Hardly a mid-level lens left around ...

[DonSchap]

This really looks grim, folks.

As I see it ... and I do have selective eyes when it comes to this stuff ... other than the rapidly diminshing SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di LD Aspherical (IF) MACRO and the SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II LD Aspherical (IF), there aren't any mid-level lenses left to buy for the SONY-mount from TAMRON.

The crowd is simply stuck with either the poor performing line of "kit" offerings or the high-end "G" or "CZ" offerings. There really is no "mid-level" (upgradable) glass to go to, at the moment. I sure hope SONY has something to release in September, or we are all going to be waiting a long time for affordable glass. That SONY CZ 16-80mm f/3.5-4.5 and SONY 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G SSM sure will tap you out to the tune of $1300-1400 for the pair.

Go to f/2.8 glass, and the price simply DOUBLES

(tapping fingers ...)