Tamron SP AF 17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di II VC LD Aspherical [IF] Pro Reviews

Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II VC Lens' AF is loud. AF speed is not bad, but the noise deceptively makes the focusing seem slow. VC is also loud.

The lens does have some weaknesses, such as the falloff in resolution at 50mm and f/2.8 and its control of flare, but even at its weakest, the lens is still a capable tool. When the price is taken into consideration, this optic does represent excellent value for money.

The Tamron SP 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II VC (B005) offers some very appealing features for those in the market for a fast, moderately wide zoom lens. Image quality is quite good when the lens is stopped down, however we saw some unwanted softness when using faster (wide open) aperture settings.

This test has proved that the low-cost label so often associated with independent lenses indicates only part of their appeal. Image quality and usability are also strengths and Tamron's 17-50mm f/2.8 also manages to be surprisingly compact. The Tamron is a nice lens all-round – it's just a shame that the focusing ring rotates in AF mode yet seems not to allow manual adjustment for those occasions when the camera fails to focus on the desired plane.

Tamron seems to have had to make some sacrifices to add Vibration Control to its popular 17-50mm ƒ/2.8. It's not bad with regard to sharpness, just not as good as the non-VC version, leading potential buyers to decide how badly they need Vibration Control.

At the end of the day, the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II strikes us as an excellent option for a "walk-around" lens for your DLSR, one that we think hasn't really gotten the attention it deserves in the crowded lens market. (Highly recommended, in case you were wondering.)

The Tamron AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD Aspherical [IF] VC is a very promising lens based on its specifications. However, it falls somewhat short of the high expectations especially when considering the excellent performance of its non-VC variant. The biggest weakness of the lens is the rather soft corner/border performance at large aperture settings. The quality increases when stopping down and it's certainly possible to achieve very high quality results. The level of distortions and vignetting is about average for a lens in this class. The good news is the unusually low degree of lateral CAs which increases the subjective quality perception at the image borders quite a bit. The quality of the bokeh is generally decent for a lens in this class.