Customer Reviews

Tamron AF 17-35mm f/2.8-4.0 Di LD SP Aspherical (IF) Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

On a 1.6x crop factor camera like the Canon 350D/20D, the effective area of this lens is equivalent to a 27-56mm lens on a old school film-based SLR camera. As I come from a background of extensive 50mm lens use, I find this to be my most common working range (and I have four other excellent lenses in my bag to choose from).

My reason for purchase was to replace the pathetic kit lens that comes with the 350D. The Tamron is a much faster lens at f/2.8-4, and as it is designed for full-frame SLR use, the photos you'll get on a 1.6x crop factor camera are outstanding. The edges are sharp and just as bright as the center. In fact, the images produced with this lens are so sharp that you'll find yourself reducing the in-camera sharpening for portraiture. Additionally, my photos show great contrast and need very little--if any--post processing.

I do have a few complaints about this lens. First, the lens hood's diameter is enormous (over 4"), and I wish there were a smaller hood for 1.6x crop factor camera use. Second, like all Tamron lenses that I have encountered, the manual focus ring moves during autofocus. Third, the focus should be faster and much quieter. However, in light of all the positive aspects going for this lens these are minor issues.

Reviewers on other websites have given this lens outstanding marks, and it was only after careful research that I decided on purchasing it. I was then off to Thailand where this lens truly proved its worth.

This is about the same range of the Canon 17-40mm F/4L lens and offer equivalent and sometimes superior optical quality and it's F/2.8 at the wide end. The lens is super sharp and very contrasty, with fast auto-focusing and a good feel on the focusing ring. The best part is this fast and optical superb lens is about half of price of the Canon 17-40mm lens. A true steal. Can't say enough good things about it. I am posting some sample pictures to show how good the image quality is, too bad the image size can't be bigger because the sharpness from this lens is truly amazing.

If you have read my review for the Canon i9900 you know that I shoot for Federal Law Enforcement and the military, with them I shoot prime OEM lens not third party lens...

However I cannot personally afford OEM lens so I shoot third party, this Tamron lens is by far the best third party lens I have ever used. It is built very sturdy, not flimsy feeling as third party lenses can feel. It is very sharp, and the outer frame distortion is very low. The Bokeh(circles of confusion) are very nice as well. I think this is worhty in anyones camera bag!

Dennis

Wide angle lenses have got to be the love-hate lens in any high end camera collection. You are always giving up something. Zooms especially engender frustration as they are least able to tease away the annoying reality of wide angle problems.

Except in a very high end models, the sensors don't see the full 1:1 range, so any lens tends to be somewhat telephoto (zoomed in). So now a wide angle lens , zoomed in a bit by that geometry, may stand in to serve as a more standard viewing lens to offset that inherent zoom (from the digital sensor). In that case, variable zooming sure would be nice to have - but not if wide angle optical problems come with it.

So go totally broke (a lens over $1500) or put up with some form of nasty edge lighting problems, distortion, color shift etc. One brand of wide angle - a well known brand - has a great potential version with great sounding specs, but gets it right on maybe half (huge problem with bad manufacture). Nope. Crap shoot.

This brand's version, Tamron, is rock solid, inexpensive for the level of image quality, and can serve as the default lens to leave on your digital SLR. It's that good. Whatever they did to make this lens, you are not aware of seeing "wide angleness" when viewing the images.

And yes you could go wider in angle with other choices, maybe buy the Russian fisheye for really extreme purposes. That's not an alternative for this lens, especially on a 1.6 conversion as with most digital backs. The one reviewed here, got a good work out on a Canon Rebel, given as a gift to a professional photographer whose images with it are just wonderful.

Now I want one for me.

I bought the Tamron 17-35 for my Canon 20D, to compliment the Tamron 28-75 XR DI which I liked a lot.

The 17-35 range is definitely wide angle, and not much use beyond that. The lens is great for indoors shooting, and outdoor shots where you want to get in close with your subject or your looking for some wide panoramas.

Right out of the box, I started taking shots that seem reminiscent of some National Geographic indoor/people shots. Tthis lens will give you shots and a perspective that only professionals have the luxury of.

The lens is definitely sharp with good contrast. It's nice to have F2.8 at 17mm. Very interesting to watch the max aperture change to F4 in what seems to be a fairly short zoom range.

The lens surface is somewhat bulbous and almost sticks out as far as the edge of the lens, which makes me wonder if it will be easy to get scratched. Somehow a UV filter doesn't seem like the answer.

I haven't had a problem with flare but then I know how to steer backlit shots.

Build quality is very good, up to the usual Tamron high standards.

For some reason I rated the lens at 4 stars, whereas I rated the Tamron 28-75 at 5 stars (see my other reviews).

I'm not sure why I rated the lens lower than the 28-75, but maybe it just speaks to the usefulness of the lens.

The 17-35 is not the lens your likely to have attached to your camera most of the time. Certainly a 28-75 is more practical.

But, for the price, it is definitely a lens that can have its applications, and separate some of your shots from the rest of the crowd.

I would recommend this lens as a wide angle, for sure. Given the price and build quality, its a very good value.

I was on a tight budget to get a single lens (for indoor/outdoor people & group shots and few landscape shots) and chose this based on reviews. This lens produces sharp pictures outside and in good lighting conditions (non-flash situations). However, it does leave something to be desired for low-light hand held indoor shots of people. I am looking into getting the Canon 28mm f/1.8 USM to fill that gap (I would have loved to get the canon 50mm f/1.4, but on a 1.6x camera it is 80mm which is not very useful for me). It does produce soft corners in wide angles. I also had a lot of focus issues when I used a UV filter with this lens. A good lens hood (the one supplied with the lens is useless) is needed to remove flare.

Update 12/20/2007 - I have since swapped this lens for the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 DC fixed aperture lens and the pictures are stunningly sharp compared to this lens, particularly in indoor low-light situations. Sharp in center and corners at f/2.8 itself with no need to step down at all. At about 150$ more, its definitely worth plunking more for the 17-50 f/2.8 over this lens for CROP CAMERAS (17-50 is a DC lens and will cause vignetting in FF cameras).

I am using this lens on a Pentax K10D and have been extremely impressed. I'd recommend that someone looking at a Canon body with a kit lens to consider this instead of the kit lens. It is a much better lens, with a better warranty. The advice I'm passing on is that instead of blowing your lens budget on the kit lens and another lens, spend the extra money for this one lens. It's well worth it.

I received this lens for Christmas(was asked what I wanted and I said this lens) and so far the image quality is outstanding. I know this lens is a little bit older than say the Tamron 17-50 and several other Canon lenses that I checked out (including the new Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS) that, like this lens are made more for the DSLRs, but this one won out due to the great reviews that I've read that say that the optics in this lens compare with the L Series Canon lenses and after vewing the results I can see why. With a f/2.8 it's an extrememly fast zoom lens especially in low-light situations. The price.... roughly $290.00 is terrific for a lens of this quality. My advise .... don't hesitate buying this lens!

Exactly what I was looking for for my new Canon EOS 40D (also an Amazon buy). I own two other Tamron AF lenses. Tremendously pleased with Tamron's quality, warranty and service (the one time I had to use them, and it was my fault, and they charged NOTHING to repair it).

I comparison shop a lot, for items like these. Amazon's hard to beat in terms of price and trust! That's why I keep coming back.

UPDATE: I'm aware this lens is no longer available on Amazon, and may never be again, but should you be interested and run across this lens anywhere else, grab it. It's something of a "classic" for Tamron, among those fortunate enough to own one. It's been two years for me and this is one of my most favorite and versatile lenses -- at any price point.

It's great for long shots, of course, and the optics are everything others have noted: spectacular! But I also love it for many portraits. As others mention, there is something about this lens that gives a distinctive look without screaming "wide angle."

I had just received this lens the other day from Amazon.com and immediately attached it to my Canon XSi and was suprised at the sharpness of this lens compaired to the two canon Lenses I have. I took a few pictures in our back yard and at Herrick Lake, (see some of my Photos). Again I was just amazed how sharp this lens is. I noticed the Pics. were sharpest closed down to about F5.6. The lens feels solid and the focus is fast and quiet.
the other lens I had in mind before purchasing this one was the Canon 17-40mm USM wide angle but at 200 bucks more and some bad reviews I read I picked the Tamron 17-35mm Lens and was happy I did.
A 1.6 crop factor makes it a nice carry around Lens. I leave it attached to my XSi. For a fine quality lens at a moderate price, pick one up for about 300 bucks. This lens also has a 6 year warranty which is great if the focus motor should ever go out.

Viewing the images on Amazon are in rather low resolution but some of the close ups can give you a good Idea of the quality of this lens.