Tamrom 17-50mm VC on 7D: my thoughts

First I'd like to apologize for not having any pics, I'm not able to upload any at the moment as I'm not at the computer with them, sorry! Now...I went to mah favorite place ever, Pro Photo Supply, and picked up a 17-50mm VC to go on my 7D earlier today....

--Build quality--
Great! Not an L series and not as nice as my Tokina 11-16, but it's comparable to the Canon 85mm 1.8 I'd say. Feels solid. Zoom ring is nice. No play at all. The bad: The focusing ring. Man, this thing is useless. Absolutely NO resistance whatsoever...like moving a piece of paper! I could move it by blowing on it hard enough. No, I'm not kidding. Yeah.

--Focusing--
Focusing was really accurate. No problems whatsoever. Was dead on. Speed was alright...a little faster than the 18-55mm IS kit lens but nowhere near the 85mm f1.8 I have for comparison.

--Image Quality--
Sigh...I really wanted to love this thing. Price was right...But the image quality is just not there. The center of the frame is sharp at f2.8. As you move out from the center, and not even at the extreme edges, but just as you move out from the center, it quickly gets bad. Quite soft...and the contrast gets really poor.
This might be okay if it got a lot better when you stopped down to f3.5, f4, or even f5.6. It is still soft at the corners at f5.6. The 18-55mm IS "kit lens" has sharper corners. :\ The sad thing is at f8 it's not even close, the kit lens is quite a bit sharper at the corners, at least at the extremes of the zoom range (i didn't really test it at 35mm-ish). I was very disappointed. The center is great...if only the rest of the frame was. I'm going to return it tomorrow.

Anyway, maybe someone else will have better luck with one than I...it really could have been the perfect bargain. (lemme just get this out of the way: yeah, it was tested with live view 10x magnification mf, 10sec timer, vc off, on sturdy tripod, with 10 second self timer.)

Comparison pics please!!

that sucks, i really wanted one

Weird, my 17-50 is beyond razor sharp. I want to say that it's the sharpest lenses I own, and I own some serious glass, including a 24-70L, a 16-35L, and a 70-200L 2.8IS.

My VC is sharper than what my no-VC was. I must have had a bad copy of the non-VC. I plan on doing a comparison with a friends 17-55is soon.

This new VC lens is also very good with video.

Edit, didn't notice the VC. I have the older Tamron 17-50.

Can you post the serial number. Some thoughts have been the first batch had quite a few duds? If I remember correctly, it seemed that reviews got somewhat better after serial number 5000.

woos wrote in post #9522720
First I'd like to apologize for not having any pics, I'm not able to upload any at the moment as I'm not at the computer with them, sorry! Now...I went to mah favorite place ever, Pro Photo Supply, and picked up a 17-50mm VC to go on my 7D earlier today....

--Build quality--
Great! Not an L series and not as nice as my Tokina 11-16, but it's comparable to the Canon 85mm 1.8 I'd say. Feels solid. Zoom ring is nice. No play at all. The bad: The focusing ring. Man, this thing is useless. Absolutely NO resistance whatsoever...like moving a piece of paper! I could move it by blowing on it hard enough. No, I'm not kidding. Yeah.

--Focusing--
Focusing was really accurate. No problems whatsoever. Was dead on. Speed was alright...a little faster than the 18-55mm IS kit lens but nowhere near the 85mm f1.8 I have for comparison.

--Image Quality--
Sigh...I really wanted to love this thing. Price was right...But the image quality is just not there. The center of the frame is sharp at f2.8. As you move out from the center, and not even at the extreme edges, but just as you move out from the center, it quickly gets bad. Quite soft...and the contrast gets really poor.
This might be okay if it got a lot better when you stopped down to f3.5, f4, or even f5.6. It is still soft at the corners at f5.6. The 18-55mm IS "kit lens" has sharper corners. :\ The sad thing is at f8 it's not even close, the kit lens is quite a bit sharper at the corners, at least at the extremes of the zoom range (i didn't really test it at 35mm-ish). I was very disappointed. The center is great...if only the rest of the frame was. I'm going to return it tomorrow.

Anyway, maybe someone else will have better luck with one than I...it really could have been the perfect bargain. (lemme just get this out of the way: yeah, it was tested with live view 10x magnification mf, 10sec timer, vc off, on sturdy tripod, with 10 second self timer.)

Thanks for the great thoughts

IMO actual owner independent reviews have as much bearing on consumer purchasing decisons then the reputable testing sites we all frequent.

I would assume by now Tamron knows they produced a product that definitely needs some revisions performed.

Problem is the manufacturers will never publicly admit it and consumers are the ones going thru the hassel of purchasing the lemons and returning the bad copys at their time & expense.

Regards,

My copy is sharp at the center but soft at the corner @f2.8, but it becomes very sharp when stop down to F5.6, from corner to corner.

On the road wrote in post #9545262
My copy is sharp at the center but soft at the corner @f2.8, but it becomes very sharp when stop down to F5.6, from corner to corner.

The build quality is no doubt much better then the 18-55 IS kit lens but since most folks purchase this Tamron 17-50 VC for its constant f2.8 along with VC the question you have to consider is this Tamron worth the extra $500 for its apparent soft IQ wide open.

Why spend this extra cash for essentially a lens that only produces optimum IQ at a sweetspot of f5.6 & 35mm when you can do the same with the $100 kit lens.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com …omp=0&FLIComp=0​&APIComp=0

Hopefully Tamron will rectify these numerous purchaser complaints which will make this VC version popular like the non-vc has been.

Regards,

I shot with my friends 7d and 17-50mm VC yesterday and I have nothing but good things to say about it. It's an absolutely stellar lens. Far better than the non-VC. I think you may have just gotten a lemon.

I agree with most. The lens is sharp at the center but its not really good from there on. I played with two copy of the lens and they're both exactly soft at the edges. Even at f/4 its still soft at the edges.

When you have tested at the edges did you ensure the things at the edges were actually in focus? Because F/2.8 will have a relatively shallow DoF.

Silverfox1 wrote in post #9546449
The build quality is no doubt much better then the 18-55 IS kit lens but since most folks purchase this Tamron 17-50 VC for its constant f2.8 along with VC the question you have to consider is this Tamron worth the extra $500 for its apparent soft IQ wide open.

Why spend this extra cash for essentially a lens that only produces optimum IQ at a sweetspot of f5.6 & 35mm when you can do the same with the $100 kit lens.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com …omp=0&FLIComp=0​&APIComp=0

Hopefully Tamron will rectify these numerous purchaser complaints which will make this VC version popular like the non-vc has been.

Regards,

Thanks for the link. Yes, the IQ of my copy is like the review.

I read a lots of good reviews before purchasing the 17-50 VC. I felt down when I read the review on Photozone, and I felt down again after reading the review on your link.
.