The type of photography that you are planning to use is an important decision factor. Here we have evaluated the Tamron 150-600mm f5-6.3 VC and the Sony DT 55-200mm F4-5.6 SAM for their suitability to various photography scenarios:
Size and Weight Comparison
The size of a lens is an important deciding factor when comparing two lenses. Tamron 150-600mm f5-6.3 VC is the longer of the two lenses at 258mm. The Sony DT 55-200mm F4-5.6 SAM with a length of 85mm, is 173mm shorter. Besides being longer, the Tamron 150-600mm f5-6.3 VC also has a larger diameter of 106mm compared to the Sony DT 55-200mm F4-5.6 SAM's 72mm diameter.
The 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, 84% (1646g) lighter than the Tamron 150-600mm f5-6.3 VC's weight of 1951g.
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 the Tamron 150-600mm f5-6.3 VC and the 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 150-600mm f5-6.3 VC is also available in Canon EF and Nikon F (FX) mounts.
Focal Range
Tamron 150-600mm f5-6.3 VC has a focal range of 150-600mm and 4.0X zoom ratio . When it is mounted on an APS-C sensor camera with 1.5x crop, it provides a 35mm (FF) equivalent of 225 - 900mm.
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.