The type of photography that you are planning to use is an important decision factor. Here we have evaluated the Tamron AF 70-300mm f4-5.6 LD and the Sony DT 55-200mm F4-5.6 SAM for their suitability to various photography scenarios:
Size and Weight Comparison
Size of a lens is an important deciding factor when comparing two lenses.Tamron AF 70-300mm f4-5.6 LD is the longer of the two lenses at 117mm. The Sony DT 55-200mm F4-5.6 SAM with a length of 85mm is 32mm shorter. Besides being longer, the Tamron AF 70-300mm f4-5.6 LD also has a larger diameter of 77mm compared to Sony DT 55-200mm F4-5.6 SAM's 72mm diameter.
Weight of a lens is as important as its external dimensions, especially if you are planning to hand hold your camera and lens combination for longer periods. Sony DT 55-200mm F4-5.6 SAM weighs 305g, 29% (130g) lighter than the Tamron AF 70-300mm f4-5.6 LD's weight of 435g.
Below you can find the dimension and weight table of the 'Telephoto Zoom Lenses in Sony Alpha Mount for size comparison purposes.
Telephoto Zoom Lenses in Sony Alpha Mount for Size Comparison
Lens Mounts
Both Tamron AF 70-300mm f4-5.6 LD and Sony DT 55-200mm F4-5.6 SAM has the same Sony Alpha lens mount. Some of the latest released cameras that are compatible with the Sony Alpha lenses are Sony A99 II, Sony A68 and Sony A77 II.
Tamron AF 70-300mm f4-5.6 LD is also available in Canon EF , Nikon F (FX) and Pentax KAF mounts.
Focal Range
Tamron AF 70-300mm f4-5.6 LD has a focal range of 70-300mm and 4.3X zoom ratio . When it is mounted on an APS-C sensor camera with 1.5x crop, it provides an 35mm (FF) equivalent of 105 - 450mm.
Sony DT 55-200mm F4-5.6 SAM has a focal range of 55-200mm and 3.6X zoom ratio which has an effective (full-frame 35mm equivalent) focal range of 82.5-300mm when used on a APS-C / DX format camera.