anyone try the Tamron 17-50 VC yet?
- Thread starter Gene Sung
- Start date
kmoreau893
Active member
I have it, I guess I was lucky and got it while they were first available. I think it is probably the best deal in this range, it's a good general purpose lens with IS.
alpi69
Veteran
Got it yesterday.
What I like:
- It is sharp and has a nice contrast as advertised;
- bokeh is good for a 2.8 lens
- focus stays throughout the zoomrange (focus once and you can zoom around)
- the VC (stabilization) works good in videomode. I tried a 17-70 Sigma before and the stabilization does make a huge difference. If it is worth the 200 extra is up to you. I will do a lot of handheld or glidecam shooting so it will be needed.
(VC-picture does jump in photomode on all lenses, something I have to get used to, because I used Minolta/SONY DSLRs before and they have the CCD stabilized, so you never saw your equipment working like that)
Not so great:
- the focus goes the wrong way?! To get to closerange focus you trun counterclockwise on this lens; so need to adjust everytime I put this on
- the focus throw is indeed rather short (eternal to 0.29 meters in less than a quarter turn)
To your breathing: you see a shift in the image when focusing the macro-area (between 0.40 and 0.29 meters). If you tell me in what distance and what object (key, bottle, car) I should shoot I can throw a clip online for you.
What I like:
- It is sharp and has a nice contrast as advertised;
- bokeh is good for a 2.8 lens
- focus stays throughout the zoomrange (focus once and you can zoom around)
- the VC (stabilization) works good in videomode. I tried a 17-70 Sigma before and the stabilization does make a huge difference. If it is worth the 200 extra is up to you. I will do a lot of handheld or glidecam shooting so it will be needed.
(VC-picture does jump in photomode on all lenses, something I have to get used to, because I used Minolta/SONY DSLRs before and they have the CCD stabilized, so you never saw your equipment working like that)
Not so great:
- the focus goes the wrong way?! To get to closerange focus you trun counterclockwise on this lens; so need to adjust everytime I put this on
- the focus throw is indeed rather short (eternal to 0.29 meters in less than a quarter turn)
To your breathing: you see a shift in the image when focusing the macro-area (between 0.40 and 0.29 meters). If you tell me in what distance and what object (key, bottle, car) I should shoot I can throw a clip online for you.
Pietro Impagliazzo
Well-known member
Alpi, I was going to start a thread on the Sigma 17-70, but since you used one and posted here, please tell me more about it.
I like it because it's got a nice range, covers from master to CU, aperture is not constant but 2.8~4.5 seems fine to me, and the price is very affordable.
Any shortcomings besides the lack of stabilization?
If anybody else used it, please chime in.
Thanks in advance.
I like it because it's got a nice range, covers from master to CU, aperture is not constant but 2.8~4.5 seems fine to me, and the price is very affordable.
Any shortcomings besides the lack of stabilization?
If anybody else used it, please chime in.
Thanks in advance.
alpi69
Veteran
The Sigma 17-70 s not a constant 2.8. That brings a few disadvantages, for example you can´t zoom while shooting, either the aperture will jump (even in manual mode) or the focus will get lost....
Besides I find it rather soft on the edges wide open. It needs to be stopped down to be sharp all across the image. This is not much of a problem in videomode, but it is. And in photomode I really see it (but I am picky in photomode).
I recommend the "old" Tamron 17-50/2.8 non-stabilized if you want an affordable zoom starting from 17 with 2.8. It is shorter, but the range it covers is covered much better than with the Sigma
Besides I find it rather soft on the edges wide open. It needs to be stopped down to be sharp all across the image. This is not much of a problem in videomode, but it is. And in photomode I really see it (but I am picky in photomode).
I recommend the "old" Tamron 17-50/2.8 non-stabilized if you want an affordable zoom starting from 17 with 2.8. It is shorter, but the range it covers is covered much better than with the Sigma
NoxNoctus
Well-known member
I can vouch for the original 17-50 2.8 nonVC. Tack sharp. I'd save the extra $$$ unless you are shooting freehand
Shot this with it using the entire range of the lens
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2szHaVq9nM
Shot this with it using the entire range of the lens
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2szHaVq9nM
Zim
Veteran
JamesBenet
Active member
Got it and using it on 7D!
Got it and using it on 7D!
So far impressed by the lens and the IQ. The VC takes about 1 and 1/3 sec to be engaged perfectly.
The Focus is loud, about what you get from the 18 55 IS kit lens but a higher version of that sound. All Internal focusing but the focus ring rotates. The Zoom ring is very stiff due to the rubber ring being too close to the barrel parts. It seems to be loosening with use, it has a 17mm lock which works really well for underwater housings for instance.
The Bokeh is creamy and very round, looks just a bit busier than the 100 canon Macro.
The VC engages in video mode and won't stop for the entirety of the shot unless you switch it off. It eats batteries more quickly and the impressive part is that its very silent, noticeable in a quiet room but just a whisper.
It's heavy, the 7D with this lens will feels like a large brick, sturdy well constructed and the lens hood helps a lot outdoors. This is a large lens so you might need a new holster bag if you use one with an older lens.
So far focus is tack sharp, I had problems at first because I had engaged the VC thru the custom button menu to the DoF preview button and the IS would only engage if you pressed it, I changed it to normal mode and the blur went away.
Get a UV or PL for this one, the slim one still vignettes in photo a little but goes away on video due to the frame cropping. By F4 all vignette due to the filter disappears in photos.
Close up performance is good but not really great, still it's enough to get a 3" flower to fill the frame in focus.
The VC in video works really well I tried to get jerky sudden motion like that of the HV canon HDV cams after a while with IS on. Seems only the harshest pans will cause it to jerk and look funky, I did a walkthru test and handheld looks fantastic, ad a small stabilizer to this at 17mm and you are good to go for walking shots.
I will continue to test the lens but so far I'm very impressed with the performance, image quality and build, definitely a pro caliber lens except for the lack of weather sealing and USM.
Got it and using it on 7D!
So far impressed by the lens and the IQ. The VC takes about 1 and 1/3 sec to be engaged perfectly.
The Focus is loud, about what you get from the 18 55 IS kit lens but a higher version of that sound. All Internal focusing but the focus ring rotates. The Zoom ring is very stiff due to the rubber ring being too close to the barrel parts. It seems to be loosening with use, it has a 17mm lock which works really well for underwater housings for instance.
The Bokeh is creamy and very round, looks just a bit busier than the 100 canon Macro.
The VC engages in video mode and won't stop for the entirety of the shot unless you switch it off. It eats batteries more quickly and the impressive part is that its very silent, noticeable in a quiet room but just a whisper.
It's heavy, the 7D with this lens will feels like a large brick, sturdy well constructed and the lens hood helps a lot outdoors. This is a large lens so you might need a new holster bag if you use one with an older lens.
So far focus is tack sharp, I had problems at first because I had engaged the VC thru the custom button menu to the DoF preview button and the IS would only engage if you pressed it, I changed it to normal mode and the blur went away.
Get a UV or PL for this one, the slim one still vignettes in photo a little but goes away on video due to the frame cropping. By F4 all vignette due to the filter disappears in photos.
Close up performance is good but not really great, still it's enough to get a 3" flower to fill the frame in focus.
The VC in video works really well I tried to get jerky sudden motion like that of the HV canon HDV cams after a while with IS on. Seems only the harshest pans will cause it to jerk and look funky, I did a walkthru test and handheld looks fantastic, ad a small stabilizer to this at 17mm and you are good to go for walking shots.
I will continue to test the lens but so far I'm very impressed with the performance, image quality and build, definitely a pro caliber lens except for the lack of weather sealing and USM.