Tamron's SP AF17-50mm offers a wider angle than the standard 18mm zoom lenses ordinarily used with digital cameras.   With a wider-angle focal length of 17mm (26mm equivalent), this lens is unbeatable for indoor photography, and for capturing full length people shots or an entire building into the shot.

Constructed with cutting-edge Tamron elements—Three elements of XR (Extra Refractive Index) glass, two Hybrid Aspherical lens elements, and one element of LD glass—this elegant piece of technology inherits Tamron's tradition of premium image quality and compact size.

Introducing a fast new lens that expands upon the product concept of the popular SP AF28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di zoom featuring a 17mm focal length to offer a wider angle of view than ordinary standard zoom lenses.

This 17mm-50mm standard zoom, designed exclusively for digital SLR cameras with smaller-size imagers (24 x 16mm or smaller), is extremely lightweight and compact for its speed.

Benefits of a Fast Lens

• the ability to shoot at faster shutter speeds
  • while slow lenses with Image Stabilization can often be handheld at slower shutter speeds than would be possible with a faster lens, those slower shutter speeds may not be fast enough to freeze movement
  • at about 1/30 sec is recommended for a non-stabilized lens to be reasonably certain of getting a sharp shot
• the ability to shoot with a smaller depth of field
  • to improve the distant background - blur
  • shooting portraits
    • the background is far less distracting in the f/2.8 shot than in the f/5.6 shot due to the greater degree of background blur

Macro
Maximum magnification of the Tamron SP AF17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di-II LD ASPHERICAL [IF] is :1:4.5 or 0.22x and is obtained at 50mm.   The Canon EF-S 18-55 is slightly better at 0.28x and the Canon EF-S 18-85 is slightly worse at 0.2x.

Obviously the Tamron SP AF17-50mm F/2.8 isn't a "macro lens", but 0.22x is still useful for close-ups shots.

The Tamron SP AF17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di-II LD Aspherical [IF] is a good lens.   It's pretty sharp at all focal lengths, even wide open, but contrast does go up a notch when stopped down from f/2.8 to f/4.0.

Under normal conditions, with the sun out of the frame and using the supplied lens hood, flare seemed well controlled.

The average retail price is around $ 399.00 to $ 449.00 US dollars.

• Model: A16
• Focal Length: 17-50mm
• Maximum Aperture: f/2.8
• Angle of View:
  • (Diagonal) 78°45'-31°11'
  • (Horizontal) 68°37'-26°7'
  • (Vertical) 49°1'-17°22'
• Lens Construction: 16 elements in 13 groups
• Minimum Focus Distance: 0.27m (The entire zoom range)
• Max.Mag.Ratio: 1:4.5 (at f=50mm, MFD: 0.27m)
• Overall Length: 83.2mm (3.3")
• Maximum Diameter: ø73.8mm (2.9")
• Filter Size: ø67mm
• Weight: 430g (15.2oz.)
• Diaphragm Blades: 7
• Minimum Aperture: f/32
• Standard Accessory: Flower-shaped hood
• Compatible Mount:
  • Canon AF
  • Konica Minolta AF-D
  • Nikon AF-D