Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8

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I having been considering selling two of my lenses to fund a single higher quality lens. When i got my SLR i quickly added a 70-300mm to give a good range (18-300) and allow myself to try out a number of different styles. It seems i am leaning towards landscape, portraits and walkabout use.

So the plan was to sell my 18-55mm IS and the sigma 70-300mm APO and get a single replacement, if I add some cash to the sale value of those i should have about £250-350 to spend.

The tamron 17-50 f/2.8 has been mentioned by a lot of people on here and at £300~ it seems to be good value. So what is the general opinion of this lens? any draw backs or limitations?

The main reasons for wanting to replace the 18-55 IS are faster AF and increased subject separation (DoF, bokeh etc) The general IQ (sharpness, contrast etc) of the 18-55 IS seems good and provided the new lens isnt any worse i am not overly concerned with that side of things.

Also, can you suggest any alternative lens around that price range that might be slightly longer (due to the landscape i do i would like to keep the wide end, so i'm not sure if the tamron 28-75 would fit.....)

thanks guys :)
 
I have personally have just ordered a Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 to replace my 15-85 kit lens. Unfortunately I cant give you any feedback on it as of yet... but I can say I have heard good things about it as far as the quality to cash ratio goes.

I cant think of any other f2.8 lens, around that price that will give you more reach, and leave you the 17mm end. From what I have seen they tend to jump up to around 25mm - all depends if thats wide enough for your needs.

I think the Tamron 17-50 would suit your needs pretty well - more separation, and better in low-light situations, and still wide enough for landscape work :)

EDIT: just on a side note - I'm not sure the Tamron would be any faster focusing than your 18-55, it will be a louder however... but to me that's not an issue since I don't try and sneak up on people... well not all the time :D
 
I have just bought one and from the few test shots that i have done i think i'm going to LOVE this lens. It produces very nice high quality images that (as i have said before) come close in my opinion to Canons L glass!! Bold statement but that's what i think. So close to L glass quality for half the price!

The AF motor is a bit noisy but not enough to put you off. It's quite fast too. Another good thing is that it's f2.8 from 17mm through o 50mm!!!

Have a look here for examples http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=209580

Also Flickr groups for the lens ( superb examples here!)
 
as I posted on a similar thread.



I have the 17-50 tamron on my d200 most of the time, I spent a lot of time researching this lens and the sigma 18-50.

I went to my local shop and test shot these two with the nikon 17-55 as a bench mark. The difference in image quality between between the nikon and the tamron is very small, in fact the only difference I could see was that the nikon held the highlights a little better! which I thought was strange?

The sigma had slightly more saturation in the colours but the tamron was the sharpest from what I could see. As you'd expect the nikon delivered both flawlessly.

the auto focus between the hsm sigma and the non hsm tamron from infinity to closest focus and back was very small, sigma was slightly faster but the focus motor in my d200 is quick anyway, so hsm made little difference, but the tamron was more accurate in lower light on my d200.

The tamron was louder but that didn't make any difference to me at all.

Over all at a 3rd of the cost of the nikon there was no contest! I went for the tamron, its so sharp sometime I feel I have to soften it out in pp!:eek:

I'd recommend the tamron to anyone wanting to upgrade there kit lens.

Hope this helps you out.

Daz:D
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It's an excellent performer - way beyond its price tag suggests.

I loved mine when i had it - small, light and sharp wide open.

3586599812_c1082dbb6f_o.jpg


I have some better examples, but not online :)
 
Chillimonster said:
It's an excellent performer - way beyond its price tag suggests.

I loved mine when i had it - small, light and sharp wide open.

3586599812_c1082dbb6f_o.jpg


I have some better examples, but not online :)
Click to expand...

I have it now and its lovely

are you sure you can cope with missing the long end? I realy rate the 70-200 f4L as a combo with this lens
 
In lower light, then the AF speed becomes more reliant on available light to the body sensor. Thus, although it might not spin-up focus as quickly,this little gem will lock focus quicker than a slower USM/AF-S lens.

There are many hundreds of threads on this lens. That's not to criticize you for adding another - but it does suggest that no-one mentions a bad lens that much. It's a gem, and probably one of the main hindrances to me having gone full frame sooner.
 
i have the tamron 17-50 and would not part with it, for what i do its a cracker
 
david1701 said:
I have it now and its lovely

are you sure you can cope with missing the long end? I realy rate the 70-200 f4L as a combo with this lens
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It is more the macro function i think i will miss, the sigma obviously isn't a full macro lens but 1:2 is quite close. I have been spying that lens for a while, but i've noticed that the sigma has spent enough time in the bag to leave a small ring where it sits (maybe it is just heavier than my other lenses, but it isn't on the camera when it is making that ring)

So anyway, the general consensus is it is the ticket.......just means I need to get around to selling those two lenses then.

I always do this, now i know it is the one, and i don't want anything else, so i'll probably ponder for about another month on whether I should or shouldnt and eventually get it ;)

Thanks for the info! :)
 
I have had this lens for both the Canon fit and Nikon fit (present lens), and I highly recommend it. The Nikon version is a HK import and a very good copy.
 
By happy chance - I am just about to put up for sale my Tamron 17 -50mm f/2.8 (canon fit). It's an excellent lens and the only reason I'm parting with it is because it won't fit my 5D. I'll be putting an ad in the sales forum later on if you're interested.
 
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