealing, but I don't feel the need for it. Best of all, that 45mm f1.8 is dirt cheap and absolutely tiny, yet it can produce gorgeous images.

[entertherealmofchaos]

This video would have seemed like some kind of cryptic gobbledegook a month ago, but after doing the research for a new camera, I understand nearly everything you said.

[ridingwildcard]

The Tamron 35-150 has become my workhorse lens. Love it!

[Augnos]

I use the older Tamron EF 35-150 f2.8-4, and it’s an incredibly useful lens for photographing stage performances. Wide enough to capture the whole stage, and tight enough to isolate individuals. I would love for canon to rip it off, I’d buy it in a heartbeat!

[zacharymoran]

The 20-70 f/4 is probably the lens I use by far the most. Paired with the A7RV and the 70-200 f/4 GII and it makes a seriously underrated setup for landscapes

[brianmckeever]

Quite fond of the OM System 12-100 F4 Pro.

[skfineshriber]

The LUMIX 70-300 at first sounds very conventional, until you find out it has a max magnification of 1:2, and very close focusing at all focal lengths. With the close focusing you suddenly have the possibility of isolating subjects and blurring background better than any other 70-300. It is a 4.5-5.6 lens, but that’s still pretty good for a 70-300. I love mine.

[a_lucientes]

Nikon makes a pretty awesome 24-120 f/4 for a versatile lens that doesnt weight a ton

[jardanecas]

I shoot mainly weddings with two bodies - 35 and 85 attached. Sometimes I told to myself: Now it would be great to have something just a little bit wider/longer (than 35). And Sigma 28-45 is total gamechanger for me. This is exactly what I needed, I love this lens.

[JCBShortFilms]

7:45 Jordan, it’s Jack. I see you do indeed love an f/1.7 lens. My apologies for dissing you on the ‘cast the other week!

[ChiralWolf]

One of my favorite weird zooms is the Sony 18-135mm APSC lens. For such a wide range it's crazy lightweight and can just about do everything. Being able to go from landscapes to wildlife photography without killing my neck or back after a long day is so great

[Kim_Miller]

On my Sony ASPC I use two Tamrons zooms, 11-20 2.8 and 17-70 2.8. These cover most of my stuff. For longer reach I have a Sony 70-350 4.5. The Tamron lenses rock.

[paulyeung]

And I love the 20-40mm F/2.8. It’s a perfect size for vlogging on a full frame body. But I think APS-C is the sweet spot for vlogging. I wish there were more weird zooms for APS-C.

And the Tamron 17-70mm F/2.8 is beautiful for my Fuji system, but I really like the aperture rings on my lenses for fuji