Am I crazy?

[illy]

A friend of mine purchased the 17-55mm EFS and he had the Canon 17-40L and the Tammy 17-50 going spare.

He offered both to me for £300 (£150 cheaper than the canon is worth - I know) but I went for the tammy. The better IQ, 10mm long end, 1 stop faster did it for me.

[illy]

I'll take the vow of silence as a yes :D

[Lightstream]

Well, it comes down to a choice for the rest of us ;)

1. Say the L was a better choice. Get bashed to death by the Tamron crowd who feel insulted.

2. Say the Tamron was a better choice. Get bashed to death by the L crowd who feel the Tamron sucks.

Me? I'm gonna say nothin' and tiptoe away before the crowd gets here ;)

[condyk]

You saying both for £300 or either for £300? If the former then I would have taken both and sold one. If you paid £300 for the Tammy alone then you got done because they cost less new ;-) £300 is a very good price for the 17-40mm L.

[illy]

Well, it comes down to a choice for the rest of us ;)

1. Say the L was a better choice. Get bashed to death by the Tamron crowd who feel insulted.

2. Say the Tamron was a better choice. Get bashed to death by the L crowd who feel the Tamron sucks.

Me? I'm gonna say nothin' and tiptoe away before the crowd gets here ;)

lol :D Lightstream I've been browsing through your lens camparisons for a while (awesome!) however you seem to have every lens apart from the Tammy 17-50mm. Would be interesting to see a test; 17-55mm, 17-50mm, 18-50mm, 17-40mm :P

Condyk, I know the Canon costs around £450 and the Tamron costs around £300 - I couldn't be bothered buying canon and selling it and then buying the tamron.

[Lightstream]

You are probably mixing me up with LightRules, who is the King of the Lens Test ;)

I own a few red ringers, and a roughly equal number of non-red-ringers, but that's about it.

[illy]

You are probably mixing me up with LightRules, who is the King of the Lens Test ;)

I own a few red ringers, and a roughly equal number of non-red-ringers, but that's about it.

Whoops. I am indeed.

[Lightstream]

No worries..

The main thing is, are you happy with your choice? I feel that one needs to be happy with their glass regardless of what others on the Net, or in person, around them, think.

For a long time I was happy with my 17-85 (and still am, to be honest), despite the bum rap it got on the Net. Nor did I feel insecure about the need of an L to somehow "justify" what I did. Then I moved to full frame (5D) and it turns out that many of the lenses I need and like carry the red ring, such as the 17-40 (replacing 10-22 on EF-S), and the 24-105 (replacing 17-85).

[illy]

No worries..

The main thing is, are you happy with your choice? I feel that one needs to be happy with their glass regardless of what others on the Net, or in person, around them, think.

For a long time I was happy with my 17-85 (and still am, to be honest), despite the bum rap it got on the Net. Nor did I feel insecure about the need of an L to somehow "justify" what I did. Then I moved to full frame (5D) and it turns out that many of the lenses I need and like carry the red ring, such as the 17-40 (replacing 10-22 on EF-S), and the 24-105 (replacing 17-85).

Thanks for the detailed answer :)

Yes I am happy. I am addicted to pixel peeping and various lens test :p I probably know the photozone.de reviews inside out and lightrules' tests - so the purchase wasn't spontaneous. I quite frequently print big (20 by 30) and so IQ is important - looking at the tests the Tammy's corners are surprisingly sharper (considering its designed for the APSc crop) than the Canons. So far I see that its IQ second to the Canon 17-55mm. Secondly the stop advantage is very important as I think a lens which covers the 30mm focal length will suit me as a walk around in the house. The brighter the viewfinder the better :)

[Dewpoint]

I would have chosen the Tamron in a heartbeat providing it was a good performer.

[illy]

You saying both for £300 or either for £300? If the former then I would have taken both and sold one. If you paid £300 for the Tammy alone then you got done because they cost less new ;-) £300 is a very good price for the 17-40mm L.

He's a funny guy. I know that Tamron, new, is around £290 - but he's a friend and he did offer me the Canon for £150 less - so I decided to give him the £10 as a New Year Present. The constitution was that only one lens would be bought - he thought I was going to go for the Canon. The deal was mostly tongue in cheek.

I'm just interested in what others would have done in my situtation, with reasons (its an 'L' is not a valid reason :p )

[liza]

I would have done the same thing to get an f/2.8 lens with proven performance like the Tammy vs. an f/4L lens. You have to base your purchases on what you shoot, and the slower lens just wouldn't get it for me.