Howdy again everyone and today I'm Checking out a lens about which I'm Particularly excited but also a little Apprehensive the new Tamron 17 to 50 mm F4 di3 vxd for Sony emount fullframe Mirrorless cameras yes that's right and That's why I'm excited this unique Zoom Range on full frame takes you from a Lovely Ultra wide angle to a standard Field of view all in one lens which Could make this a dream come true for Traveling or landscape photographers and Could also be useful for video work it Reminds me of Canon's classic EF 17 to4 Mm L lens from 2003 20 years ago now a Fun L lens for sure but not one blessed With great image quality and that's the Reason I'm feeling apprehensive about This new Tamron Lens with an even longer Zoom range and a quite reasonable price Of only $700 or about 700 here in the UK can the Lens's image quality possibly be any Good well you're about to find out Firstly though build quality and this is A pretty typical mid-range design from Tamron here which isn't a bad thing the Lens is based on a metal mount with Weather ceiling and the Optics recess Deeply into the body as you zoom in and Out meaning that dust Ingress could be An issue for this lens over time there's Also a USB C port on the side for Potential future firmware update the
Lens is mostly made of plastic with a Nicely brushed finish and doesn't feel Very heavy at all the biggest control on Its body is a large rubberized Zoom ring It turns only averagely smoothly with a Little bit of stickiness to it the Lens's front glass element also recesses Quite deeply when zooming in and out you May want a protective UV filter on the Front if you're going anywhere Particularly humid or Dusty after that Comes a customizable plastic Focus hold Button and then a plastic Focus ring Which turns very smoothly and responds Well with the Focus motor when you're Zoomed in the lens exhibits almost no Focus breathing zoom out and moderate Breathing can be Seen the lens's autofocus motor is Silent and accurate in use in single Shot autofocus mode it works quickly Enough in continuous autofocus mode it Focuses almost instantly and it had no Trouble tracking subject in my test the Lens's front filter size is 67 mm which Is the standard for almost all tam1 Lenses nowadays it does not feature Image stabilization but hey it comes With a nice little plastic Hood overall The build quality here is absolutely Fine although as I've mentioned I might Worry a little in the long term about Dust Ingress with those external glass Elements moving in and out so much
Okay let's see about this thing's image Quality then and we'll start on a Fullframe camera my Sony a7r 3 with its 42 map sensor in camera Corrections are Turned on for this test at 17 mm and F4 The lens is razor sharp in the Middle With excellent contrast the corner image Quality is as you see rather blurry f5.6 Looks marginally better but sto down to F8 and suddenly those Corners look Pretty good with f11 looking even a Touch sharper stopping down further Though to F16 or F22 introduces softness Due to the effects of defraction well Let's zoom in a bit now to 28 mm at F4 Image quality continues to look Excellent in the middle this time though Image quality in the corners is Fantastic tra from that maximum aperture Stop down to f5.6 for a little extra Boost in sharpness and brightness there Finally let's Zoom all way into 50 mm at F4 sharpness in the middle of the image Is just okay now over in the corners Once again we see a lot of softness Unfortunately stop down to f5.6 and Those Corners get a little better and The middle of the image is slightly Sharper also but still not perfect However stop down to f8 and the middle Becomes razor sharp and like at 17 mm The corners are looking almost perfect Now also and the lens stays the sharp Down to F 16 so it is Rocky terrain on
Full frame there are problems with Corner image quality at wider apertures And at 50 mm sharpness isn't so good at F4 anywhere however this is a classic Example of a lens that looks great at f8 And if you're happy to stop down that Far as plenty of landscape and travel Photographers do then actually you're Treated to blistering sharpness so it Does redeem itself eventually okay well The lens's Zoom range also makes it a Nice option for apsc camera Shooters Although the maximum apture of f4 isn't All that exciting for a standard zoom Lens let's also test this thing on a 24 Mapel Sony apsc camera then at 17 mm and F4 the lens continues to be razor sharp In the middle and if we look over into The corners the apsc suet pot Advantage Kicks in and they look quite good here On a cropped sensor stop down to F5 or F8 and they look even a little better as Before the lens Tays the sharp down to F16 where defraction softens the image a Little let's zoom into 28 mm and at F4 Again the middle of the image is looking Great and the corners look fairly good Too nice although even if you stop down To f8 or f11 they don't get any sharper Than this finally let's Zoom all the way Into 50 mm at F4 in the middle Unfortunately the the image is looking Pretty ghostly here and the corner image Quality is Dreadful stop down to f5.6
And the corners sharpen up a bit and the Middle looks better but with a further Tiny Improvement at f8 back in the Corners picture quality looks brilliant Now at f8 so the lens actually performs A little better on an apsc camera Unsurprisingly as this was always going To be a prime candidate for That apsc Sweet Spot Advantage however Zoom all The way in and you'll have to stop down To f8 for excellent image quality which Is a little bit of a pain all right Let's turn off in camera Corrections and See about vignetting and distortion on a Fullframe sensor at 17 mm as you can see Vignetting and Distortion are absolutely Appalling considering the lens's unique Zoom range this doesn't surprise me but Still your cameras having to work hard To correct all of this stop down to f56 Or f8 and those Corners brighten up a Bit but that's as bright as they get Zoom in 38 mm and that Distortion Straightens out and at 50 mm it's Flipped into a mild pin cushion Distortion although here even at F4 Vignetting is now very low but overall When you're shooting at wide angles make Sure your raw images are being properly Corrected this lens has a lovely minimum Focus distance of 17 cm letting you get Lovely and close to smaller subjects When you're zoomed in less encouraging Is the very poor close-up image quality
At F4 f5.6 is just a little better Although f8 and particularly f11 look Really quite good let's see how the lens Performs against Bright Lights now it's Good news here zoomed out any kind of Flaring is kept nicely under control Things get a little worse as you zoom in With a few spots of flaring and glaring To be seen when lights are directly in The image but on a whole tamon have done A good job here let's take a look at Coma levels now and here we can see that Coma smearing even at F4 doesn't seem to Be a real issue although of course the Image is also a little soft there here's F5.6 and f8 for you anyway let's zoom Out a bit where we can see that stopping Down to f8 brings about some quite Decent sunstars stopping down to f11 or F16 makes them even bigger and finally Bcka this is not a lens to designed for Giving you background separation but if You get close enough to your subject Those backgrounds get lovely and soft Overall the lens took me on a real Roller coaster of image quality ups and Downs here perhaps the most important Thing though is that despite whatever Problems we came across stop this thing Down to f8 and you get brilliant Sharpness across the entire image Circle And zoom range and that is the most Important thing because it releases this Lens to be happily used by landscape and
Travel photographers I wish the corners Were sharper at brighter apertures Certainly and that uncorrected Distortion and fetting is absolutely Wild but everything else about it is Pretty much fine and so for $700 you're Getting a lens here with great potential If you work around its limitations so it Certainly does come Recommended all right thanks for Watching everyone and as usual a huge Thanks to all my supporters over on Patreon who have made such a difference In keeping this channel going Sponsorship free for so many years now Check it out in the description below Supporters get all kinds of exclusive Bonus content and I think warm and happy Thoughts about them almost every day God Bless everyone
