Tamron Zoom Super Wide Angle SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD Aspherical [IF] Autofocus Lens for Sony Alpha & Minolta Digital Cameras

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD Lens for Digital Cameras:

I needed a "carry around" lens that was sharp but not as costly as a Zeiss. I was skeptical about the Tamron since I read that their quality control was not very good. Boy was I surprised. I use this lens on my Sony A700 DSLR and the pictures have great color and are very sharp!!! I couldn't believe I would ever get this kind of image quality from a [$] lens. I have read where others have complained about focus speed. I can tell you this is just as fast if not faster than the kit lens. Also, the focus "noise" is equal to or less than the kit lens!I highly recommend!!!

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD Lens for Digital Cameras:

This lens is noticeably sharper than the kit lens that came with my Sony a35, and having a f2.8 aperture at all focal lengths is a big benefit in low light. My only complaint is that it requires somewhat more effort to zoom in/out.

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD Lens for Digital Cameras:

The build quality & performance of the Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 DiII is exceptional for the price... it's not a thousand-dollar lens, but it could easily be mistaken for one.

My only regret with this lens is that I didn't buy it sooner. If you made the mistake of buying your DSLR with a kit lens (as I did) instead of body-only, you will want to throw away or give away the kit lens after you use this one (I went with "give away").

The zoom ring is large enough to get a good hold on and turns very smoothly. The focus ring is large enough to use easily when you need it, but well-positioned at the end of the lens & narrow enough that it never gets in the way when you're using AF. Which brings me to Auto-Focus: this surprisingly sharp lens has fast, accurate Auto-Focus - I recently used it to photograph children actively at play at a kid's birthday party (with inflatables & whatnot); I never missed a shot and the focus was spot-on every time. I also find it extremely useful to have a consistent large aperture through the entire zoom range.

I don't do a whole lot of long telephoto shooting, so this lens is just about as close to perfect as I think I'll ever get for an all-the-time walk-around lens; combined with my Tamron SP AF 60mm f/2 DiII Macro (a fantastic lens, itself - great for portraits & super-sharp macro) I've got 98% of my lens needs covered with just two lenses.

Thank you, Tamron!!!

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD Lens for Digital Cameras:

read allfish review for all the detail but i would like to tell some other interesting thing.
i did photo shoot along with other photo guy who has markII,bride picked most of my pictures,because she said my photo color and sharpness were better than markII.

only con is that build quality bad,my lens blade blocked at half way and i had to send it to tamron.

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD Lens for Digital Cameras:

Bought this lens to to replace the kit lens (DT18-55mm F3.5-5.6 SAM)that came with my Sony A580 dslr. Was not real happy with the color or the focus of the kit lens, and especially the exposure which was always on the dark side. The color was also on the dark side. Had to set my camera to +.3ev to compensate. Then when changed to another lens, had to change back to 0.0ev. A real pain. 1st thing I had to do in Camera Raw was increase the exposure even with the +.3ev.
The Tamron gives much better color, what my eye sees. And the exposure is correct. So right there 2 items much better than the Sony kit lens. The lens also a little better focus for sharpness. Did an experiment between the 2 lens. Set camera to Program auto. Took 4 pictures changing back/forth between the lens, same distance, same subject, same focus point, same location, same everything expect which lens on the camera to take the picture. Objects from 5-20 feet from camera, bright sun. Below how the camera changed the settings for each lens for each picture.
T=Tamron S=Sony

T 1/400 F6.3 S 1/400 F9
T 1/640 F6.3 S 1/640 F9
T 1/640 F6.3 S 1/500 F10
T 1/250 F5.6 S 1/125 F11

As a result of the Sony lens always a smaller apeture hole, the picture not only darker, but more of the picture in focus. I like my subject to be the most focused, and the other stuff a little blurry. So again, the Tamron lens ahead. The only negative of the Tamron to the Sony is that the weight is about 15+ oz compared to the Sony almost 8 oz. So for a much better color picture, a faster lens, a more accurate exposure, and a little sharper focus, I do carry more weight. To me, a small price to pay for a much better lens. I would say you can save $100 by not buying the kit lens with your Sony camera, and use that $100 to help buy this much better Tamron lens to go on your new Sony dslr.

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD Lens for Digital Cameras:

One word: Razor

For the price paid, the sharpness, and crispness of the product is well beyond the dollar-value. Obviously if you're looking for such a creamy bookeh, and want to spend a 1000 dollars more, you pay for what you get.

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD Lens for Digital Cameras:

Great Portrait and general walk-around Lens!
Very crisp & clean images.
Sturdy construction and quality build.
Very slight noise on focus but faster than most.

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD Lens for Digital Cameras:

Upgraded from the "kit" lens on my alpha a580 and immediately appreciated the differences. faster speeds are great for photographing children. Short minimum focus has made macro photography even easier. Can't wait to take it on vacation next week. It's gonna be amazing for northwoods sunsets.

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD Lens for Digital Cameras:

I am giving this 4 stars but only because I it would be "nice" if the motor was silent but after having this a few weeks, it doesn't really matter. It's fast and sharp and I love having the 2.8 at all lengths. I use this on my Sony a55 and it fits like a glove. I wish Zeiss would make one just like it but they don't. Zeiss lens have magic genies ground into it that sees into shadow detail like no other lens on earth and worth the money. But, for a camera like the a55, this Tamron is the next best thing. You will not regret it buying this lens. It's also light enough to be completely comfortable with around your shoulder all day.

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD Lens for Digital Cameras:

I take a lot of pictures, and by doing so I have been designated the family photographer. I have my Minolta 50/1.4 for portraits, but for general picture taking it is a little awkward on an APS-C. That is where this lens comes in. This is a great walk-around lens, and will spend most of its time ready to go on my camera. It could be a little longer, but I think that having the f2.8 is worth taking a couple steps toward the subject. I also have never had a lens with a zoom lock, but I can see what all the fuss is about. It is really nice for installing/removing the lens and for storage in my bag.

It is fast, sharp, has good colors and a good range. The build quality is good and it fits snuggly on my a500. It is quite a bit heavier than the kit lens so be prepared for that. The added weight does not bother me as I am a big guy. That said my wife is quite small and enjoys using the camera with this lens. I guess it is all personal preference.

I know that the most important thing is that the pictures look good, but I really like how much more professional it looks than the kit lens.

All in all I would highly recommend this lens to anyone.

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD Lens for Digital Cameras:

The lens is very clear and great in low light

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD Lens for Digital Cameras:

Gives me a wide enough angle for inddor family pics and for some of my waterfall photos (when my 28-70 isn't wide enough). V good image quality in a light weight, compact, populary priced f2.8 lens.
Not the build quality of the more expensive lenses, but you can't >$1000 build for under $500.

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD Lens for Digital Cameras:

I received the lens on the day the tornado's hit Alabama. I went out the next day and snapped a lot of photos. The lens worked well all day and into the afternoon with the sun setting.

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD Lens for Digital Cameras:

Sharp in center at all apertures,soft at corners at 17mm-F2.8,at F4 sharp across the entire frame.

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD Lens for Digital Cameras:

A good walking around lens. A very nice upgrade from my kit Sony one.

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD Lens for Digital Cameras:

Just got this lens last week for Christmas. I wanted it mostly for shooting indoor shots such as birthday parties, get-togethers, etc... It was perfect for what I was looking for. It took great photos for our Christmas day get-together just as I was looking for. It also captured our "White Christmas" that we have not seen in our part of North Carolina in over 60 years. It helped capture the snowflakes falling because it is much faster than my kit lens. My only negative comment would be that I was surprised that it did not come with a case. I had previously purchased a Sigma 70-300 mm lens that was less expensive than this lens and it did come with a case.
Bottom line is I really like this lens and would recommend it and I am glad that this is the lens I chose.

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD Lens for Digital Cameras:

This is an excellent Kit replacement lens. Pretty fast, sturdy, and well built. Very worth it for the money. It is my walkaround lens now.

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD Lens for Digital Cameras:

After using this lens on vacation at Disney World, I can honestly say that it surpasses my expectations. It is fast at 2.8 and performs well in low light. It generates a nice bokeh, and it is a bit more noticeable than my Sony 18-250/3.5-6.3 lens. Overall, I found that it is suitable for 70-80% of my needs. I only wanted the 18-250 lens when I was shooting wildlife at the "Animal Kingdom".I read reviews on both the Tamron, Sigma, and Sony/Zeiss versions for this type of lens. I have a Sony Alpha 55V (which I LOVE... every bit a fast at 10fps and versatile with real autofocusing HD video as I hoped it would be). The Sony cameras tend to soften things a bit more than Canon and Nikon. Tamron lenses tend to be a bit sharper on detail with less flare, but with more pincushion effect than Sigmas based on internet reviews. I chose the wide-angle zoom to pair its sharpness with the Sony engine as it tends to lose a bit of detail to control noise levels. The paring seems to work well.The lens was very fast for photos of birds flying by... froze them mid-flight without blur and with great detail. It also does video well in relatively low light. Tamron designed it to work well for video. Portraits were a snap.The downside on the lens is that pincushion effect (curving/angling of linear structures) is visible at wide angle. It might be unnoticable to others, but I was looking for it. It also takes a bit of force to turn the focus knob, but it has no lens creep. There is a focus lock to prevent creep as needed.This lens is a good product, an excellent value, and will probably be my go-to lens for 80% of my shooting. I will be adding a Tamron 70-200mm/2.8 to pair with this lens for sports/wildlife photography.PS - I tested Tamron 28-75/2.8 and Sony 28-75/2.8 lenses as well. The 17-50 is a better choice as the wide angle makes a huge difference. I didn't notice a practical loss of zoom from 50 vs. 75mm. And the Sony costs about [$]

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD Lens for Digital Cameras:

I purchased this lens because it is faster and provides better wide-angle coverage than my 24-105 f3.5-4.5 Minolta lens, as well as being less expensive than competitor's models. So far I have not been disappointed. It takes clear, sharp pictures, better than many of my Minolta lenses. The 17mm end (equivalent to about 27mm on my aps-c sensor) definitely gives me the wide-angle and faster lens capability that I needed. The lens cap design makes it easy to remove without having to remove the lens shade, something other cap manufacturers have not figured out. I have not noticed any problems with vignetting, chromatic aberration, or other distortion type problems. The only caveats I have found are that at times in full light when operating at wide-angle in close-focusing situations the lens/camera combination hunts for focus, which necessitates switching to manual. Another is that the focusing ring is narrow, although this does make it easier to differentiate it from the zoom ring and harder to grab in error when the autofocus is engaged; plus the ribbing is different between the two, further aiding the differentiation by touch. Finally, while the lens barrel is nicely finished and the adjustment rings provide a nice rubbery grip, it is plastic so it remains to be seen how well it holds up to hard use. I had not used a Tamron lens before, but after this experience I would definitely consider another.

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD Lens for Digital Cameras:

I bought this lens for several reasons - to complement my existing lenses (Sony 18-200 3.5-6.3, Sony 50 1.8, and Tamron 90 macro). I needed zoom flexibility with a large aperture. The build quality is good, sharpness is excellent for the cost of the lens (it could be sharper of course, but then it would cost $1000 instead of $450ish). As I write this I'm vacationing in Romania, and I'm happy enough with the lens that I brought only it and my 90 macro. Great lens value for everyone but full-time pros or people with tons of cash.