I was a Nikon camera user for more than 20 years until I switched to Canon digital about 4 years ago. At that time,I purchased the lenses that had the best reviews and sometimes was disappointed in my choices.
I had the Canon 17-40mm 4.0 L series lens which garnered great reviews and at about $800 was half the price of the Canon similar lens but wider at 2.8.
I always had a love hate relationship with this lens and found myself relying on my prime lenses in the studio or places I would not risk getting mounds of dust on my sensor from outdoor lens changes.
Thru all of my photo career I've never really been a big fan of the quality of zoom lenses compared to primes. If you blow up a small segment of an image at 100% on your monitor you'll notice it has the effect of looking like "Cotton candy." On a good fast fixed focus prime lens you will not encounter that.
When this new Tamron lens came out I jumped at the chance to have a fast 2.8 lens that had a longer reach at 50mm than the Canon 17-40mm.
Tamron created this new line of lenses just for digital and they will not work on film cameras.
I purchased locally and was able to pick up a UV at Best Buy for an additional $10.00. That was one major difference between the lenses right there. The Canon 17-40 has a 77mm thread which makes optical filters very expensive.
The front end of the Canon lens was too bulky for most of my camera bags.
So I was overjoyed that I could put the new Tamron lens on and my camera with lens and it fit in an oversize purse as well as all of my camera bags.
My first shoot with this was a promo event in a store. I use bounced flash
and the lens did not hunt and focused quickly. I noticed it was a bit louder than the Canon lens was. I was shooting at all apertures and speeds and all the exposures were tack sharp. Amazingly sharp! When I got back to my studio all the images were perfect.None to toss! Amazing. At 100% blow up on the monitor no cotton candy effect.
Next night I took this lens outside and did long time exposures in black and white mode and in color. Impressive. The fast lens allowed alot of ambient light in giving me a nice spectrum of grey highlights and no muddy shadow areas.
I've now had this lens for a month using it daily 7 days a week. I was so impressed I sold off the Canon 17-40 to another photog friend that loves it. To each his own,I will stick with the Tamron and probably come up with some award winning images very soon!
Here is the specs on the wonderful lens from the tamron.com site:
Di II: Lenses are designed for exclusive use on digital cameras with smaller-size imagers and inherit all of the benefits of our Di products. These lenses are not designed for 35mm film cameras and digital cameras with image sensors larger than 24mm x 16mm.
The SP AF17-50mm F/2.8 is a lightweight, compact, fast standard zoom lens designed exclusively for digital SLR cameras, expanding the product concept of the popular SP AF28-75mm F/2.8 zoom lens.
In addition, portrait shots are made beautiful with the natural out-of-focus effect characteristic provided by the fast F/2.8 aperture. Additionally, a broader photographic expression through the use of faster shutter speeds as a result of the maximum aperture offers enhanced photographic pleasure. The lens boasts one of the best close-up shooting performances in the class of fast standard zoom lenses designed exclusively for digital cameras and featuring an F/2.8 maximum aperture throughout the entire zoom range, to ensure stress-free photographic shots at all focal lengths and distances.
Model A016
Lens Construction (Groups/Elements) 13/16
Angle of View 78°45'-31°11' (APS-C size equivalent)
Type of Zooming Rotation
Diaphragm Blade Number 7 (Circular apertures)
Minimum Aperture F/32
Minimum Focus Distance 10.6in.(0.27m)
Macro Magnification Ratio 1:4.5 (at f=50mm MFD 0.27m)
Filter Diameter ø67
Weight 430g (15.2oz)
Diameter x Length ø2.9 x 3.2in.
(ø74.0 x 81.7mm)
Accessory Flower shaped lens hood
Mount Canon AF, Sony/Maxxum AF-D, Nikon AF-D
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