Flexible Ultra-Telephoto Zoom. The Tamron 50-400mm f/4.5-6.3 Di III VC VXD’s ultra-telephoto zoom range makes it great for shooting a broad array of subjects, including landscapes, sporting events, wildlife, and portraits. It’s also a great choice for macro photography—its minimum focusing distance is just 9.8 inches at the 50mm end, and it gives you up to one-half life-size magnification for close-up shooting. Its f/4.5-6.3 aperture is fairly limiting, so you’ll probably want to stick with shooting in daylight conditions. Using an APS-C camera? This lens will give you 75-600mm equivalent focal length.

Advanced Optical Design. The 18-group/24-element optical formula includes extra-low dispersion elements, low-dispersion elements, and hybrid aspherical elements to give you high-contrast, color-accurate images across the image plane while reducing color fringing, chromatic aberrations, and distortion throughout the zoom range. Each lens element has a BBAR-G2 coating that combats ghosting, internal reflections, and flare while helping maintain sharpness and color fidelity even in strong light.

VC Image Stabilization. Tamron’s proprietary VC (Vibration Compensation) image stabilization helps to offset the effects of camera shake for more effective handheld and low-light shooting. You get three image-stabilization modes: a standard single-shot mode, a panning-optimized mode, and a framing priority mode.

VXD Linear-Motor Autofocus System. The 50-400mm’s VXD linear-motor autofocus system tracks even the most fast-moving subjects quickly, accurately, and smoothly, making it ideal for still and video use. This lens is compatible with Sony’s Direct Manual Focus function and Eye AF on cameras with those features, and there’s also full-time manual-focus override for even greater precision.

Durable Construction. You can use this lens in inclement conditions thanks to its moisture-resistant build. The front element’s fluorine coating protects against smearing and debris.