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Schuit
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Registered: Mar 10, 2008
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 2
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 Dec 21, 2009
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tonyliau
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Registered: Jul 5, 2009
Location: United States
Posts: 5
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Review Date: Nov 10, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $410.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Sharp, lightweight, consistent f/2.8, great focal length for a crop body (27-80mm equivalent), great IQ for the price.
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Cons:
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IQ (understandably) does not quite compare with the Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 IS which is nearly three times the price.
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This is the lens I grab when I don't feel like lugging my heavy L-glass around. I am willing to sacrifice the slight IQ for the convenience of this light, fast zoom. 17-50mm is perfect on a crop body to walk around with.
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Nov 10, 2009
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Guidenet
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Registered: Mar 23, 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 89
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Review Date: Oct 18, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $299.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Very fast, sharp and contrasty.
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Cons:
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The build quality doesn't match Nikon, but it costs considerably less. The built in motor models whine, chirp and tend to hunt, while the older screw drive models are perfect.
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With the screw drive for Nikon F mount, I believe this is the best DX crop camera lens in this particular range. I had a Nikon 17-55 f/2.8 for around six months and was dissapointed in the optical quality. It was soft all around. I sold it and purchased this Tamron because I did want this range and had heard wonderful things about it optically.
I tried several copies of the built in motor with its micro motor instead of sonic ring motor as found that they whines, chirped and hunted focus. I then found a left over brand new screw drive model that they heavily discounted to me. Boy was I happy. This lens performs superbly in all ways. It's fast, doesn't hunt, and is incredibly sharp and contrasty. The only negative if it is, is that it has a warmer cast than the Nikon. If I don't like it, it's easily fixed during processing.
I consider this lens to be a couple notches below the 17-55 f/2.8 Nikon with respect to build quality but a couple of notches above that Nikon in optical quality, at least in my experience. I wish that Tamron would embrace sonic ring type focusing motors like Nikon, Canon, Sigma and others.
Promaster rebadges this lens and can be a real bargain with screw drive models still in stock. They are the same lens.
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Oct 18, 2009
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transoptic1
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Registered: Apr 1, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 893
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Review Date: Oct 12, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Good walkaround for the price, good contrast/saturation, decently sharp
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Cons:
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AF, tiny manual switch, kind of plasticy
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I think this is the best lens in this zoom range, at 2.8 for the price.
I'm ready to upgrade to L glass, but I need to sacrifice a little reach to save bank. I'm thinking the 17-35 2.8L
This lens has served well for a few years, though. Really sharp in the center, stopped down of course; wide open near the edges things get a little fuzzy but nothing hugely disappointing. The colors and contrast are nice, especially on higher-end image sensors.
Auto focus is the Achilles Heel on this lens. It's noisy, searches in low light, and could be faster. It has a tiny switch to switch from auto to manual, which takes a few seconds to find, which can be costly in fast environments. I'm wanting to upgrade to a lens that has full-time manual USM.
But, well worth every dollar I paid.
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Oct 12, 2009
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stactum
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Registered: Jun 5, 2009
Location: United States
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Aug 26, 2009
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Recommend? |
Price paid: $409.00
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Pros:
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sharp-sharp-sharp even wide open, fast at 2.8, useful focal length 17-50mm, lightweight
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Cons:
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build quality could be better, very noisy, fungus-prone, works only on cropped sensor
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I had this lens for over a year now and what can I say - no regrets buying it! It is a GREAT lens for the money.
At some point I wanted to switch to Canon EF 24-105mm L IS USM lens as my general purpose that cost about $1000 and I used one from work to do a comparison tests between my Tamron and Canon. No question Canon L have IS, quite and much better build quality, but honestly, when it comes to images I think Tamron was on par or sometimes even better. Colors and sharpness wise it is a great lens for the price you pay.
I had to send mine for service since fungus started to develop on the rear element that cost me $155 to repair and I read on some forums that Tamron lenses are somewhat fungus-prone so you may want to keep that in mind when buying Tamron.
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Aug 26, 2009
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Janika
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Registered: Oct 17, 2005
Location: Canada
Posts: 367
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Review Date: Aug 17, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $400.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Decent price / performance ratio, It is very sharp, built well for the class it's in, Relatively small n light.
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Cons:
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Front filter ring is lose, where the hood attaches and I see other folks have the same issue.
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Got this lens second hand, replacing my 3-year old Sigma 17-70 DC. The Tamron is so much sharper for almost the same price. The build quality and the AF sound are comparable to the Sigma. Noticed, the front filter ring is lose on this lens, where the hood attaches and I see other folks have the same issue. It just wobbles and you can hear it too, but it does not effect image quality. Tamron should fix this issue at no charge!
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Aug 17, 2009
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mattr762
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Registered: Mar 3, 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 371
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Review Date: Aug 16, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $380.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Price. Quality of images. Weight. I love this lens so much I had my work buy one for their camera.
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Cons:
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Front ring where the hood attaches to rattles and is lose on both my and my works.
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I bought this lens several years ago and have taken thousands of photos with it. I haven't taken it off since I got it. It's the perfect walk around lens. I've used it for several weddings, senior pictures family events and vacation and I've never been disappointed with its performance.
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Aug 16, 2009
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ashy
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Registered: Jul 22, 2009
Location: N/A
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Jul 22, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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+ constant, wide aperture & useful zoom range
+ OMG! look @ the price tag! X P
+ already very sharp @ center wide-opened (across the range!), tack sharp when stopped down!
+ chromatic aberration a.k.a color fringing is pretty well controlled
+ fairly quick & accurate internal AF
+ small & light weight for a fast lens
+ quite flare prone
+ great color & contrast (personal preference)
+ comes with hood, brilliant front lens cap design X D
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Cons:
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- normal focusing motor with transformers-sounded AF X D
- average build quality
- average bokeh "milky-ness" from the 7-blade aperture under certain circumstances
- rear lens cap isn't universal
- front/back focus lottery may strike
- not optically stabilized
- ....... but kill yourself if you ask for more from the price X D
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when QC issue is out of the way, it is such a "fantastically terrific" lens for its price! IMO every cropped-sensor-DSLR users should @ least try this lens!
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Jul 22, 2009
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simon_k
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Registered: Mar 12, 2007
Location: Germany
Posts: 336
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Review Date: Jul 17, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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very sharp, small, cheap, fast AF
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Cons:
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noisy AF, no USM or FTM, CA at wide end
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My copy is extremely sharp at all focal lenghts even wide open. Of course it's not 300/2.8 L sharp but very good for a cheap small zoom.
After having owned the 18-55 Kit lens, a Sigma 17-70 and after those only primes I have to say this lens really is a gem. Overall not as good as the 24-70L but much more useful on APS-C and while being just as sharp it is way cheaper.
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Jul 17, 2009
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bluepolo
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Registered: Jun 15, 2005
Location: N/A
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Jul 13, 2009
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Recommend? |
Price paid: Not Indicated
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Pros:
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fast, fairly light, sharp
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Cons:
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Got this lens at Christmas 2008 to replace the kit 18-70 that I sold when I sold my D70.
My first impression was that it was good, but not really good, seemed a touch soft. Then, over a period of 6 months it started misbehaving, basically the auto-focus stopped working, and also the lens would not initialise properly when I turned on my D300, which led the D300 to think there was no lens attached.
Emailed warehouse express (UK dealer) who sold me the lens, and arranged for me to take it to Intro in Maidenhead. Advertised turnaround is a couple of weeks; they had it ready in 4 days! Great service.
When it came back, the focus and sharpness were superb, a level up from when I first had it. Now, for me its 10/10 for image quality.
Build quality still a little suspect since the thread that holds the lens hood has gone wobbly, so it'll be back for that to be fixed.
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Jul 13, 2009
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bluepolo
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Registered: Jun 15, 2005
Location: N/A
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Jul 13, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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sharp, wide, fairly light, good value
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Cons:
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Got this lens at Christmas 2008 to replace the kit 18-70 that I sold when I sold my D70.
My first impression was that it was good, but not really good, seemed a touch soft. Then, over a period of 6 months it started misbehaving, basically the auto-focus stopped working, and also the lens would not initialise properly when I turned on my D300, which led the D300 to think there was no lens attached.
Emailed warehouse express (UK dealer) who sold me the lens, and arranged for me to take it to Intro in Maidenhead. Advertised turnaround is a couple of weeks; they had it ready in 4 days! Great service.
When it came back, the focus and sharpness were superb, a level up from when I first had it. For example,
http://picasaweb.google.com/quitetall/Sardinia#5349363253719604066
and I used the lens all the time during a recent trip to Sardinia
http://picasaweb.google.com/quitetall/Sardinia
Now, for me its 10/10 for image quality.
Build quality still a little suspect since the thread that holds the lens hood has gone wobbly, so it'll be back for that to be fixed.
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Jul 13, 2009
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dealaddict
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Registered: Jun 11, 2009
Location: Cambodia
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Jun 11, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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good price, very sharp wide open at F2.8 for a zoom lens
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Cons:
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quality control, build quality is just ok
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The first copy I got has front focus issue, image is soft. Since I bought it on internet, it takes me 4 weeks to get a new one. Luckily, the 2nd one is focus properly. I am very impressed by the sharpness of this lens, very sharp. A little bit softer than my Canon 50mm F1.4 when zoom in 100%, so, I don't think you can see any different in a normal print.
My rating is based on the good copy, so, make sure you buy from somewhere you can return or exchange.
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Jun 11, 2009
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