Steve's SnapShot Cons Bottom Line Pick This Up If...

Very well built; Comfortable controls; Capable VC system; Fast f/2.8 maximum aperture; Produces beautiful results when stopped down; Appealing focal range; Half the price of it's Nikon and Canon competitors

Quite soft when wide open; Small amount of visible CA; I felt the zoom ring had a bit too much resistance; AF and VC systems make a good amount of noise; Some front focusing was noted while capturing indoor portraits

When I first started searching for a wide angle multipurpose zoom lens, I shortlisted Canon 18-200mm IS, Canon 18-55mm IS, Canon 17-50mm F2.8 USM, Sigma 17-50mm F2.8 & Tamron 17-50mm F2.8. I read various expert reviews, user reviews and lens comparisons on the internet.

Very sharp in outdoor settings; very good from f3.5/24mm onwards

soft at f2.8; difficult to focus in low light conditions; slow auto focus

Outperforms similarly priced lenses, but quality control could be an issue

Fast f/2.8 constant-aperture; Good sharpness

No full-time manual override

A fast aperture standard zoom with Vibration Compensation for Nikon or Canon APS-C sensor digital SLR cameras.

Excellent resolution in the centre at most apertures and focal lengths; Vibration Compensation is very effective; Good value for money

Falloff in resolution at 50mm and f/2.8; Flare control

This high-speed digital only ultrawide ($650, street) upgrades Tamron's nonstabilized 17–50mm f/2.8 ($460, street). Like the earlier lens (which remains in the lineup), this version uses an Extra Refractive (XR) element, two elements of low dispersion, and three of compound aspheric glass-adding up...

The Tamron SP AF 17-50mm F/2.8 XS is a great lens with stunning image quality and a fixed aperture at 2.8. The build quality is very decent, but the lens isn't very light. 2.8 is a large aperture, it is fixed throughout the range, which is great for handheld photos and low light situations.

A full Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II VC Lens review is planned, but here is a quick lab-only review: Preliminary findings from lab-only testing have been somewhat disheartening however. You can see the image quality results in the ISO 12233 resolution chart link above.

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After using it for around 3 months, have to say it is not at all impressive. May be I hv a bad copy, but this lens consistently churns out average photos. Either go for Nikon (which is costlier but impressive output) or stick with cheaper Nikon 18-55.

I bought this lens a few days ago. It seems good built, pictures are good quality and sharpness. I don`t like zoom ring, it`s little stiff (at least for me). When you turn on VC, you can really hear it. I have made abot 200 fotos; AF is working good.

good picture quality; good sharpness

zoom ring a bit stiff; you can hear VC