Tamron SP AF17-50 f2.8

[Tannachy]

Thinking of possibly at some point in the next few months replacing the 18-55 kit lens on my pentax. I was wondering if anyone here has this 17-55 tamron? What are your thoughts on it. I like the idea of having a walk around zoom that opens right up to f2.8 and isn't that pricey, currently its about £250 on amazon.

[MikeW]

It's a fantastic lens. I have the VR version. It's sharp wide open, pretty much indistinguishable from my 50mm f/1.8 in terms of sharpness. Fast AF (on my Nikon). A lot of people on the forums here have that lens. Greg from Photo & Video highly recommended it. I had a Sigma f/2.8 before which was unusable wider than f/4.

[chrisgin]

I have the non-IS/VR version. Bought it to replace the kit lens on the 350D back in 2007, it's a good lens for both portraits and landscapes.

[rjd]

JED bought a used one for his nikon, had issues but got it fixed reasonably cheap and it was a decent lens.

I didnt like the autofocus on it though , noisy and skitish.

[dgrobler]

My wife has the non-IS/VR version as well - AF is a bit louder than usual but a nice all-rounder.

[Russ]

That's funny, cos I have the VC version! (not IS, VR, OS, SR! )
Focus is fine, quiet. Not sure about IQ as I haven't "tested" it, just taken photos.

I've read the VC version may not be as good as the non-VC version, but can't really comment on that. All I know is that, despite some Canon/Nikon users saying "you don't need stabilisation of short FLs", it does come in very handy.

[dgrobler]

Focus is fine, quiet...

It's not alarmingly loud, just louder than what I'm used to (AF-S and Manual)

[JED]

JED bought a used one for his nikon, had issues but got it fixed reasonably cheap and it was a decent lens.

I didnt like the autofocus on it though , noisy and skitish.

Yup, very good lens for not much money. The focus is accurate but not especially quick (built in motor Non VC version).
Sharp enough wide open across the zoom range.
Very sharp at F5.6 but generally needs stopping down to F8/F11 to get the corners up to parity with the center, especially at the wide end.

[Ben]

I have original no built in motor version for Nikon. Good optically and I do not have no problem with focus speed but I do not much know about SWM lenses except Sigma 10-20.
Like any other screw drive focus lens, it is not quiet but not too noisy like very old AF nikkor, it is pretty much average.
Sharp even wide open but improve if you stop down say to 5.6 and optimal may be around F8 across the range. I'm using it with D200.

[Tannachy]

Thanks for the replies, this will definitely be on my to purchase list for the next 6 months. I remember being a poor student/traveller and the lure of new equipment was beyond me, now I just want to buy new toys!

[Desmond]

I had the older non-vc version and liked the results - until it started giving me the "F--" error on my Nikon[s] . I eventually sold it cheap
because I didn't feel comfortable using it any more . I think the main issue was taking of the lens hood each time I was finished with it - there's
quite a bit of force on the barrel if you just grab the lens hood and wist it off . Not sure if that was the real problem but wouldn't mind trying the
newer one with VC .