It’s Tamron Wynette time! They have just revealed a brand new annualized membership club for Tamron lens owners, the Tamron VIP Club. The virtual club has three membership tiers, depending on how many Tamron lenses you have purchased and registered since May 2011.

The deadline for participating in the 2018 club year is January 15 in 2018. You must register by then a minimum of FOUR Tamron lenses to get in at the SILVER tier. If you register FIVE or more, you are at the GOLD tier, and six or more make you a PLATINUM member.

These are actually practical and tangible benefits!

TAMRON SILVER TIER

• $50 bonus rebate towards any Tamron lens
• 10% off non-warranty repair
• Tamron Magazine mailed three times a year
• unspecified “Welcome Gift”
• membership card with lanyard
• VIP member contests
• 50% off a Tamron event ticket (Summit excluded)

TAMRON GOLD TIER

• includes all SILVER tier benefits with the following adjustments
• $75 bonus rebate instead of $50
• two Tamron Event discounted tickets instead of one
• FREE Tamron t-shirt
• Free pass to one Tamron event (excludes summit)
• new benefits to this tier are in bold

TAMRON PLATINUM TIER

• includes all GOLD tier benefits with the following adjustments
• $100 bonus rebate instead of $75/$50
• Tamron LL Bean vest
• Free 2-week lens loaners (if available, with signed loaner agreement)
• Lifetime Limited Warranty on any new lens purchase from year of Club induction
• Free shipping on repairs (Tamron USA will send a pre-paid shipping label to receive your lens)
• Tamron Photo Tips Hotline
• Invitation to a Tamron Workshop Summit
• option to maybe get profiled on their website
• 20% discount on non-warranty repair instead of 10%
• free pass to two Tamron events instead of one
• new benefits to this tier are in bold

RESTRICTIONS and ELIGIBILITY

The membership tiers will be assessed once per year. On subsequent years, VIP Club membership status will be announced to all Members on February 15 of each year, with the registration deadline being January 15 of the same year.

Not every lens qualifies towards the minimum of four for the VIP tiers. Per their website, and this is my interpretation of their rules:

• only Tamron model lenses that were current at the time of purchase count towards the tiers. Current lenses are listed on the Tamron USA website at tamron-usa.com
• Teleconverters and Tap-In Console are not considered Eligible Purchases
• Multiple purchases of same lens model, even if different mounts, are not considered Eligible Purchases
• Each Member must own his/her own unique Tamron model lens
• Grey market, open stock, and refurbished lenses are NOT eligible purchases
• Only new and current Tamron lenses purchased from an authorized Tamron USA retailer are eligible purchases