Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II VC LD Aspherical (IF) Lens USA

Comments about Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II VC LD Aspherical (IF) Lens:

It's not as good as the Nikon 17-55/2.8. It's also considerably lighter and smaller than that lens, at less than half the price.

Some of the one- and two-star reviews of this lens are way off. One reviewer complains that he couldn't use it wide-open to photograph weddings. No kidding. If you're using this lens for professional wedding work, you should either be stopping down and using a flash, or purchasing a better lens, or finding a new line of work. Of course you can't use this wide-open to shoot a wedding: it's a convenient, compact travel lens -- it's not high-end glass for professional low-light work. If you want to shoot with available light in a church, buy a f/1.4 prime from Nikon or Zeiss.

Another reviewer compares it to his 90mm Tamron macro. Absurd. Even the Nikon zooms compare poorly to their Micro-Nikkor counterparts. Macro lenses are the sharpest lenses you can buy, but they're often large and unwieldy -- you sacrifice convenience for image quality. There are always tradeoffs. Welcome to the real world.

Bottom line is that, for what it is, this lens is quite good: a compact, lightweght walkaround lens. It's a little soft wide-open, but good enough for the majority of shots you'll take with it. Stopped down it's on par with Nikon glass.

Comments about Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II VC LD Aspherical (IF) Lens:

Got this lens just before my cousin was married last weekened. I wasn't the paid photographer, but I did shot a lot of pics over the weekend and was extremlely pleased with the results. Very sharp photos even in low light condtions. For the price, this lens is a must have.

Comments about Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II VC LD Aspherical (IF) Lens:

I like to take landscape shots and use a wide angle to get up nice an close to subjects. So I missed my Nikon 18-200 when I gave it to my wife. I have a 70-200 but my other zoom was an old 35-85. I decided this on this lens for the wide angle and fast f-stop. I have not been disappointed. I like having an f2.8 through the entire zoom range. And having vibration reduction is just that much better.

Honestly, the only thing that kept me from rating this with 5 stars is the fact that the zoom is a little stiff. Not unusable by any means but not as smooth as a nikon lens or my Tamron 70-200. I'd still recommend this for someone that wants both wide and fast.

Comments about Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II VC LD Aspherical (IF) Lens:

Bought this with hopes that it would be as nice and sharp as my tam ron 90. Lens was not sharp at 2.8 and was slow in both focus and stabilizing. Very disappointed overall with tam ron but b&h has been very helpful so far.

Comments about Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II VC LD Aspherical (IF) Lens:

I went for this lens after reading some reviews on the internet and the value when compared to the Nikkor counterpart. Then I had to decide between the VC and non-VC version of it. In the end, I chose the VC to have a help during low light hand held shots. The lens delivers great results even in difficult light conditions. I mainly have taken photos in a travel and portraits at small parties but nothing professional.

Comments about Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II VC LD Aspherical (IF) Lens:

I used this lens for a Basketball team shots and it performed GREAT. I have rented several different lens in the past until I made enough to purchase this one and I would get another Tamron. In the past I would decide which shot was best based on which one's in focus. Not this time I got to pick the one I liked.

Comments about Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II VC LD Aspherical (IF) Lens:

I recently wrote an article for photos4clix on this lens. If I were to sum-up my experience it would be an excellent lens, for real world use. The VC (vibration control) adds an additional depth. Sharp, even wide open,a good compromise in zoom range, I have no difficulty in calling this a pro-quality product.
I purchased the Tamron 17-50mm VC from B&H because I knew that if my lens came in defective, I would have recourse.
Reminder: When using VC press the shutter button down half way and give it a second tom do its magic.

Comments about Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II VC LD Aspherical (IF) Lens:

1. Since my last review, I put this lens through several field 'Road Tests" including one "emergency" shoot with temporary glitched D7000 AF system ( For no apparent reason D7000 refused to use 39 focus points and used only one center focus point during whole shoot ,only next day i "reset" the camera and solved problem. i expected a lot of out of focus pics from this shoot. To my surprise almost all pics were sharp corner to corner ! ) Lens passed the tests with flying colours: Very Sharp corner to corner !!
2. Some folks might wonder: What about VC- Vibration Compensation ??
Well, Short answer is: Who cares ??!!
Long answer is: I almost always use tripod, if i can`t use tripod I use monopod. To prevent accidental shooting with tripod/monopod and having VC on ( NO...NO) , VC is always 'OFF". If u shoot handheld, that means You don`t really care for IQ , so why bother with VC ??
3. I bought VC version just to be on the safe side "glasswise" .Didn`t care one bit about VC.
4. Conclusion: This is Very, Very good, Sharp lens. Wade in.

Comments about Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II VC LD Aspherical (IF) Lens:

Bought Tamron 17-50mm VC lens to compliment Nikon 80-200 mm f/2.8 to shoot video with D7000. This is my first Tamron lens ( have plenty of Nikon and couple of very good Sigma (10-20mm and 50-500mm). Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 was not an option because of size and weight- U don`t want to carry Nikon 24-70mm with Nikon 80-200mm. Hence Tamron, also was curious, saw beautiful vids shot with this lens.
Got to say: very, very happy with this lens. Glad I got it. Built very good, have really nice feel in your hands. The size just right ! The lens are very Sharp and Bright. Yes, sharp at all F stops. I was pleasantly surprised with gorgeous colour rendition. Now , i have my eye on Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 lens.
Reading some reviews, I`d like to point out one obvious, but apparently not for everyone, thing to remember :
At large apertures f2.8/3.2 depth of field is Very shallow , so only tiny!! slice of picture is in focus, the rest is out of focus and it is Not !! malfunction. That`s the idea of wide aperture. Try to keep that in mind when You evaluate lenses. Be sharp, don`t listen to bad-mouthing. Try Tamron , I think You will be happy as I am. Thanks, Tamron. Keep it up!

Comments about Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II VC LD Aspherical (IF) Lens:

It was great in low light, but I found that it didn't work for many things I shoot.
Terrible if shooting into the sun and the VC was too slow for action (like animals on the move). And it was a bit heavy.
Though, it was very impressive in low light situations. I was amazed at the clarity that it produced when shooting in a dimly lit room. Some things were a compromise, but for the money it could be a good addition.

Comments about Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II VC LD Aspherical (IF) Lens:

Very good lens with awesome service.
Had very little back focus issue. Send it back to Tamron. Five days later it was back to me. That's fast service. It was also done under warranty, icing on the cake. Very pleased with tamron.

Comments about Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II VC LD Aspherical (IF) Lens:

I am a prosumer, photography is my passion. I probably shoot as much as a professional, but I don't earn money for it.

That being said, I use a D7000 and love to shoot cities at night. Before bying this lens I was suspicious about Tamron and other brands like this (Sigma, Tokina ...). I only had Nikon Lenses until then.
But I tried, and jumped on this cheap and great opportunity.

So far I have to say :
- The lens is a little big, not too heavy but well constructed. It feels pretty good.
- The stabilization is good, but produces a little noise (take it in account if you shoot video without an external mic (who DOES ??))
- For its price and range, it is sharp. Not super sharp but great. And it is from corner to corner. I don't see any difference between the middle and the corners at 17mm 2.8.
- The VC (stabilization) takes half a second to start, but then it works great. I don't see a lot of difference between my Nikkors VR and this Tamron VC.
- When you engage the manual focus, it is smoothand great to manipulate, one of the best I used.

For this price, I think that you get more that what you're paying for. It is a great deal for any one who wants a fast, everyday lens :)

Comments about Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II VC LD Aspherical (IF) Lens:

I had tried the Nikon 17-55 f2.8 lens at a local camera store a couple times and have been wanting to get it for awhile. The lady at the camera store then starting telling me about this lens and said the people at the store had been messing around with that lens and were amazed at how sharp the pictures were. She thought it was just as good as the Nikon. So I went home and started reading some reviews and it didnt appear to be as good as the Nikon, but have the VC where the Nikon does not intrigued me. I really loved the feel of the Nikon and how fast and quiet it was, but as always, the price was a big problem. I found this lens used for a great price and compared to a used Nikon, I was saving $600, so i just couldnt justify the extra cost. I got this lens today and have been testing it out. I was not impressed with it as much as I was the Nikon. It is noiser and a tad slower in focusing. The zoom ring is stiffer then the nikon and I dont like it as much. But the biggest annoyance is the VC. When it is active, it will cause your picture frame to shake right before it locks focus. The manual states that this is normal. I dont really care for my picture to shake for a second before my focus locks on. Kind of annoying. As far as quality of pictures...i have not taken very many yet, but they do seem to be good quality pictures and it does a good job. Is it as good as the Nikon? I dont think so, but is the Nikon worth $600 more?....probably not. If you have the money, get the Nikon, but if you are on a budget, then this lens is worth the money and you will be hard pressed to find the difference in picture quality vs the Nikon.

Comments about Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II VC LD Aspherical (IF) Lens:

great low light. make noise when it auto focus but its not terrible. can live with it. just be sure to pick the lens designated for nikon or canon. works great with crop sensors.

Comments about Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II VC LD Aspherical (IF) Lens:

I got this lens hoping that the positive reviews of it were the norm and the negative ones were the exception. Just returned this lens few days ago after using it for about 10 days. Biggest problems: focus issues(sometimes sharp, other times soft from 2.8 and up) , images shot at 2.8 were too soft for my liking(2.8 is why I made purchase). The build of lens seemed good, auto focus a tad slower than I'm used to and the VC did seem to work. I got this lens for the constant 2.8 aperture, thought I could use it for weddings and other events. OMG highly disappointing to say the least. Looks like I'll shell out the extra $$ for the Nikon 17-55 2.8 at some point.
I used the lens on a D90
I can not recommend this lens to anyone.

Comments about Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II VC LD Aspherical (IF) Lens:

product use for special event

great in low light
auto focusing very fast

I Purchased this lens a month ago use it right out of then for a special event. this lens preformed well beyond expectations.

Comments about Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II VC LD Aspherical (IF) Lens:

sharp but noisy

Comments about Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II VC LD Aspherical (IF) Lens:

I purchased the Tamron 17-50 VC specifically for my Nikon D200 and use this particular combination mostly as my travel gear. I'd read a lot of pro and user-reviews of the Tamron and was actually preparing to be a little disappointed. The reviews did point out the lens' qualities, such as excellent center sharpness, good color and contrast, etc. But nearly all of them talked also of softness at the borders and extreme borders, regardless of focal length. Still, based on my previous experience with the non-VC version on one of my Canon bodies, I decided to try the new VC-version.

I am not at all disappointed. This lens is sharp edge-to-edge, with only the most minor softness when shooting wide open. The level of detail this lens can capture is exceptional for this price range, and the VC is exceptional as well ... providing at least a 3-stop advantage over the non-VC model (some say 4-stops).

Another thing is the lens' excellent control over CA. It's practically non-existent. The absence of CA is very noticeable in terms of image crispness overall, even when shooting high contrast scenes.

All in all, this is a great lens ... well above average and worth its cost. The lens is larger and heavier than the non-VC version, but the added weight doesn't upset the balance of camera and lens.

This lens, along with my Nikon D200, provides a very high level of "keepers," higher than I'd be used to with other lenses I've used on the same body.

Comments about Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II VC LD Aspherical (IF) Lens:

Another great lens from Tamron. Vibration Compensation allows hand held shots inside without flash. Crisp photos every time with this lens.

Comments about Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II VC LD Aspherical (IF) Lens:

This is the 2nd Tamron lens I purchased for my Nikon D90 and love them both. They take exceptional pictures especially in low light situations. This is a versatile lens that I use for both indoor and outdoor photos. Although a 72mm lens can seem a big large, it feels solid in your hand and it works flawlessly with my Nikon.