Tamron SP 17-50mm F2.8 A16N II ~ Short Review!

Posted on March 4th, 2008 by KhoKing.
Categories: Photography.

Am I the first in the world (consumer) to review this lens?! :D

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Tamron scheduled to release this lens to the market on 17th March 2008, but my supplier has managed to get the stock for me today! I ordered some quantity from them, the first generation (A16N), but was surprised to see there is a mixed of A16N and A16N II in the delivery. :)

As usual, I checked and tested every unit of Tamron SP 17-50mm F2.8 lens for my customers. This is important as my experience is that there is poor Quality Control from Tamron in this lens…the early batch (Assembled in China), but nowadays the reject rate is very low (Made in Japan version).

Since I have both the A16N and A16N II in hands, so I have the privilege to test both side by side.

First Impression

Built quality is similar in both. Weight seems similar as well, can’t feel any difference in hand.

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When mounting the A16N II onto my D200, it is silky smooth. Yes, it is very hard to describe, but once you tried it, you will agree with me. When mounting the A16N, you will have the feeling of metal scratching each other. However, the A16N II is like butter smooth when mounting. Good. :)

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There is a slight changes in the rear part of the lens. Some physical extension of marking on the 17mm focal length and you can now see more pins on the rear circuits and no screwdriver catch.

Made in Japan

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Yes, both lenses are made in Japan. Great! On all the stock that I received this round, they are perfect. Sharp focus, clean and clear. :)

AF MF Switch

Besides made in Japan, you can also see a AF MF switch on the new A16N II version. You can have the camera body in AF all the time, and changing the AF MF on the lens will allow you to focus manually or automatically.

Auto Focus

I guess this is where most are interested in.

Auto focus of Tamron A16N II is slow. Yes, you heard me right. AF is much slower than A16N. From minimum focusing distance to infinity, it takes twice the time of the A16N. Yes, you can spot and feel the difference clearly.

However, though focus slower, the A16N II is much quieter than the A16N. Again, focusing is smooth. Though slow but very smooth. On the A16N, you will hear higher pitch focusing sound, but the A16N II is damper sound and quieter in focusing. Good in quiet environment, eg. Cinema or theater, though might still not be as quiet as AFS or USM lens.

Yes, I did compare the A16N II with A16E (Canon mount). A16E is still faster, similar speed to the A16N. However, Canon mount version is always noisier in focusing. In fact, very very noisy and high pitch sound. The A16N (Nikon) is still acceptable, the Canon version is considered as annoying. So the A16N II is considered as SWEET now. :)

Image Quality / Sharpness?

I always regards Tamron A16 17-50mm F2.8 lens as the best value for money wide angle fixed aperture zoom lens that you can get in the market. In fact, I am using one of it myself on my Nikon D200. This lens has been in such a high demand that it is often out of stock from time to time in Japan. I have sold many copies to my customers in Malaysia.

This lens is sharp. Very sharp indeed! Here’s an example of a shot I just took (A16N II):

(Original file of 0.99MB, unedited except putting ShaShinKi.com logo on it. Exif intact, shot at f2.8)

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Bokeh is nice and focus is spot on and sharp in the center. The lens design is same as the A16N, so you can browse many other photos in my blog that are taken with this lens.

Summary

Will I recommend this lens? Yes. The A16N II has some improvements over the A16N and the only drawback is the slower in focusing. The added AF MF switch is nice, making manual focusing switching easier. Damped focusing sound is a welcome improvement, though with the sacrifice of faster AF.

Do you have a choice? My understanding is that Tamron will discontinued the A16N version. No reason for Tamron to keep two almost identical lens for Nikon mount in the market, no production effective. So, if you want faster AF of the A16N and don’t need the built in motor for Nikon D40/D40X/D60, then you will have to act fast and grab the stock of A16N in the market!

Regardless of which version (A16N or A16N II), both are still highly recommended lens. I am keeping mine (A16N). :)

Where to Buy?

You can order the lens at ShaShinKi.com (fully tested and checked!):

http://shashinki.com/shop/….

42 comments.

jim

Comment on March 4th, 2008.

I have read your review with interest and the obvious
point is the the apparent slowness of the AF compared to the earlier version. How would you compare this say to the 18-55mm kit lens that comes with the D40? It would be great if you could post a short video clip of the AF in action say compared to the previous version within your blog [in
the same way http://www.cameralabs.com do]. Thanks.

KhoKing

Comment on March 4th, 2008.

Dear Jim,

Thank your for your feedback, but I do not have the 18-55mm kit lens to test together with the Tamron lens, so I can’t compare the speed.

Sorry, I don’t have the skill to do a video capture of the AF speed of the lens.

My opinion is that the slow AF should not be a big concern. The pros (quieter, smoother, AF MF switch) are more than the con (slow AF). :)

Thanks.

Kocho

Comment on March 5th, 2008.

With the 17-50 (as well as with the 28-75mm version) non-motorized lens I had a lot of instances where focus was not accurate. It was very fast but my feeling was that this also made it hard for the camera to focus precisely. The same camera with the much slower focusing Nikon 35-70 would nail the focus with much better chance of getting it right. I hope the new “slower” focus might actually result in better accuracy. Can you comment on this? thanks!

KhoKing

Comment on March 5th, 2008.

Hi Kocho,

I have tested over hundred units of Tamron SP 17-50mm lens, in various mounts (Nikon, Canon, Sony) since it first launched.

Let’s talk a little bit about the history of Tamron SP 17-50mm lens. Tamron first produced the lens in Japan, the shift the assembly to China. So initial batch is made in Japan, later batch is Assembled in China. All the Tamron SP 17-50mm lens that I bought is in Japan. I must have complaint and rejected enough lens to get attention from Tamron. They later shift their production plant of the 17-50mm lens back to Japan. However, I heard that the production plant in China is still producing this lens. So there are now two origins of Tamron 17-50mm lens, but for Japan market, they sell the Made in Japan version.

My experience is that the initial production and Assembled in China production are having bad Quality Control. I have many copies that are not focusing well. One out of Five has problem with back or front focus. The Assembled in China version often will have dirt or big speck of dust inside.

For the current Made in Japan version, the stock that I received are of good quality. I can’t remember the last time I rejected the lens (must be more than few months ago), and my test shows that all copies that I received are sharp and focus accurately.

Tamron SP 28-75mm lens is similar to the Tamron SP 17-50mm. I have returned and rejected many units as well. When you got a good copy, then it is very very sharp wide open. For a lemon, it is all soft even stopped down to F5.6.

My advice for those who are getting either lenses, test in shop and use a clear target and consistence method to test the lens. If you have another f2.8 lens with you, test it and compare the photos side by side with the 17-50mm lens or 28-75mm lens in shop. :)

Kocho

Comment on March 10th, 2008.

Thanks for the feedback! One more question on the 17-50 II - does the focus ring rotate during focusing? I expect it would but I hope it won’t -;)

KhoKing

Comment on March 10th, 2008.

Hi Kocho,

Yes, both A16N and A16N II will have focus ring turns during focusing.

Alan

Comment on March 17th, 2008.

How is the price like for A16N II ? When is the order be available?

KhoKing

Comment on March 17th, 2008.

Hi Alan,

You can order the lens at:
http://shashinki.com/shop/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=17-50mm&x=0&y=0

Already available. :)

Rob

Comment on March 23rd, 2008.

Have you experienced the cam/lens not being able to AF after taking a few shots? I’ve experienced this a number of time already. No AF action when the shutter button is depressed. After turning on the camera off/on, it will AF again.

Great mini review btw :-)

james

Comment on March 31st, 2008.

dear kk,
im a d40 user, great to hear that tammy can autofucus with my cam now.
same question as jim, any chance to compare it with 18-55 ed2 kit len in term of sharpness.

KhoKing

Comment on March 31st, 2008.

hi James,

Sorry, I do not have 18-55mm II lens to test or compare. The Tamron 16N II is a F2.8 lens, so it is a very different lens from the 18-55mm II lens.

jAMES

Comment on March 31st, 2008.

dear kk,
thanks for the fast respond,
need your expert advice
i currenly own d40
kit lens
55mm macro2.8
55-200mmvr
sigma 30mm.
i know the the the diffrent of the 17-5omm and kits len in term of aperture.

for my walk around lens should i consider?
17-50mm tammy,
16-85mmvr,
or invest in sigma 10-20mm?
many thanks

Adrian

Comment on March 31st, 2008.

hello KK,

is there any difference in terms of battery consumption between the built-in motor and non built-in version?

Mike

Comment on April 7th, 2008.

Hi KK, Thanks for the valuable info.. Aside from the difference in speed and noise level.. Is there any difference in focus accuracy between the two models?

Cheers.. Mike

KhoKing

Comment on April 7th, 2008.

Hi Mike,

I actually “feel” that the new version (A16N II) gives better accuracy in focusing than the old version. Maybe it is due to the slow focusing and result in more accurate focusing, or just my “wrong” feeling… :P

iamyuanwu

Comment on April 16th, 2008.

KKK…

How slow is slow? Twice the time to focus compared to previous version is a big difference leh…

The AF speed compared to a Nikon lens macam mana? E.g. compared to Nikon 18-70mm or 50/1.8 (well, those are the lenses I have). If it’s too darn slow, then I’ll might hunt for the old version in the 2nd market.

Lawrence Of Arabia

Comment on May 3rd, 2008.

Hello.

We all need to know exactly how is the diference in speed and accurate between the two versions.

Somebody knows if the built in motor is the same of the new tamron 70-200 2,8?.

In other words: which of them buy??

Colleen

Comment on May 25th, 2008.

I’m in the same boat as Rob as noted above. I purchased the lens but then returned it because it would intermittently not focus at all when switched to autofocus. I’m wondering how common is this problem?

KhoKing

Comment on May 25th, 2008.

Hi Colleen,

What camera are you using that experienced the focus lock up?

Colleen

Comment on May 25th, 2008.

I am using the Nikon D200. In case anyone is wondering, yes, the lens is the new version of the 17-50 with the internal motor. Also, yes I eliminated all the typical user errors I could think of - made sure I was on single servo, had a fresh battery, made sure I focused on something with contrast . . . As soon as I switched the lens to my 18-200 I had no problems.

KhoKing

Comment on May 25th, 2008.

Hi Colleen,

Try clean the electronic contacts of your lens and your camera with a pencil eraser, see if the problem is due to lost communications between the lens and the camera or not.

Colleen

Comment on May 25th, 2008.

Oh, I forgot to say that I tried that too. I didn’t really think it would help because 1) The lens was new out of the box so should be spotlessley clean, and 2) I haven’t had any problems with any of my other three lenses. I tried it anyways because I was desperate for something to work, but no luck.

Rob

Comment on May 26th, 2008.

Hi Colleen,

I’m using a D80. Is your AF Assist Light turned on? I usually have mine off. When I turned it on to auto, I’ve never experienced the non-focusing issue again. I do find the motor “whirring” irritating. Do try the suggestion I mentioned above and let us know of the results. Good luck with your lens.

Colleen

Comment on May 26th, 2008.

Hi Rob,

Thanks for the comment. Do you think that the reason the lens would not focus with the AF Assist Light turned off was because you were truly attempting to focus on a very dark subject? IF I point my 18-200 at what I would consider a pretty poorly lit subject, at 50 mm and f5 it still manages to focus, albeit a bit slowly. It seems strange that you would have to always have the AF Assist Light on for the lens to work. I do have mine set to OFF, and I prefer it that way so I wouldn’t want a lens that required it to be ON. Some of my test shots when it wouldn’t focus were outside on a sunny day.

Unfortunately I cannot try any other fixes as I have already sent the lens back for refund. I am still curious to solve this problem though because it will be a factor in whether or not I re-order the lens.

KhoKing

Comment on May 26th, 2008.

Hi Colleen,

I assume you are using 50mm F1.8 or F1.4 lens, both are very bright lens regardless of your aperture setting. When you do autofocusing, the lens is always opened at its widest aperture (f1.8 or f1.4), this gives more light to your camera hence is able to focus well even at low light condition.

I have sold many units of the Tamron SP 17-50mm F2.8 Nikon mount version (A16N II) to my customers, have not heard of the focus lock up issue. In fact, in my tests (I tested every unit), I have not experience focus lock up issue as well. Hence I would suspect what you experience could be a low contrast subject or dim light problem.

Colleen

Comment on May 26th, 2008.

In the example I gave above “If I point my 18-200 . . . at 50mm and f5 . . . it still manages to focus . . .” I meant that I zoomed my 18-200mm lens out to 50mm and set the aperture to f5. The maximum aperture of the 18-200 is 3.5 at 18mm and 4.8 at 50mm (and whether that 4.8 only applies to 50mm when the shutter is actually released or during autofocusing, at best the maximum aperture is only 3.5 while the maximum aperture of the Tamron 17-50 is 2.8). Hence I don’t believe that what I was experienceing was a low contrast subject or dim light problem. There are two big factors which argue against this. One, when the autofocus on the Tamron would lock up, it didn’t matter what I tried to focus on. As I stated above, one occasion was a bright sunny day and when the autofocus would not work I tried pointing the camera in every direction, at every kind of subject, near and far, but no autofocus. And two, when I couldn’t get the Tamron to autofocus, I switched lenses to my 18-200 and I was able to focus on any of the subjects that I just had not been able to with the Tamron.

I have used my 18-200 since returning the Tamron, taking I would guess about 150 photos and have had not one single occasion of no autofocusing. Also I did a couple tests with the 18-200, pointing it at a smooth dark grey uniform surface (the front of my printer) in dim light, and the 18-200 lens’ autofocus still makes one attempt to focus. It seems to zoom out and then in - and then gives up. When the Tamron didn’t focus, it didn’t do anything at all. No sound, no lens movement, no lighting up of the selected focus area. It seemed like maybe the camera and lens were not communicating. That was why I decided to try cleaning the contacts, but then that didn’t help and the problem persisted. I will add that when I mounted the 17-50 to the D200 it was a very, very snug fit. Seemed much tight than any of my other lenses. Don’t know if that matters one way or another.

The good news here is that you have tested over 100 of these lenses in various mounts and have had no problems with them. So even if I did get the rare “bad copy” of this lens, chances are when I get another one everything will be fine.

Thanks for trying to problem-solve this situation with me.

Foong

Comment on May 26th, 2008.

Dear KhoKing,
May I know which company in Malaysia actually covers the warranty for the Tamron SP 17-50mm (A16N II) that’s sold on Shashinki.com?

KhoKing

Comment on May 26th, 2008.

Hi Foong,

Our Tamron lenses are directly from Tamron Japan, with Tamron Japan warranty, not valid with the distributor in Malaysia. Hence, the warranty is covered under ShaShaShinKi.com in Malaysia only. When warranty is needed, customer just need to send the lens to our Perak store, we will then send to Tamron Japan at our own cost and get it serviced under Tamron Japan.

Thanks.

KhoKing

Comment on May 26th, 2008.

Hi Colleen,

It would be interesting to see who else has the similar focus lock up problem as yours.

The new Tamron SP 17-50mm A16N II version has built in motor, which is a new design from Tamron. If there is problem in design, I am sure Tamron will make a public announcement soon. Need more cases like yours to appear before Tamron will take notice of it.

Colleen

Comment on May 27th, 2008.

Let’s hope my copy of that lens was more of a fluke than a trend. I would sure like to see Tamron with great quality control and reliability.

Lawrence Of Arabia

Comment on May 28th, 2008.

I have just bought one tamron 17-50 (new version). And i experienced the same focus lock up problem and besides the camera is blocked, no response at all!!! Oh my God!!!, my body camera is nikon d50.
I returned the lens…

Rob

Comment on May 29th, 2008.

Hi Colleen,
I was indoors when I tried the AUTO AF ON thingy but i wouldn’t say that I was trying to focus on a dark object. It just seemed to work on the Tammy so I just keep it on when the lens is mounted. It gets kinda frustrating whenever it would jam on me. I bought the lens from an importer straight from Japan and as mentioned above, it will have to be checked and repaired in Japan that can take quite a while. The lens I got is very sharp, no front/back focus issues so I guess its not a bad compromise.

Did you have yours replaced?

Colleen

Comment on May 30th, 2008.

Hi Rob,

No I have not replaced the Tamron. I got a bad feeling from the experience and so started to investigate other options.

As I was rethinking things I got interested in the Sigma 24-60 which seems like a really nice range, especially when paired with a 12-24 wide angle zoom. I haven’t moved on that yet though because again, while I’ve read some people have got super-sharp perfectly working copies of the lens, others have had problems - particularly severe lens flare shooting into the sun. I’m afraid to get back into the murky waters of 3rd party lens quality control. Seems a bit of a crap-shoot.

Good luck with your copy. I guess with time you will figure out if it is worth your while (and the time without the lens) to send it off and have it checked/repaired.

Rob

Comment on May 30th, 2008.

Hi Colleen,
Yup, will have to have the lens checked eventually. I’m looking for other options as well for my walk around lens. I’ve sold off my kit lens a long time ago and settled in on prime lenses - 20mm, 50mm and 85mm Nikkors. The range, review, 2.8 aperture, and convenience of a zoom made me decide to get one.

Goodluck with the Sigma. I’ve read good reviews about it. In case you do get one, I sincerely hope its a great copy.

Regards,

Rob
robnamo@yahoo.com

David

Comment on June 4th, 2008.

I have just bought the new Tamron 17-50 (Nikon mount with motor). The size and weight of the lens is great for travelling. I used this lens on my Nikon D40 and D200. The optics is beautiful and sharp (it’s better than my Nikon 18-70, 18-200VR and comparable to my 50mm F1.8). Downside, focusing is slower than Nikon lenses and the motor emits an unpleasant whinning sound that’s quite annoying. At almost 1/3 the cost of the Nikon 17-55mm f2.8, the Tamron is a bargain. Highly recommended.
BTW, I do not have any focusing problem with this lens.

Regards,

David

Lawrence Of Arabia

Comment on June 10th, 2008.

ohh my god!!

Mayday!! mayday!!

My second copy of this new version lens is blocked again. For the sencond time, the lens is blocked, not operative in my nikon D50!!

It´s stand by with no response.
Help!!

Foong

Comment on June 10th, 2008.

The one I got which actually warranty by Futoromic(Sorry Khoking, did hesitate to get from Shashinki as I fear of having the trouble to have the lens delivered to your place at Perak inspite that it cost less) also at times doesn’t want to auto-focus . Sometimes it even says that “CPU Lens” not detected on my LCD screen:O. This is the first time encountered when using my D40 and I’m sure is definitely not the fault of my D40 body.

Some

Comment on June 20th, 2008.

i’m using D40 body and recently i’ve experience focus lock few times and my LCD shows F/0. after i switch it off, it goes back in operation again. not really sure what actually happen. kinda frustrated also.

Hakim

Comment on July 4th, 2008.

Hi Colleen.
Can you imagine that i have the similar prob like u do.
But it is a Nikkor. Yesss…. A 55-200 VR can’t autofocus.
So it is certainly seems like nobody is perfect. Nothing is perfect. Only God is perfect. hehehe…
Tough luck on me. But I got it returned and repaired. Now it’s ok.

Hakim

Comment on July 4th, 2008.

Hi KKK.
I’ve read your statement that u send this lens directly to Tamron Japan within warranty period. But how about after the warranty period the lens go wrong? What can I do?

Colleen

Comment on July 5th, 2008.

Hello Hakim,
Sorry to hear that you had problems with the Nikkor, but glad you got it working right now. Yes I agree, any lens manufacturer can put out a bad copy. In fact I did end up buying the Sigma 24-60 lens as I mentioned in a post above, and like you said - tough luck on me - because it has problems with being very soft at wider apertures! I did quite a bit of testing and compared it to my Nikon 18-200 and it definitely has focus issues so I am preparing to send it back to Sigma. Got an awesome deal on it though and expect Sigma will make it right.

I find it interesting that with the Tamron 17-50 we have only seen posts about problems with the Nikon mount version. I guess time will tell if Tamron did a better job or is more easily compatible with the Canon mount.

Hakim

Comment on July 5th, 2008.

Poor Colleen.
Seems like u have had super tough luck. I guess maybe your D200 just love Nikkor . Hehehe…

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