 |   Publisher : Tamron Company : Tamron List Price: Our Price: $579.94 You Save: $69.06 (11%) Used Price : $560.00 |
Features
- Compact Fast Zoom with VC (Vibration Compensation).
- Fast Constant F/2.8 Aperture.
- For use on APS-C size DSLR cameras.
- 11.4-Inch minimum focusing distance / 1: 4.8 Maximum magnification ratio.
- Internal Focusing.
Product Description
The new SP 17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di II VC covers the very popular 17-50mm focal length range (equivalent to 26-78mm in the full-frame 35mm format) making it extremely versatile. Its wide aperture and outstanding performance provide practical advantages in low-light shooting and aesthetic image control, thereby enriching the user's range of creative expression. The new lens delivers impressive sharpness and striking contrast over its entire focal-length and aperture range, and at its maximum aperture of f/2.8 it produces beautiful images enhanced by shallow depth of- field, and smooth, natural transitions in out-of-focus areas of the image (i.e. excellent bokeh.) The new lens is equipped with Tamron's proprietary Vibration Compensation (VC) image stabilization mechanism, which controls the effects of camera shake in three planes. VC provides more opportunities for sharp hand-held photography at the slow shutter speeds needed when shooting in low-light conditions (e.g. night or indoor scenes) dramatically enhancing the user's level of photographic freedom.SimilarProduct
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Customer reviews
An Extraordinarily Sharp Lens! 
by .. Paul Chin (Manila, Philippines)
I'm a pure Canon lens user for the past 3.5 years. Currently using EOS 40D. This is my very first third party lens & initially was quite skeptical. After thinking it over, I went ahead to give it a try because I can't afford the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM.
After playing with the new Tamron lens for almost two weeks, here's some of my 2 cent comments:
Good News first (wow so many don't know where to begin):
-Great optical performance! All photos taken are really sharp.
-Accurate, consider fast and consistent autofocus.
-Zoom ring isn't cramped or stiff, easy to turn (opposite direction of Canon lens).
-Surprisingly at 17mm I hardly can see any barrel distortion!
-I can't detect any chromatic aberration & Vignette problem. All photos look clean & accurate. But it doesn't mean they are not there. Maybe I need to get my eyes checked. :-)
-Nice weight (lighter than my Canon 24-105L) & feel, will be my new walkaround lens.
-AF is noisier than Canon USM. It sounds like soft "mechanical turning & twisting". Some photographers may find this annoying but I'm perfectly alright with this. It's not too loud & certainly won't disttract your subject or model. In fact, I'm getting used to the sound & feel good knowing my lens is working properly (see below too).
-Manual focusing is easy to use.
-AF is fast & accurate, so you can hardly hear the AF noise except under extreme low light situation (the AF is a bit tad slow & the noise is more obvious).
-Bokeh. I love it!
-The Vibration Control VC feature is also great & I can go down really low & pic still sharp.
-Sharpness of this Tamron lens is at par with my Canon 24-105L. On color comparison, I find Tamron produces a bit more saturate & brighter.
Bad News (hmm...I have to think of some negatives because no lens are perfect):
-The focal length lock is a nice feature & but it can only lock at 17mm. Would be nice if it can also lock at other focal length.
-No manual booklet. Only a piece of info sheet in Japanese. There's no English version.
-Hmm...at f/2.8 photo results are slightly darker than other aperture used. I tried both AV & Manual mode but still the same. No big deal, I can use the exposure compensation.
-Also at open wide f/2.80 image is slightly softer but super tack sharp once reach f/4.0.
Overall View: Well done Tamron! It's light-weight and has a fast maximum aperture of f/2.8 for shooting in low-light, this is a solid lens. At 50% cheaper than Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM & with great IQ, will use the amount saved on other camera accessories. I'm as happy as a Jolly Bee, have totally no gripe at all.
I do not hesitate to recommend this lens for anyone who wants a fast, constant aperture, light-weight standard zoom lens. The image quality is great and the VC works good.
You will not be disappointed by .. HDYjr. ()
I purchased this lens when it became available in late November and have had a few weeks to shoot with it. This lens is used in conjunction with a Canon Rebel T1i. I originally purchased the non-VC version of this lens but returned it after a week or so simply because I was not "WOWED" with its performance (relatively slow auto focus, somewhat soft wide open, color and contrast seemed a bit lacking and it seemed to produce more noise than other lenses I've used on this camera).
This lens has none of those problems. I really can't get over how well it performs in low-light situations. I get a lot of keepers at 1/5 of a second. It's really sharp also. I have a 5D Mark II and a few L lenses and I find myself picking up my Rebel and this lens more and more often. If you are considering this lens I recommend it 100%.
Great upgrade over non-VC version, best bang for the buck! by .. A. Malske (WI, United States)
I've been using Tamron 17-50mm non-VC version for about a 1.5 years and while I was upgrading XTi on 7D I decided to pull the trigger on VC version of the lens and placed a pre-order. Some reviewers, including the-digital-picture.com which opinion I highly respect mentioned that the lens isn't sharp wide open and generally quality is not as good as non-VC. I was extremely happy with non-VC and expected nothing less than amazing results from VC version. I had both of them for about a week and had a chance to compare side-by-side and do some tests.
So my tests revealed that my copy of VC is as good or in some instances better than my old non-VC (which was extremely sharp!). It's absolutely fantastic at 2.8 and there is a slight improvement stepping down. My guess is that people who commented on bad quality just got a bad copy.
It's not a Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM since it's doesn't have USM motor, but on VC version motor is much better, quieter and if VC is Off it's reasonably fast. Image quality wise I think this lens is very much on par with Canon so if you want to save a bit, have a 6 year warranty and have similar quality - go with Tamron!
Best bang for the bucks by .. D. Ly ()
IQ is as good as non VC version. But VC works flawlesssly. I could even shoot 1s hand holding in dim light and had nice pictures. Bravo Tamron!
Very good walk-around lens w/low light capability by .. Curtis Gee (Nor Cal, USA)
This Tamron is a great lens! I've replaced my previous walk-around lens with this lens. My previous walk-around lens was the Canon 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6. The Tamron can create sharp photos, has VC, and can get good images in low light.
Pros:
- VC (Tamron's version of Image Stabilization)
- Sharp images, without having to stop down
- Low light capability
Cons:
- Focus is not quite as fast as my Canon lenses with USM
- Focus is more noisy than my Canon lenses with USM
- Zoom ring work in opposite direction as all my other Canon lenses (I just need to get used to this)