Reviewed by YK Teo | Sports & Event Photographer
I was engaged to cover a ballroom dance competition as the sole official photographer. 158 events spanning 15 hours, with multiple participants per event, and sometimes multiple events happening simultaneously across split floors. This assignment demanded an all-in-one lens solution that could handle the chaos without missing a beat.
The Tamron 35-150mm F2-2.8 Di III VXD, loaned courtesy of Tamron Singapore, never left my camera body for the entire duration. Here’s why this versatile zoom lens proved itself as the perfect all-in-one solution for professional event coverage.
The Challenge: Why Indoor Sports Need an All-in-One Lens
Ballroom dance competitions present unique photographic challenges. Participants use every inch of a massive dance floor with unpredictable movement patterns. My assignment was clear: capture every participant so everyone would have decent photos.
What I Needed:
- Coverage across a huge dance floor in darker indoor lighting
- Flexibility to capture wide environmental shots and tight close-ups
- Fast aperture for high shutter speeds to freeze motion
- Zero downtime for lens changes between back-to-back events
Traditional wisdom says you need two camera bodies with a 24-70mm and 70-200mm. But that setup means constant lens switching, increased weight, higher cost, and the very real risk of missing critical moments. This all-in-one lens eliminated all those problems.
Why the Tamron 35-150mm F2-2.8 Is the Perfect All-in-One Lens
I brought backup equipment (you always need spares for a shoot like this!), but I ended up only using the Tamron 35-150mm F2-2.8 for the entire duration. The lens did not leave my camera body at all.
1. Versatile Zoom Range: 35-150mm
This lens is truly FANTASTIC. The focal range was perfect for my indoor dance event, and I can see it being excellent for other indoor sports where you’re close to the action—basketball, volleyball, table tennis, tennis (have yet to cover these, but hopefully one day).
At 35mm, I captured wide shots showing the entire dance floor, venue atmosphere, and multiple competitors. At 150mm, I zoomed in for intimate close-ups of individual dancers, capturing facial expressions and costume details.
While yes, prime lenses are often sharper, switching camera bodies or lenses may cause you to lose the shot. And not everyone has the funds to get a second body and a second lens for that matter. This all-in-one lens essentially replaces both a 24-70mm and a 70-200mm in most situations. The 150-200mm range difference isn’t significant for most indoor sports photography where you’re positioned close enough to the action.
2. Fast Constant Aperture: F2-2.8 for Low Light
Given the darker lighting conditions of an indoor ballroom and the huge dance floor, this versatile zoom lens gave me much-needed flexibility to capture the best moments from anywhere.
The wide maximum aperture of F2-2.8 allowed me to:
- Keep my shutter speed relatively high (I was normally around 1/800s and above) to prevent motion blur
- Keep my ISO low for clean, noise-free images
- Create beautiful separation with more bokeh to isolate subjects
Even when dancers were mostly in shadows or backlit (silhouette situations), the autofocus performed flawlessly—a challenge for some third-party lenses, but I can safely say I found no issues while shooting.
3. No Lens Swapping Required
For professional event coverage with 158 events back-to-back, lens changing isn’t just inconvenient—it’s professionally unacceptable. This all-in-one lens stayed mounted from start to finish, and I never once wished I had brought something else.
Real-World Performance: How This All-in-One Lens Handles Professional Demands
Autofocus: Fast, Accurate, Reliable
Autofocus performed about the same as my native lenses, even when the subject was mostly in shadows or backlit. The lens locked focus quickly and accurately, allowing me to concentrate on composition and timing rather than worrying about technical performance.
Optical Quality and Sharpness
I’m not concerned about sharpness test charts on paper. In real-world conditions, sharpness is way more than good enough for a lens of this range and calibre. This versatile zoom lens produces very detailed and vibrant images, especially in situations where lighting on the dancers was inconsistent.
The lens flare even wide open looks so nice—I quite like how they appear in my resulting images. The colors are accurate and vibrant, with excellent micro-contrast throughout the zoom range.
Handling and Build Quality
The function button and control rings can be mapped to your liking, which is a plus. For my style of shooting personally, I rarely use control buttons as I’ve mapped my controls to my camera function buttons.
Grip: The lens rubber rings are very grippy, which is perfect to ensure you won’t slip while holding, especially useful in cold weather. For people with more sensitive skin, extended use of this all-in-one lens with a heavier setup might result in blisters or skin irritation due to friction over time. I would advise getting a lens skin or wearing gloves should you run into this inconvenience.
Control Ring Sensitivity: I find the control ring on the 35-150mm to be on the slightly more sensitive side (default is set to manual focus override). If you find yourself touching the ring too often and causing your settings to change, you can turn it off in the camera.
Weight: The Only Trade-off
The only slight downside is the overall weight. I normally use the Nikon 24–120mm F4 S, which weighs about 630g, while the Tamron 35–150mm F2–2.8 comes in at around 1,165g. Over time, especially during a shoot this long, the difference is noticeable and does get tiring.
I managed to walk close to 8km inside an enclosed ballroom for this assignment. That said, it is still lighter and more manageable than carrying two camera bodies with two lenses throughout the day.
Important Note: This lens does not have vibration compensation (VC), so you’ll need a camera that has in-body stabilization (IBIS). For sports photography at fast shutter speeds (1/800s and above), stabilization isn’t necessary anyway.
Gallery
Photography Tips: Maximizing Your All-in-One Lens
Before Arriving: Do Your Homework
Photography is an art form that is subjective. There is really no right or wrong. However, it’s good practice to establish a baseline before deciding to experiment with more creative shots.
A good practice I do is research before I shoot something new. I’ll go online and search for images of the sport I’m about to cover, and see what kind of poses or angles would be nice to capture.
For Beginners: If you’re rather new to photography, there are tons of resources that even tell you what camera settings (shutter speed, focal length, ISO) were used to get specific shots. Gear-wise, try to work with what you have. I started with a Nikon D5600 and Tamron 18-200mm (this lens was what made me decide to go deeper into photography and videography!). Even now, I often use an f/6.3 lens to cover sports in nighttime and indoor situations. If you’re using a modern camera, your camera’s low-light performance should be more than plenty.
Getting Started in Singapore: There are many avenues to start and get experience. In Singapore, we live in nice communities—you can honestly start by just dropping by an outdoor basketball court or open field and kindly ask if you can practice your craft. But please do try asking for permission, especially if you’re photographing children.
For larger-scale events, you can try Team Nila (I started there also). They give you access to much larger national and international events.
At the Event: Get Standard Shots First, Then Experiment
Once I arrive, I’ll first settle media accreditation (for bigger events you’ll definitely need one). This is where organizers tell you where you’re allowed to be and what you’re allowed to do. Failure to comply may result in you being escorted off the premises and barred from future events.
If given the freedom, I’ll try my best to cover from more unique angles. I rarely stay still in a singular spot during my coverages (unless required due to restrictions by the organizers).
My Workflow:
- First, get standard shots. These are shots that reference press coverage or past events to get similar-looking images that are definitely in line with the sport. Especially important: the event name and sponsors should appear in some of your images—this is branding as well.
- Then experiment and have fun with creative angles. I often do foreground framing—shooting through foliage, people, decorations, and ornaments to add layering to my images.
- Use different perspectives. I seldom shoot at eye level. Most of the time I’m seated on the floor, shooting from a lower angle (please be mindful, especially when photographing females and young children). The look from a low angle showcases more of the nice wooden dance floor and adds more dynamics personally. I use high-angle shots as well to do some close-ups, or a general wider angle to show everything going on.
- Experiment with slower shutter speeds. They often help draw more emphasis on the action itself. Panning is definitely something that’s easier to do for all sports in general.
Post-Processing: Maintaining Authenticity
On the post-processing side, it’s highly dependent on your requirements. For the most part, unless I’m told to, I will not add or remove elements as this maintains the authenticity of the event. Most of my edits are just simple cropping, masking, and tweaking the colors if they’re supposed to be published for press use. Composites, overlays, removal and addition of elements will only be done if required.
Final Verdict: This All-in-One Lens Changes the Game
This lens basically replaces both the 24-70mm and a 70-200mm in most situations. The 150-200mm range difference is not too big. The 24-35mm gap is quite a big difference, but for most events, I have a separate wide-angle lens anyway.
I honestly did not know how good such a versatile zoom lens would be, but after testing it, I can finally see why so many people raved about it. It definitely holds up and is a viable alternative to a 24-120mm kit lens for event and sports coverage, giving you that extra depth of field and light-gathering ability.
Completing Your Kit: You can pair this all-in-one lens with the recently released Tamron 16-30mm F2.8 G2 (have not used it but I have seen it is quite good), and now these two lenses can almost cover what used to be the holy trinity range.
Who Should Buy This All-in-One Lens:
- Event photographers covering weddings, corporate events, concerts
- Sports photographers shooting indoor venues like basketball courts, dance competitions
- Travel photographers wanting professional quality without carrying multiple lenses
- Content creators needing versatile coverage for both photos and video
I definitely am considering adding the Tamron 35-150mm F2-2.8 to my lens kit permanently.
Reflecting on the Experience
This assignment is very different from my usual work, given the project requirements. While I did try to be creative and have quite a number of photos I’m very happy with, most of my shots ended up being like the default you see online—which honestly is not all bad. Especially when you’re covering all the participants themselves, some may not like creative effects on their photos.
Nonetheless, it was an amazing experience, and I’m really thankful to get such an opportunity to cover such a large-scale event and add another sport to my list. And I’m even more thankful that Tamron Singapore loaned me this exceptional all-in-one lens—because it made all the difference.
About the Photographer
YK Teo
Captures by YKteo
Capturing Memories.
Photography & Videography in Events | Sports | Travel | Wildlife
Connect with YK:
- Instagram: @ykteoactioncaptures, @capturesbykteo, @ykteosnapz
- Portfolio, Blog, and Other Links: linktr.ee/ykteo
Featured All-in-One Lens
Tamron 35-150mm F/2-2.8 Di III VXD (Model A058)
The ultimate all-in-one lens for full-frame mirrorless cameras, offering professional image quality with the convenience of a versatile zoom range.
Why Choose This All-in-One Lens:
- 35-150mm versatile zoom range replaces both standard and telephoto lenses
- Fast F2-2.8 constant aperture for superior low-light performance and beautiful bokeh
- VXD linear motor autofocus for fast, silent, accurate focusing
- Professional optical quality with excellent sharpness throughout the zoom range
- Perfect for indoor sports and events where lens changing isn’t practical
- Lighter than carrying two camera bodies and lenses
- Compatible with Sony E, Nikon Z.
- Ideal for event photography, sports photography, wedding coverage, travel photography, portraits, photojournalism, and video production
Specifications
| Angle of View (diagonal) | 63°26′- 16°25′ (for full-frame mirrorless format) |
|---|---|
| Optical Construction | 21 elements in 15 groups |
| Minimum Object Distance | 0.33m (13in) (WIDE) / 0.85m (33.5in) (TELE) |
| Maximum Magnification Ratio | 1:5.7 (WIDE) / 1:5.9 (TELE) |
| Filter Size | Φ82mm |
| Maximum Diameter | Φ89.2mm |
| Length* | 158mm / 6.2in (Sony) 160.1mm / 6.3in (Nikon) |
| Weight | 1,165g / 41.1oz (Sony) 1,190g / 42oz (Nikon) |
| Aperture Blades** | 9 (circular diaphragm) |
| Minimum Aperture | F16-22 |
| Standard Accessories | Flower-shaped hood, Lens caps |
| Mount | SONY E MountNIKON Z Mount |
| Release Date | October 28, 2021 (SONY E Mount)September 21, 2023 (NIKON Z Mount) |
Learn More about the Tamron 35-150mm F2-2.8
Content produced by YK Teo in collaboration with Tamron Singapore.