Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II LD Aspherical [IF] Autofocus Lens for Pentax Digital Cameras

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II LD Aspherical [IF] Autofocus Lens for Pentax Digital Cameras:

Sharp and good IQ with K-5.
There are some dust particles at both ends, that should not affect IQ.

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II LD Aspherical [IF] Autofocus Lens for Pentax Digital Cameras:

It was my second copy. I exchanged my first copy due to bad front focusing problems (I had to dial a -10 in the AF Fine Adjustment page to make it focus reasonably). The second copy was even worse. Out of frustration, I returned it for a refund.

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II LD Aspherical [IF] Autofocus Lens for Pentax Digital Cameras:

this is the best lens I bought, it's worth the price!

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II LD Aspherical [IF] Autofocus Lens for Pentax Digital Cameras:

Received the new Tamron 17-50mm for Pentax as an early Christmas present few days ago, but was disappointed right away with the first photo I took with it. Pictures that I took with Tamron was extremely soft so I had to put it aside and put my Pentax kit lens back on for few days. Yesterday I did some controlled testing with the Tamron and was able to confirm that it has severe front focusing issue. Hopefully I can send it back to BHPhotos for another copy after the holidays.

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II LD Aspherical [IF] Autofocus Lens for Pentax Digital Cameras:

I am so [pleased with this lens it is now my primary lens - Love the fact that it will keep at F/2.8 when used at the full 50mm focal length. Very sharp and worth the weight (which is not all that heavy for a f/2.8 lens).
Thank you

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II LD Aspherical [IF] Autofocus Lens for Pentax Digital Cameras:

I use this lens for moonlit landscapes wide open.Lightweight,sharp,great walk around lens

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II LD Aspherical [IF] Autofocus Lens for Pentax Digital Cameras:

I bought this lens instead of the Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 because I thought it was sharper... what a deception.
This lens is not sharp and it's construction is terrible, it's weak and mine have a lots of spots of dust inside and are impossible to remove.

I wanted other Tamron lenses, but now I'm very disappointed with this brand.

I recommend you to bought the Sigma one or the Pentax.

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II LD Aspherical [IF] Autofocus Lens for Pentax Digital Cameras:

I now find myself keeping this lens on my camera more than the 18-200mm Tamron. Sharp images and so nice to be able to keep the f stop at 2.8 when zooming out to almost 50mm. Very versatile, good buy for the $$ and not too big-

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II LD Aspherical [IF] Autofocus Lens for Pentax Digital Cameras:

A good lens, with a fast constant 2.8 aperture. Mounted on a K-5, it focuses very accurately. Color rendition is good. It is a bit noisier than the Pentax 16-50 2.8 DA, but without the SDM worries.

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II LD Aspherical [IF] Autofocus Lens for Pentax Digital Cameras:

if you get a good one , its very sharp, I got a front focusing one. went back to canon lens.

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II LD Aspherical [IF] Autofocus Lens for Pentax Digital Cameras:

Bought to replace kit lens. RIght now using on older Pentax DSLR, and can already see improvement in picture quality and AF.

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II LD Aspherical [IF] Autofocus Lens for Pentax Digital Cameras:

Very Good lens, very sharp, for best results use manual focus.

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II LD Aspherical [IF] Autofocus Lens for Pentax Digital Cameras:

I use the lens for indoor existing light photography of my kids. I was torn between this lens and a more inexpensive fast prime. I find it to be plenty fast, and I'm really glad I have the versatility of the zoom.

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II LD Aspherical [IF] Autofocus Lens for Pentax Digital Cameras:

I already owned the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8, but I wanted to supplement my kit with a wider angle zoom. I found that the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 took very sharp pictures with great contrast and color, even wide open.

However, I noticed that when compared to my 28-75mm, the 17-50mm was producing darker pictures at identical exposure settings. In my in-studio high-key portrait photography, my subject would be dark and my white background would not longer be properly blown out (overexposed) when I replaced the 28-75mm with the 17-50mm but kept the settings the same.

I also compared my Pentax 18-55mm lens, and found that it produced identical exposure to the 28-75mm, but the 17-50mm was darker than both. After further evaluation under controlled conditions, I found that the 17-50mm performs more like f/3.3 wide open. The problem become worse as aperture decreased. Wide open it was about half a stop underexposing, and at f/10 it was a full stop.

I think that the aperture is being set too small, resulting in a lens that is not as fast (bright) as it should be. I returned it, since I do a lot of available-light and indoor photography, and I need an f/2.8 lens to perform like an f/2.8 lens.

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II LD Aspherical [IF] Autofocus Lens for Pentax Digital Cameras:

I am an advanced amateur who uses the lens for travel, portraiture, landscape, and candid people shots.

I use this lens as my "walk-around" lens. It has replaced my kit lens.

It has good flare resistance for a zoom of this range, but not as good as I would like.

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II LD Aspherical [IF] Autofocus Lens for Pentax Digital Cameras:

I've purchased this product as a replacement for a normal range kit lens and it is more than satisfactory. It's quite sharp - DXO shows a maximum lpm of 51, which is excellent. This non-VC version for Pentax and Sony sensor-based image stabilization seems sharper than the newer VC version in many different tests. I found that macro range sharpness was also more than adequate. Contrast seems very good as well. I also considered Sigma's new 17-50mm lens, which may be somewhat sharper, but the extra bulk and weight dissuaded me.

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II LD Aspherical [IF] Autofocus Lens for Pentax Digital Cameras:

First things first, let's get the good out of the way. It's razor sharp, even wide open. If that's all that matters to you in a lens, stop, do not pass Go! and buy this lens. Bokeh is pleasing for its price range as well.

OK, now onto the quirkiness. AF is tempermental, that is to say, sometimes it is responsive, other times less so. I would say AF speed is average at best. Although I don't have any BF or FF issues. And yes, it's noisy, but that's to be expected.

What's really odd is exposure consistency. It underexposes consistently .3 EV without flash, .7 at 17mm with flash, and 1.3 EV at 50mm with flash. The good news is that this is totally consistent. It's just annoying.

Build is acceptable, but nothing to write home about. Manual AF is not steller, but it works just fine.

Upshot: it's a compromise lens. Great price, great optics, weird performance, average build. As long as you know what you're getting yourself into, I recommend it.

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II LD Aspherical [IF] Autofocus Lens for Pentax Digital Cameras:

Overall I find this lens sharp, with nice micro-contrast. More than usable wide open. So far I've not noticed any significant focusing issues, though it is sometimes difficult to achieve a focus lock with night street photography. (I almost always have the AF set for center spot.)
Pixel-peeping, I do notice some resolution fall-off in the corners at 17mm, but nothing really objectionable.
And virtually no ghosting and relatively flare free. The only time I've noticed any ghosting is when the filter had gotten smudged. Speaking of which, I also sprung for a B&W XS-PRO Digital UV filter. Expensive, but I believe it's made a major difference in performance.

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II LD Aspherical [IF] Autofocus Lens for Pentax Digital Cameras:

This is my primary walk around zoom. The quality of the lens feels great and you come away feeling like you're getting a lot for your money. The ability to lock it into 17mm is handy for transportation and twisting it onto your body. The AF is audible but not loud enough to make it seem cheap.

Comments about Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II LD Aspherical [IF] Autofocus Lens for Pentax Digital Cameras:

I've really enjoyed my new Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 lens, specifically for doing portrait type photos. The lens is easy to work with and the quality of the pictures I've been taking are great.