(27 views/week)
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Review Date
January 5, 2010
Overall Rating
 4 of 5
Value Rating
 5 of 5
Used product for
More than 1 year
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Reviewed by
photophorous
, Intermediate
Price Paid
$450.00
at Adorama
Photography Experience
11-20 years
, Other
Summary
Overall, I'm very pleased with this lens. I've had it for about 1 year and 4 months, with no problems. Images are very sharp. Color is good. Bokeh is good. Focus is fast, albeit a bit whiny. I read a lot of reviews about how noisy the focusing motor is, and that's true, it is louder than my Canon USM lenses, but it doesn't bother me one bit. My biggest complaint is the barrel distortion at the wide end, but all zoom lenses in this range have that problem and apparently many are worse than this one. I considered the Canon 17-55 f/2.8 IS lens but chose this one because it is significantly smaller and lighter, and obviously much cheaper too. If I were doing it all over again, I would probably get Tamron's new vibration control version of this lens. I don't regret passing on the Canon 17-55. That thing is just too big for a Rebel.
Some of you may have heard about or even tried using old manual focus film camera lenses on your DSLR, particularly with Canon DSLRs. I had Contax Zeiss 28mm f/2.8 and 50mm f/1.4 lenses, so I tried them on my Canon and compared them against this Tamron. Considering that those Zeiss lenses are supposed to be among the best lenses ever made for 35mm SLRs, I expected different results from what I got. The Tamron was equal or better in every case. See my blog postings for details:
http://forums.photographyreview.com/blog.php?do=showentry&e=802
http://forums.photographyreview.com/blog.php?do=showentry&e=803
Strengths
Sharpness
Color rendition
Bokeh
Size and weight vs Canon EF-S 17-55.
Price
Weaknesses
Non-USM AF motor.
Barrel distortion at wide end (just like every other zoom in this range).
Similar Products Used
Nikon 28-105 on a film camera
Nikon 18-70 on a D70s
Canon 18-55 IS
Customer Service
not needed
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Review Date
February 24, 2008
Overall Rating
 5 of 5
Value Rating
5 of 5
Used product for
More than 1 year
Visitors rate this review
3.25 of 5, 4 votes
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Reviewed by
sashboro
, Intermediate
Price Paid
$430.00
at BuyDig.com
Photography Experience
11-20 years
, Other
Summary
Excellent walk-around workhorse. I needed a zoom with 2.8 and nice bokeh, and I've seen mostly good reviews on this lens so I bought. It stays on my camera about 60% of the time, for it's versatility, compactness and light weight. At first I had no complaints at all, then once I was comparing my images with friend's Nikon 17-55mm 2.8, and I noticed that the color rendition is slightly different. Nikon glass has its own unique color (it's hard to describe), but it's existing with almost every decent Nikon lens. Maybe Tamron is slightly warmer (NB: D300 owners can tune-up color for up to 10 lenses). I contemplated of trading up for Nikon 17-55mm, but that lens costs a lot and is BIG, while image quality is in the same league. I do a lot of travel photography, and the bulk can scare people off when coming close. Tamron actually beats Nikon in some sharpness tests. I only wish it could be longer (like Nikon) - that would be great for portraits. Overall, great lens, and thanks to Tamron.
Strengths
- sharp enough for my needs
- compact and lightweight!!!
- great contrast and color
- low price (think price/performance)
- it's got zoom lock (come on, Nikon, it's a little piece of plastic!!)
Weaknesses
- none in respect to quality
- i wish it was a little longer
- to my personal taste (most people won't notice this probably) Nikon's 17-55mm lens delivers the color i like better.
Similar Products Used
Sigma 28-70mm EX 2.8, Tamron 28-75mm XR Di, Nikon 17-55mm 2.8 DX, Nikon 18-70mm, Nikon 18-200mm VR, Sigma 18-200mm, Sigma 30mm 1.4, Nikon 50mm 1.4, Nikon 50mm 1.8, Nikon 60mm 2.8 Macro, Nikon 85mm 1.8, Tamron 90mm 2.8 Macro and several film only older lenses.
Customer Service
I have not used Tamron's CS for this lens, but did in the past for my other lenses. It's always been simply EXCELLENT. I remember lenses coming back working better than they were working before. And repairs' cost is great.
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Review Date
February 19, 2008
Overall Rating
 3 of 5
Value Rating
 4 of 5
Used product for
3 Months to 1 year
Visitors rate this review
4.75 of 5, 4 votes
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Reviewed by
Bernie Ess
, Expert
Price Paid
$360.00
Photography Experience
6-10 years
, Fine Art
Summary
I bought the Tamron 17-50 as a wide angle complement to my much used Tamron 28-75. I tried out 2 samples with my Fuji S3 and S5 pro, but had to find out in the end that the 17-50 is a good, but not excellent lens.
Overall sharpness is lower than on the Tamron 28-75, distortion at the wide end is quite visible with architecture etc. and often has to be removed with software.
Like on the other Tamron, CA is visible with strong contrasts and the AF is slow and relatively noisy.
While sharpness is acceptable or even good on this lens, basic resolution of the glass is only ok, very fine detail is not rendered the way excellent lenses do. I'd say the resolution limit of this lens is just below 10MP.
For comparision: I also bought the cheap plastic Nikon 18-55mm kit lens which is not as fast as the Tamron, but sharper except maybe in the last bit of the angles. As the Nikon is more silent, lighter and cheaper than the Tamron, I will keep the Nikon.
Strengths
- wide aperture of F2,8 across the range
- not as heavy as pro grade lenses
- relatively low price
Weaknesses
- slow and relatively noisy AF, no AF-S/ USM
- CA in strong contrast regions
- edges are less than stellar
- overall resolution is good, but not as good as I have hoped
Similar Products Used
- Nikon 18-55mm f3,5-5,6 II
- Nikon 17-55mm/ f2,8
Customer Service
Not needed -
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Review Date
September 20, 2007
Overall Rating
5 of 5
Value Rating
5 of 5
Used product for
Less than 1 month
Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 4 votes
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Reviewed by
michael
, Professional
Price Paid
$435.00
at ebay (australia)
Photography Experience
11-20 years
, Other
Summary
I have been using nikon digital for some time now and have used a lot of professional level nikon lenses. I was in need of a wide angle zoom and was doing my homework. Nikon offers basically the same zoom in f2.8 at around $2000 AU dollars. (constant f stop lenses through their entire focual length is considered a professional grade lens for those who did not know)
Anyway after reading the review on this site regarding this lens I decided I would like to save the approx. $1600 AU dollars and try this lens.
I am very picky with the quality of the final image produced by a lens.
Aparently this lens model is made in two places (china and japan)
Mine is made in Japan. (I spoke to a good friend of mine who is a camera and optical repairer...and by the way he is renowned through-out australia for his high grade work) and he has seen lenses come in for repair and commented that where the lens is assemble can make a lot of difference. (eg. screws not been correctly tightened)...anyway I was extremely suprised by the build quality of this lens,,,I was expecting a plastic fantastic for the price I paid, but was amazed at the quality of build of this lens (it is remarkably excellent)
I have tested this lens (from all focal lengths and various f stops) and have found the lens to perform extremely well...to be honest I was astonished !!!
I always use an unsharp mask in photoshop with all my images...(normally around the 120 - 140%) value....a standard practice by pro photographers.
The final images produced are very sharp and are of a satisfactory professional level.
My advice....do not hesitate to buy this lens !!
Focusing is very fast, does not seem to 'hunt', is accurate, and quiet.
I can not say a bad thing about this lens.
Just a wonderful lens
My advice: why paid the $2000 AU dollar price for the nikon brand, this lens perform extremely well.....save yourself some bucks!!!
Strengths
excellent build quality.
fast, quiet, accurate focusing.
excellent image quality
constant 2.8 apature.
very good for realitivly low light conditions.
excellent zoom range.
Weaknesses
none
Similar Products Used
nikon 35-70 f2.8D
nikon 18-70 AFS
(and many nikon profession grade lenses that do not fall in the zoom range)
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Review Date
June 24, 2007
Overall Rating
5 of 5
Value Rating
4 of 5
Used product for
1 to 3 months
Visitors rate this review
2.25 of 5, 4 votes
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Reviewed by
Sein
, Beginner
Price Paid
$0.00
at Thailand
Photography Experience
0-1 years
, Outdoor
Summary
Perfect with Canon 400D. I bought this lens together with Canon 400D body as suggested by retailer in Bangkok. Even grabbed sharp images through windshield from a running car due to f2.8. Popular lens among photographers in Thailand. My limited experience suggests that this lens gave me both excellent people and landscape shots. Good for low light shotting. Images are clean even at ISO1600. Great lens in its class both for beginners plus professionals. Quality matches with its price.
Strengths
-Sharp!Sharp! Very sharp!
-f/2.8 is excellent for low light shooting
-AF is fast
Weaknesses
none
Similar Products Used
-Canon 70-300 IS
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