Got my Tamron 17-50 f2.8 and am blown away.

[NateS]

Well...no doubt I made the right decision in getting this lens over the competitor's.

I got my Tamron 17-50 tonight and whoa is this thing sharp. Sharper wide open at f2.8 than my 50mm is wide open at f1.8. I'd venture to say that it might be sharper wide open at f2.8 than my 50mm is at f2.8.

Believe it or not....this first picture is with a very, very slight amount of USM on the eyes. Probably 1/3 the amount I normally do when shooting with the 50 (no sharpening or PP on anything else).

This one's just for kicks....we told Brandon to give Gracie (the dog) a kiss and he ran to the gate and tried to give her a kiss

I can post the un-eye sharpened of the first if requested, but so far I'm pretty amazed with this little lens. If I can get shots as sharp as that first one wide open @ f2.8, then I'm not sure what else to ask for....oh yeah and it was shot at 50mm where this lens is suppossedly it's least sharp.

 

[potownrob]

These are great shots. I haven't gotten too serious with my 17-50 but, whenever I play around with it, I am always surprised how well it performs at 50mm. I go to zoom in more, thinking I have it set somewhere in the 17-28 range, and find it's all the way zoomed in. Having that wide f/2.8 aperture across the range helps a lot. I also like that it looks and feels much more like a "real" lens than the kit 18-55 lens.

 

[icassell]

This has been my walk-around lens since I bought my 30D. I love it.

Ian

 

[Kegger]

Congrats Nate!!! You'll love it more as you use it.

 

[AlexColeman]

Yeah, I might have had a bad copy, but the one I had was worst @8 then my 16-85 was at 5.6 or my 17-55 @ 2.8.

 

[NateS]

Thanks guys. I expected it to be "okay" at f2.8, but didn't expect it to be this sharp. It must be extremely sharp by f/4 since it does so well wide open.

I'm suprised at how heavy the lens is. Coming from the 18-55 kit and 50mm f1.8, this thing has some "meat" to it. I like it though...feels more like quality glass to actually feel the lens hanging off the front.

 

[anubis404]

Agreed. I have the Sigma 18-50 F2.8 and am enjoying similar results.

 

[dEARlEADER]

Enjoy it!

I've been thinking about picking one up for wide shots(people) in lieu of my 12-24

 

[jlykins]

I keep preaching about this lens to everyone I know. It's an awesome lens, and a third of the price of the brand name lenses. Wait till you try out their 70-200 2.8...