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Tamron SP AF17-50mm F/2.8 Di II LD Aspherical (IF) Lens with hood for Nikon-D DSLR Cameras | 
 enlarge | Brand: Tamron
Category: Photography
Buy New: Too low to display
New (3) Used (1)
Avg. Customer Rating:  15 reviews
Media: Electronics
Optical Zoom: 3
Maximum Focal Length: 50
Minimum Focal Length: 17
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 5.3 x 4.1 x 4.1
MPN: AF016N-700
Model: AF016N-700
UPC: 725211167037
EAN: 0725211167037
ASIN: B000EXV0QQ
Release Date: March 8, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Nikon-compatible lens designed specifically for digital SLRs | | • | 17-50mm focal range equivalent to 26-78mm in 35mm format | | • | Maximum aperture of f2.8 | | • | Filter diameter of 67mm | | • | Minimum focus distance of 0.27 meters over entire zoom range |
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Product Description
Di II Lenses are designed for exclusive use on digital cameras with smaller-size imagers and inherit all of the benefits of Tamron Di products. These lenses are not designed for 35mm film cameras and digital cameras with image sensors larger than 24mm x 16mm.The SP AF17-50mm F/2.8 is a lightweight, compact, fast standard zoom lens designed exclusively for digital SLR cameras, expanding the product concept of the popular SP AF28-75mm F/2.8 zoom lens.In addition, portrait shots are made beautiful with the natural out-of-focus effect characteristic provided by the fast F/2.8 aperture. Additionally, a broader photographic expression through the use of faster shutter speeds as a result of the maximum aperture offers enhanced photographic pleasure. The lens boasts one of the best close-up shooting performances in the class of fast standard zoom lenses designed exclusively for digital cameras and featuring an F/2.8 maximum aperture throughout the entire zoom range, to ensure stress-free photographic shots at all focal lengths and distances.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 TERRIBLE build quality November 12, 2008
I'll make this short and sweet since I actually came to amazon to see the price of the Nikon 17-55 because im dumping my tamron 17-50. I bought one from Ritz about 4 months ago. After about 6 weeks of use, the lens literally fell apart. The zoom ring would just spin in cirlces, not zoom the lens, and would be accompanied by a wonderful grinding and cluncking sound. Took it to ritz and they couldn't believe it. I am a semi-pro shooting on a D300. My D300, along with all other Nikon DSLRs and Nikon lenses have NEVER had any problems like this. Ritz knew that since Im a long-time customer so she said it must have just been an "anomoly" and exchanged it for me.
Im currently on my second lens...and now using it for about 2 months, it hasn't fallen apart yet. HOWEVER, within the last few weeks, whenever I zoom it, it very notchy.
I do intense event photography shooting on average of 1k pics/event. I think in general this is a nice lens, but for more serious photography, photojournalist, sport photographers, or pretty much anything on a pro-level, this lens doesn't cut it. Its a definite "Consumer" lens.
If you plan on using this lens to take pictures of your grandson at the park, or of that really big tree at Yellow Stone national park, this is right up your ally. But if you're shooting DJ shots onstage in front of 15,000 people and constantly working the camera to get the right shot and also shooting pictures in packed crowds of people for 8 hours at a time, better get the Nikkor.
For me I give this lens a 2 because it just cannot hold up. I wish it could. For the general public, I would give it a 4 or a 5 - just depends on what you do with it. So im gonna round it off with a solid 3 stars.
 Money well spent! June 17, 2008
I bought this Tamron lens 9 months ago and I've taken well over 30,000 pictures with it. I was debating between the Nikkor or the Tamron and it came down to cost. I've not been disappointed.
If you've got the cash go for the Nikkor and sleep better knowing you own the best. I sleep better knowing my pictures rock just as hard and I saved a thousand bucks.
Check out my blog and judge for yourself - if it's a wide shot it was this lens. And for that matter it's usually on an old D50! It's all about the lens.
I did put out the cash for the Nikkor 70-200 2.8 - no regrets there either.
[...]
The best~ June 5, 2008
Researched through SLR gear I found this lens here on Amazon and ordered. This lens is very very good, at least my copy is. This lens is cheap, by nearly a grand over the nikkor 17-55 and is better on the blur index as eveidenced by SLR gear and their very thorough review and special DXO module for assessment.
All around great lens for the money May 2, 2008
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
I spent a great deal of time researching a DX equivalent pro normal zoom lens, I've read many reviews and it came down to the nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8, the sigma 18-50mm f/2.8, and this little gem of a lens. After owning this lens for a month, I can attest to it's value and performance as similar to other's experience. It's fast, the newer built-in-motor version is much quieter and finds it's focus lock much faster than the previous version, which I did not care for having tried it out on my D80 the better part of a year ago. I have also found it acquires focus lock in lower light better than my AF-S kit lens, with little hunt, but there is some. I would have liked to see a focus limiter for those situations.
My nikkor 18-135mm performed horribly in low light, and realizing it is not as fast in terms of maximum aperture, I did expect much more from an AF-S DX lens costing $300.
Now, back to the Tamron...
Pros:
At a third the price of the nikkor version, this lens is the best value, even at MSRP full price. I did not purchase through amazon, but I realize that many have and will so I want people to know what they are getting. I paid the full $500 for mine and still feel I made the best investment. This lens excels at sharpness and has some of the creamiest bokeh I have produced on my D80, better even than the venerable AF nikkor 50mm f/1.8. I've got just enough depth of field to keep a person's face nicely focused from their ear to their nose, but shallow enough to blow out the background in a soup of lovely soft edged blur, this achievable from the rounded aperture blades. Sharpness is unbelievable. I was so surprised at what I got from this lens the first shot I took from it. The zoom ring has a nice feel to it, not too lose, not to tight and the zoom lock is very useful...even though there is zero creep so far. I love that the focus ring has a short throw from infinity to close (which is very close by the way, about 2 and a half inches from the glass at either end of the focal range). I can flick the focus ring, in MF with one finger from infinity to close, and it feels very natural giving great response, as does the zoom ring. The included lens hood is much better than the nikon supplied hoods, being very sturdy and easily put on and taken off. I hear the hood for the nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 is a pain and has a much larger profile. The tamron hood is nice, does its job, and even fits in my bag without taking it off. It usually stays on the all the time. The lens cap is also very good, like nikon's, can be taken off with the hood in place, which is very convenient. (I hear nikon stole that idea from tamron by the way, but I won't hold it against them)
Now for some things I have noticed that aren't so perfect. But before I share them, I want to make sure that people who will read this understands something that is very important. This is not a pro lens. So it will not be perfect optically and because it extends, or telescopes during zoom it is not sealed from the elements. As I stated earlier in this review, for the money, this is the closest you can get to achieving pro results without spending on the order of a thousand dollars more.
Cons:
There is some significant vignetting, or light fall-off (darkening of the corners) wide open at f/2.8. This is to be expected in most zooms anyway, pro or not. If you are someone who is knowledgeable enough to know why you need this lens, I will assume you've heard of photoshop. In this case, the lens correction filter in CS2, will eliminate 95% of all optical anomalies to include corner vignetting, barrel distortion, and pincusion distortion. That being said, there is little barrel at 17mm believe it or not. Even better than my 18-135mm AF-S. A +2.0 correction makes it go away. I have noticed zero pincusion, but admit that I did not shoot against a grid to notice anything any more than what my eyes can see. As I stated already, there is a chance debris will enter the lens. I have not seen any yet, after a month, but I will not be disappointed if I do, it is to be expected. If you keep your camera protected most of the time, you will likely never see a problem, but there does exist the potential. The only real gripe I have with this lens is the absense of a focus limiter.
There was one time where the AF stopped working altogether, while in AF mode. I was sure to have checked the position of both AF switches (both on lens and on body) and sure enough, no AF. I turned my camera off, then on again and the problem seemed to just go away. This was early on, and it did not happen again. I do not blame the lens directly, it could be a copy issue if it persists, but again, I have not had it happen since the first time. I haven't read that it is a common problem with the lens. I will be utilizing the 6 year manufacturers warranty if there is any further problem (which I do not foresee, but it's good to know I have it nonetheless).
Bottom line, this is a great lens to get you to your next pro level lens if you're tight on cash (as I am). This lens works well and comes from a company that has been around for some time, and will remain for some time to come. You can't beat it for the money. It just works. I am constantly surprised at the quality I get on a consitent basis with this lens. I have been so impressed that I am considering the new 70-200mm f/2.8. We will see.
I hope this review is well recieved, and good luck in your decision.
 Great IQ and nice lens - if you get a good copy April 7, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I need to preface this review by saying this is an excellent lens for the price. It's unmatched in terms of price versus performance. However, the company is a third party lens manufacturer for Nikon/Canon, etc. If you do further research on this lens, you'll find a higher number of quality issues than lenses from Nikon/Canon. Unfortunately, the copy I received suffered from one of these issues.
Every review of this lens will speak about how it produces excellent images that are not only sharp, but gives an excellent color rendition with good contrast. I concur with this assessment. Furthermore, it's compact, quick to focus and fairly well built. I received the version without the built in focus motor. From early accounts, the screw driven version (original) focuses slightly quicker than the newer version with the built in motor.
The issues with regards to images are minor. It produces some CA wide open which wasn't much of an issue for me, but it depends on the subjects you shoot. Stopping it down helps mitigate the CA. It also has some distortion at the wide end that is correctable with software.
I mentioned earlier, I received a bad copy of this lens which ultimately was a deal breaker for me. My lens had an overexposure issue in which every shot I took without flash needed about a -.7 exposure adjustment. When an external flash unit was used, the overexposure issue became inconsistent. In other words, flash would consistently overexposure some shots which were corrected by the compensation. However, some shots would be overexposed beyond the compensation adjustment and basically blow out the highlights.
I ended up returning the Tamron 17-50mm for the Nikon 17-55mm. It's nearly 3 times the cost, but I can tell you it doesn't have three times the performance as the Tamron. However, Nikon doesn't suffer from the sample variance that third party manufacturers do. It also has qualities that are superior to the Tamron that I won't go into detail, but I can tell you I am more than happy with the Nikon.
In summary, if you're looking for a great lens that gives the most bang for your $$, then try your luck with the Tamron. It's an awesome lens provided you get a good copy. Be prepared to try a couple copies. If I were judging this lens simply based off performance, I would give it 5 stars. However, because quality assurance isn't up to snuff at Tamron, I'm giving this lens 4 stars.
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