This is not a Photoshop article but I think that it’s still good to share some photographic equipment with you that I have experience with. Lens is one of the most important parts of photographic gear so I wish this article with help you would help you find a good lens.

When I heard about new lens from Tamron, Tamron 17-50 F2.8 VC, I thought that this version must have some improvement over the current version, Tamron 17-50 F2.8 which I often use for most of my shots. My friend, Kun, and I went to camera shop in Bangkok, named AV camera, had chance to test new lens from Tamron, Tamron 17-50 F2.8 VC. Initially, I would like to test this lens with Canon EOS 400D for Canon mount but the Canon version is not available yet so I use my friend camera, Nikon D300, instead.

My reviewed points are listed below;

Body: Its body is bigger and better lens body than old version, Tamron 17-50 F2.8 . When I use it, I feel that it is more robust and fit a little bit better with my hands.

Focus Speed: The focus speed of Tamron 17-50 F2.8 VC is faster thanTamron 17-50 F2.8  but it’s still slower than Ultra Sonic Motor (USM for Canon) or Silent Wave Motor (SWM for Nikon). Anyway, I am impressed with this improvement.

Focus Sound: The non VC version, Tamron 17-50 F2.8, is so noisy; however, this version produces less noisy which is acceptable. If you compare its focus sound to Ultra Sonic Motor (USM for Canon) or Silent Wave Motor (SWM for Nikon) , it is still far away from the big names.

Vibration Compensation (VC): The Vibration Compensation (VC) is the most interesting point that I would like to see how excellent it is. I tried several slow speed shots and I still got good images. You can see from the sample shot below that I am able to hand held and a take photo at 50 mm with shutter speed of ¼ sec and I still got a nice photo. It is almost impossible for me to hand held and take good quality photos with ¼ sec shutter speed. When VC is on, you will see a little bit shaking, similar to Image Stabilizer (IS) of Canon, in your view finder while focusing and taking photos so please do not panic because VC is working.

Sharpness: At F2.8, this lens produces nice and acceptable sharp images. When you stopped down, this lens can create excellent image quality as you can see from the sample below. I capture detail at the middle of this photo.

Referring to a sample photo below with 100% zoom, at f 2.8 a photo is a little blur but over all image quality is good. When aperture is stopped down to F 4 onwards, the image quality is excellent. The image quality will decrease when aperture is very small (F22) but the overall is still very good.

Note: All shots are hand held shooting.

Looking at the border of photo, the lens makes nice and sharp photo starting at f 2.8. Normally, when stopping down aperture (f 4 onwards), the lens create excellent sharpness at border.

Let’s see the sample for image sharpness at different aperture values.

1st point in the middle at17 mm

2 nd point

Crop 100%

3rd point

Crop 100%

I took many shots from 17 mm to 50 mm with various f-number you can down load full images as per links below. Note: All shots are hand held shooting.

Photos at 17 mm ** Please remember that all shots are hand held shooting therefore they are not 100% match of each photo. All photos are 12 MP JPG images so each photo is big size.

Focal length = 17 mm, F 2.8, S = 1/400 sec, VC = On, Hand Held

Focal length = 17 mm, F 4, S = 1/250 sec, VC = On, Hand Held

Focal length = 17 mm, F 5.6, S = 1/125 sec, VC = On, Hand Held

Focal length = 17 mm, F 8, S = 1/60 sec, VC = On, Hand Held

Focal length = 17 mm, F 11, S = 1/30 sec, VC = On, Hand Held

Focal length = 17 mm, F 16, S = 1/15 sec, VC = On, Hand Held

Focal length = 17 mm, F 22, S = 1/8 sec, VC = On, Hand Held

Photos at 34 mm

Focal length = 34 mm, F 2.8, S = 1/250 sec, VC = On, Hand Held

Focal length = 34 mm, F 4, S = 1/160 sec, VC = On, Hand Held

Focal length = 34 mm, F 5.6, S = 1/80 sec, VC = On, Hand Held

Focal length = 34 mm, F 8, S = 1/40 sec, VC = On, Hand Held

Focal length = 34 mm, F 11, S = 1/20 sec, VC = On, Hand Held

Focal length = 34 mm, F 16, S = 1/10 sec, VC = On, Hand Held

Focal length = 34 mm, F 22, S = 1/5 sec, VC = On, Hand Held

Photos at 50 mm

Focal length = 50 mm, F 2.8, S = 1/250 sec, VC = On, Hand Held

Focal length = 50 mm, F 4, S = 1/125 sec, VC = On, Hand Held

Focal length = 50 mm, F 5.6, S = 1/60 sec, VC = On, Hand Held

Focal length = 50 mm, F 8, S = 1/30 sec, VC = On, Hand Held

Focal length = 50 mm, F 11, S = 1/15 sec, VC = On, Hand Held

Focal length = 50 mm, F 16, S = 1/8 sec, VC = On, Hand Held

Focal length = 50 mm, F 22, S = 1/4 sec, VC = On, Hand Held

Motorcycle shot at 36 mm

Focal length = 36 mm, F 2.8, S = 1/640 sec, VC = On, Hand Held

Focal length = 36 mm, F 4, S = 1/320 sec, VC = On, Hand Held

Focal length = 36 mm, F 5.6, S = 1/160 sec, VC = On, Hand Held

Focal length = 36 mm, F 8, S = 1/80 sec, VC = On, Hand Held

Focal length = 36 mm, F 11, S = 1/40 sec, VC = On, Hand Held

Focal length = 36 mm, F 16, S = 1/20 sec, VC = On, Hand Held

Focal length = 36 mm, F 22, S = 1/13 sec, VC = On, Hand Held

Distortion: At 17 mm, barrel distortion is noticeable as you can see from sample shots. The barrel distortion reduces when long focal length is applied. There is slightly noticeable barrel at 24 mm. After a focal length of 24 mm, the barrel distortion is almost none.

Price: ’Tamron 17-50 F2.8 VC‘s price is about 649$ (according to amazon.com) for both Nikon and Canon Mount which is 149 $ higher than the old version,Tamron 17-50 F2.8 .

In comparison to Nikor 17-55 F 2.8 (1330 $) in case of Nikon mount, it’s almost half price of Nikor lens. What’s more, looking at Canon Lens for the same focal range , Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM Lens (1040 $), the Tamron is still 400 approximately cheaper.

Conclusion: Although I did not much time for testing this lens, I think this lens is one of the good normal zoom lens for APS-C sensor camera. Therefore, before buying new normal lens or upgrading new lens for your digital camera, please consider this lens.

Where can you buy it at very cheap price?

I recommend Amazon.com because you will be the best price on the internet and Amazon has good reputation of good delivery.

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