Tamron Lenses

Tamron SP AF 17-50mm ƒ/2.8 XR Di-II VC LD Aspherical (IF). This is the reduced-sensor version of the Tamron-built lens I've been using for the past four or five years, most recently for these shots.

B&H has announced instant rebates of up to $150 on select Tamron lenses, good through the end of the year.

Mike

Featured Comment by Sam: "The 17–50 ƒ/2.8 VC in Nikon mount is probably my most used lens these days. A great bargain for under $700 and much more useful for me (thanks to stabilization) than the far pricier Nikon 17–55mm ƒ/2.8."

Comments

[Jayson Merryfield]

Too bad they've never made anything for Four Thirds.

[Stephen Best]

Remember when lenses had names like Nikkor 50mm f/2 or Super Angulon 90mm f/8 and this told you all you needed to know.

[Alison Shuman]

Oh, what a beautiful lens. Love looking at pix of thing with which to take pix.

I just found your site this afternoon, after re-kindling my photography interest with a new SLR and some cool new glass that I can't seem to put down, except when uploading pix into LR3 before posting to my blogs.

Will be a new avid reader.

Thanks!

[Bryan Davidson]

Is that in addition to the Tamron main-in rebate?

For example, does this lens: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/330647-USA/Tamron_AF272P700_SP_90mm_f_2_8_Di.html actually cost $359.95?

[Tim]

I have the 17-50 f/2.8 with IS too. It's gorgeous - about 4% sharper than the equivalent Canon kit lens according to DxOmark, focuses nice and close, and has lovely bokeh. I take about 95% my work with it these days - when I only have space for one lens, that's the one.
A "digital" version can't be all that bad.

[Mike Johnston]

"I just found your site this afternoon"

Greetings and welcome!

Mike

[Murray Lord]

It appears from the somewhat ambiguous fine print that these rebates are not available to anyone outside the USA.

[Paul H]

I got the earlier one to attach to my KM 5D - so it was stabilised already.... Great lens, apart from easily fixed barrel distortion at the 17mm. Great value too, compared to the camera manufacturers own offerings.

[emptyspaces]

Tamron makes some good stuff in my experience. The 17-50/2.8 and 28-75/2.8 are fantastic. The 90/2.8 macro is sweet, too. Tamron lenses are less expensive than equivalent Sigmas, usually. And they frequently offer rebates.

They don't make any fast primes, but they make a 14/2.8 I've always wanted to try.

[David Dyer-Bennet]

For much of my photographic life, the third-party lensmakers, particularly Vivitar and then Tamron and Tokina, were widely thought to make better zooms than the body manufacturers. It's only in the digital era that I've even owned a zoom made by one of the body manufacturers (and now my two most-used lenses are those, Nikon's 24-70/2.8 and 70-200/2.8). So it's great to watch the third-parties trying to claw back a bit of their former glory!

(And it's amazing what Sigma has done; from a despised also-ran to the maker of some of the most interesting lenses out there, from the 12-24mm FULL-FRAME zoom to the 200-500mm f/2.8, plus a bunch of fast wideangle primes.)

[Andrew Burday]

The page in the link above contains at least one error. It says that the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 non-VC in a Pentax mount has a $100 instant rebate. However, the page for that lens shows only a $45 mail-in rebate, and a price that has not changed in at least a month. I just confirmed by phone that the only rebate on that lens is the $45 mail-in rebate. When I told the rep that someone should correct the page Mike linked to, he claimed not to be able to call it up on his computer. (I read him the URL.)

B&H's regular price on that lens is still an attractive price, and the mail-in rebate is nice.

But people should realize that the page Mike linked to above is not fully reliable. Make sure you really are getting an instant rebate before buying on the basis of the information there.

[Avi]

On a note not really interesting to some, but very interesting to others, this is my main video lens on a T2i or 7d. The IS takes away all the nasty little vibrations and makes handheld video a little more watchable. And the zoom range is just about right for covering events.

An example video I shot with it: http://www.vimeo.com/12328201

[Keith Loh]

Yea it's too bad it's a US-only rebate. I would like to add a 17-50 to pair with my 28-75. Their 28-75 (I have the non-stabilized version) is my go to job lens. Very sharp, AF is okay, just a good all-rounder for my portraits and fashion shoots.

[Curt Hedman]

I'm confused - your post says "Instant Rebates", but B&H page linked only talks about mail-in rebates, and one says through end of December, the other through end of November... If what B&H is offering is the standard mail-in rebate, that doesn't seem any different than what has been available for awhile on their web site...

[e_dawg]

I have always liked my original version Tamron 17-50/2.8 (without built-in motor) and was intrigued when Tamron announced the VC (vibration control) version.

Originally, the choice was always between getting an fast f/2.8 17-50 zoom from Tamron or Sigma or getting a slower f/3.5-5.6 18-whatever zoom with VR or IS from the manufacturer. So the option of getting f/2.8 with stabilization in an affordable standard zoom seemed like a revelation.

But as i read more and more lens tests and user reviews on the net, it seems like 3rd party lenses with VC or OS are more likely to suffer from decentering and have more sample variation than their non-VC/OS predecessors.

Given the relatively lower QC and reliability of 3rd party lenses in general*, would buying a more complex to manufacture 3rd party lens with VC/OS be advisable?

* - http://lensplay.com/lenses/lens_defect_results.php

[Rube Redfield]

The Tamron is only ¥36,000 online in Japan.