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Tamron 17-35MM F/2.8-4 Di LD Aspherical (IF)
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Review Date: Apr 15, 2011
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $250.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Sharp enough, Cheap, f/2.8 at 17mm (the only FL i bought it for), light, pleasing bokeh when you have a situation that allows for it. pleasing colors and contrast. very manageable distortion
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Cons:
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Retardedly slow focus. (not the end of the world for a ultra wide) serious vingetting on a FF.
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If you own a crop camera.... just go get a crop lens like tamrons crop version of the 28-75 f/2.8. think its a 17-55 or something. If you have a full frame and need wide and cheap.... I cant imagine it gets better than this for the price. check out the resolution chart on http://www.the-digital-picture.com/reviews/Tamron-17-35mm-f-2.8-4-Di-Lens-Review.aspx compare it vs the canon L lenses. at 17mm f/2.8 the center is as good.
focusing is slow... like.... ya know the sound an automatic garage door makes. thats about the speed of sound it makes (if that makes sense) slow.
Like the tamron 28-75 lens i own both have build quality much better than canon's low end stuff. I would say somehere between the 50 f/1.8 and the 85 f/1.8 closer to the 85 though.
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Tokina 80-200mm f/2.8 AT-X 828 AF PRO
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Review Date: Sep 18, 2010
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Recommend? |
Price paid: Not Indicated
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Pros:
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This is to adjust from my initial review.
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Cons:
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Well turns out it back focused. spent 2 weeks in a repair shop, then 2 weeks at Tokina, then two more weeks at a repair shop. Finally Tokina said it was working perfectly and the reason it appears to be back focusing is that it was not made to be used on a DSLR.
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KEH.com rocks they gave me full store credit 6 months after I bought it becasue their site had it listed as a digital compatible lens. I now have a 70-200 and sorry but with Tokinas Customer service like that i wont be getting another tokina lens, maybe not even another 3rd party lens.
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Tokina 80-200mm f/2.8 AT-X 828 AF PRO
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Review Date: Nov 18, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharp
Fast AF (at least for what i have to compare with)
So So Cheap
The best color and picture of all my lenses (of course when you see what I have that may not say much.)
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Cons:
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CA - In high contrast CA stress test lots of CA at f/2.8 gone at f/9
My coppy (on sony a200) seems like it may be back focusing by about 1/2" will have to do more conclusive test but I got very sharp pics at 2.8 just not centered at what i was shooting. after 2.8 it is crazy sharp.
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Keep in mind I can only rate based on what i have owned, I will get with a friend of mine who has the canon 2.8 usm and try do do a better comparison and adjust my review if needed.
I love this lens, I got a sony 50mm f/1.8 2 weeks ago which was nice but nothing like this in sharpeness or color.
I reviewed this on Dyxum in lenght but i am just gona point out the areas that probably concern most potential buyers.
AF. on my whimpy little a200 this thing auto focuses like a champ. Fast (considering the focus range i would say it moves as fast as my 50mm 1.8, obviously it has to move much farther so in that respect it is slower to actualy obtain the focus from one end to the other. It is also fairly quite when compared to my sony kit 18-70, or my old nikon beer can.
Sharpness. will have to do some more Controled test but in just basic shooting, free hand with my Steady shot on. it does fantastic. anything up from f2.8 is great and f2.8 is great its just off by 1/2" so MF (this is not conclusive but i will do more test and update if it proves to be user error or something else.) at f/9 - 80mm with flash indoors at 160 shutter it is unreal, I was just playing around free hand and I have never shot a more vivid pic ever.
CA is an issue if you shoot high contrast like Buildings with backlight ect. bad at 2.8 (in worst case setup) gone at f/9
CA was not apparant in most of my pics, only in cases where i tried to make it show.
It wheighs 3lbs.  that makes me happy as I like heavy things. that will chage quickly the first tiem I take this out but for right now. New heavy toy = happy.
I read a review that said this could be used as a weapon. No joke and i bet it would not hurt the lens.
Tripod mount, some people were complaining about it, seems great to me, the fact that its permenat means it is very solid and the rotate action on my coppy is very good. it seems like there is pleanty of clearance for any tripod mount but maybe not.
Built like a tank seems a little off built like a HK PSG-1 is better. (solid, heavy, yet still refined and percise)
Needs to be said tha KEH.com for used gear is great. like i said i paid $350 for the lens which (as others have reviewed) came in condition much better that KEH stated. If you find something there that is a rare find order via phone not online as phone takes priority over web. Somewhere there is some poor chap i am sure, whos lens I got becasue i ordered via phone. Sorry.
It drove me crazy not being able to find enough data before i bought this lens so feel free to ask me questions at [email protected]
The is a Christmas present to other than my initial testing i wont get to see it again untill 12-25-09
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