So i got my tamron 17-50 VC first impressions

tomkbucks

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thomas
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Said i would post up my findings, ive tried Both the vc and non vc versions and bought the vc due to

Better weight
More solid feel
72mm
VC seemed excellent being able to hand hold down to levels i never manage with canon IS (ive got wobble hands too ! )

So its arrived - opened the box (nothing like a new lens is there ! ) 5 year warranty

First impressions - very solid , zoom is very very stiff, ive only ever had canon lenses and sigma's before and as my first impressions go this is better built that the sigma, better built than the <£500 canons ive had in the past too.
The Lock button is quite hard to use and requires a nail to slide it up and down - i asume all of these will get more warn with age though.
bolt on the 60d (withgrip) and the weight is lovely , without the grip though its very front end heavy!

First use
Ive never used Tamrons VC before, and it seems odd that there is a small 'shudder' on the screen on occasions as it locks on (is this normal ?? ) its faster too than i first suspected, a few reviews said it was noisy and a little slow - this ive got to disagree with, in lower light it was a little slow to lock on but outside @ 2.8 was very snappy, and as for the noise it is there.. so inside a quiet church or room is the next place i want to test it so may edit this later. The AF seems bang on with the 60d and ive not noticed any focusing issues or miss placed focus. At 17mm @2.8 there is a lot of 'softness' around the edge of the image which flattens out dramatically @f4. I tried a few indoors shots of my office @2.8 and again very usable, and able to hand hold at /40 @ 50mm easily without any loss of quality so pleased there, its going to take some practice to learn whats good / bad for the lens but so far in the 5 mins ive used it im pleased. Ive put the images up from the quick fiddle at my lunch break on flickr. They are all jpeg's straight out of the camera with all exif data there. Let me know what you think ! but if your in any doubt - for the money im very pleased so far !

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomknightleyphotography/sets/72157631573611425/with/8002804127/
 
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The little shudder when vc kicks in is normal mate.:thumbs:
 
I really love my Tamron, wish they would hurry up and release some nice affordable compact primes.
 
I have this lens but with a Nikon fit. I'm glad to hear you say that the zoom ring is a bit stiff. This was the first zoom lens I'd used aside from the kit lens and I was never sure whether the zoom should be as stiff as it is. I get the little judder too when the VC kicks in.
 
This is the lens I bought for my son when I passed my D80 along to him. I was much impressed with the build quality and IQ in a lens half the price of my Nikkor 17-55. I believe my son has found the Tamron to work very well.
 
Well a quick update - ive used this a month now and i love it - its not come off my camera - soooo glad i went for the vc version , you can easily hand hold daft speeds this one was while i was hanging out of the window doing 65mph and im really pleased how sharp it was @ 1/60 !

if you are reading all the interent 'fact' on how much better the non vc is dont belive it ! get the vc - its a bargain 'new' at £280 with a 5 year warrenty

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and a quick portrait

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Had my 17-50VC for about a year now and have been delighted with it,yes the zoom ring is a bit stiff but the quality is superb and I have no regrets about buying it
 
id say the only 'negative' is that focus 'hunts' when its dark.. but then again it is dark so i can forgive that...
 
This thread i about the vc :) they are both different lenses - glad they are both great though !
 
if you are reading all the interent 'fact' on how much better the non vc is dont belive it ! get the vc - its a bargain 'new' at £280 with a 5 year warrenty
]

Where is it that cheap new? just paid £260 for a used one!
 
The shudder as VC kicks is normal.
I might sell off mine, had it 3 weeks, its an awesome lens but afew minor problems. The VC takes just that split second too long to kick in and if you are used to pointing-focusing-shooting all in one breath then you end up with some non usable pics.
The focus motor is loud, in normal locations with high ambiant its not noticable but in a quiet room its annoying.
The focus dial turns the other way than normal so for video focus pulling its distracting aspecially switching lenses all the time.
No FTM so you have to keep flicking the af switch on and off depending on if doing video or stills.
However for anyone who shoots stills all or most of the time, can allow a second or so before taking a pic so VC is humming away and doesnt mind the af motor noise this is a great low light lens and obviously much better than the kit lens
 
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