I got two new lenses. Big, heavy, fat lenses. I’m still not sure why I did it. It’s not because I needed them; I didn’t.

My best guess is that I wanted a change. For the past five years, I’ve taken the vast majority of my photographs with a superzoom: my beloved Tamron 28–200mm.

I love that thing: simple, versatile, reliable. So good that it’s boring. I wanted something I could use instead of this little gem, to switch things up.

So, I picked up the Tamron 35–150mm. A much bigger, much heavier lens. Surprisingly, the weight hasn’t bothered me as much as the narrower reach. It’s faster and definitely sharper, but I’m still trying to figure out if the trade-off is worth it.

I also grabbed the Tamron 150–500mm. For the last six years, I’ve relied on the Sony 70–350mm for telephoto work, but I wanted an upgrade with more reach. Still, I’m not sure I’ll keep it long term. At almost 2kg (4lbs), it’s not something I’ll be carrying around all the time, so we’ll see.

This road trip I’m on now seemed like the perfect time to test them out. I bought them used, both good deals, I think. Especially with camera prices going up because of the tariffs. The upside is, if I decide they’re not for me in a couple of months, I should be able to get most of my money back.

I have no idea whether my images will get better or worse. Most likely, they'll be very similar to the ones I was making before. If nothing else, I might get bigger arms from this experiment. Who knows. I'll keep you updated.