Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8 Di III RXD for Sony Mirrorless Full Frame/APS-C E Mount, Black (AFA046S700)

Top positive review

Great travel lens

Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2021

I wanted a wide zoom for my a7c. The decision between the Tamron, sigma, and sony lens really didn't come to price for me. I wanted something as compact as possible. Frankly I was a bit worried if I'd not like the Tamron b/c I don't like cheap feeling lightweight gears. But I took the plunge and have no regrets. I use this lens for video, and I always use autofocus so the lack of the M/AF switch on the lens is not a factor for me. The lens is light, but does not feel cheap, unless you have it right next to the new Sony 12-24. I was really torn b/c I like the sony so much! But I ended up with the Tamron b/c it's 1/2 the weight and for my video purposes, I can't tell a difference in the picture quality. Perhaps to very picky photographers you can tell the difference. But I bought the a7c for the small size and not matter how much I like the sony lens, it's too heavy for my set up. I do wish the Tamron was a bit wider. The 12mm wide end of the sony would allow shooting in much tighter spaces. But, can't have everything. The Tamron is sharp. Great in low light. The focus is nearly silent...I can't hear it at all in my videos. And is less than 1/3 the price of the sony.

11 people found this helpful

Top critical review

Critical reviews›

G. Creighton

"Full frame" in description is deceiving - nice wide angle though

Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2023

Lens is APS-C E mount which means that it crops the shot. Nice quality lens otherwise. This lens was recommended by a friend as I just purchased a new Sony A7 IV and am learning.

3 people found this helpful

624 total ratings, 119 with reviews

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From the United States

Rivian

Great travel lens

Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2021

Verified Purchase

11 people found this helpful

Helpful

More worth it than Sony!

Reviewed in the United States on September 7, 2020

Verified Purchase

I was in the market for a good wide-angle for my A7III and had debated on getting a Sony lens. But I read so many reviews online about Tamron being a more affordable and still great option against Sony. I thought I'd give it a try. This is the first lens I bought totally new; all my other ones, I've bought secondhand because it's cheaper but this one just came out when I bought it and seemed to be good enough that no one was really selling their own!

So worth it. It's sharp, I love the feel of the lens, even love the lettering on the lens! Turns out amazing pictures that I can't upload at the moment because they're on a different laptop. But it's absolutely amazing. I love this lens for all my wide-angle needs. Heard it was a decent vlog lens too! Although if you're really getting it for just that, I urge you to reconsider.

The best thing about this lens is the price all while being comparable to the equivalent Sony lens. Looking at the other reviews, they all seem to mention gimbals. I don't have one and still love this lens!

Vote HELPFUL if my review helped you at all. It'll encourage me to keep writing!

33 people found this helpful

Helpful

Omar

Amazing

Reviewed in the United States on December 22, 2023

Verified Purchase

Great product quality and worth it

Helpful

Robert J

I'm no expert, but I'm happy with this lens.

Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2020

Verified Purchase

I'm no expert, but this lens takes amazingly sharp images. The auto focus is quick, and accurate.
The lens has quite an odd focal range, but it works for my wide angle needs. It has a basic design; there are no buttons, or switches on this lens, just a focus ring.
So far I've used it for landscape, seascape/sunsets, and real estate photography. It suites my needs very well. I can't wait to do some astro, aurora borealis, and lightning shots with this thing.
I'm happy with this purchase, I plan to use this lens for years to come, so the 6 year warranty is nice plus.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Dylan

Wide, clear and fast. Goes well with my other Tamron 100-300

Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2021

Verified Purchase

This makes my second Tamron lens for my Sony A7II. I bought the 70-300 first and loved it so much I bought the 17-28 next to get wider. It's a fantastic fast lens that I've been having a blast to use. I did a fair share of research into wide angle zoom lenses and was on the fence about this only going up to 28mm but honestly I'm ok with it now that I've started using it. I was playing around with this lens yesterday trying to snap photos of my dog running around the park and I can tell you that the autofocus is fast, the images are clear and going to f2. 8 makes this a great lens for me

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

DeftDriver

Feels Overhyped and Maybe Even Overpriced

Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2021

Verified Purchase

I agree with the some of the other reviews that say this lens a bit overrated. I say that because, while it gets the wide angle job done quite well, its a bit handicapped by its short zoom range and somewhat odd image quality. I will say the image quality is not bad at all but it is also not great. The images this lens are a bit uninspired in my opinion. It can be a pretty sharp lens when used correctly but it suffers from extreme vignetting at most apertures and somewhat oddly shaped distortion.

Both of these deficiencies can be corrected in software but the amount of vignette and distortion correction required was a bit too much for my standards.

At the end of the day this is another modern zoom that is seemingly more of an engineering exercise than an attempt to make a tool that can provide unique rendered leading to magical images. The images it renders are a bit flat, and bit wonky, and a bit boring. Sharp? Yes, even from edge to edge except at 17mm where corners are a bit soft even stopped down. Contrasty? Yes. Exciting? No.

I ended up returning this lens and got the Sony 20mm f/1.8 G. Many considering this Tamron should look at that new Sony 20mm because it fits in the middle of the zoom range of this Tamron but has less distortion (almost no distortion) and less vignetting to correct in post and it’s the same price as the Tamron.

I guess in the end I am more used to prime lenses as that is what I normally shoot. I feel like this lens has too short of a zoom range and many would be better served by a wide angle prime such as the Sony 20mm G or 24mm GM. If you must have a zoom then I hear many good things about the wider range Sony 16-35 f/4 or the Sony 12-24 f/4G if you can save up a little more.

Another observation was that I was surprised to see autofocus hunt a bit on my A7III in a room that was decently lit by a 60 watt overhead light. This surprised me because this is a relatively fast (bright) lens. I will say of the times it did find focus it was accurate though. It should be noted that if you watch or read reviews of this lens you’ll find that it does render darker images at f/2.8 than other comparable Sony zooms at the same aperture. I feel Tamron is fudging a bit on the f/2.8. I’d even go as far as to say it behaves more like an f/3.5 or so lens. When I look at the size of the front element and the overall design of the lens it makes me think that’s a good assumption.

I recommend this lens if absolutely need the 17mm focal length. It is a well built lens that has good image quality that lacks a bit of life and feels maybe about $100 overpriced as such.

11 people found this helpful

Helpful

John R. Pepp

One of my favorites lens in my camera gear

Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2019

Verified Purchase

I love this lens as it's nicely price, light weight and takes colorful sharp images. You can focus up close on objects, I believe as close as 7 1/2 inches. I don't do too much video work, but I going to try it out on a my gimbal. Some people don't like the plastic feel of the lens, but it's well built and I no concerns of the build quality. Eventually I am going to buy the Sony 28-75mm lens and sell my Sony FE 4/24-70 lens.

9 people found this helpful

Helpful

Paul Hansen

The perfect wide angle lens for pretty much everyone... at a price you can't beat

Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2019

Verified Purchase

For the price you cannot beat this lens. Yes, you're sacrificing 1mm on the wide end and 7mm on the long end compared to something like Sony's 16-35 f/2.8 GM, but at $899 there is nothing close that matches this Tamron 17-28 f/2.8. I'm not a technical photographer, and while I care about vignetting and distortion, it's not something I look at closely because it's easily correctable in Lightroom. With that being said, I really don't notice any extreme faults. Focus is incredibly fast, and at f/8 and beyond you're gonna get a sharp image across the frame. Bokeh at f/2.8, while not necessarily a popular necessity for a wide zoom, is very nice looking (see the first image I've included). Unless you absolutely need OIS or those extra mm on either end, this is the lens for you. At $1300 cheaper than the GM, just buy it - you won't regret it.

33 people found this helpful

Helpful

Lisa Yang

Sharp, but doesn't have the aesthetics of prime lens

Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2020

Verified Purchase

Only landscape or real estate photography if you purchase this lens. That's my recommendation.

I was shooting a 35mm f/1.8 Sony prime lens and wanted something wider for real estate. Saw that this lens was available so I purchased it for the versatile ultra wide angle zoom range.

Well, I'm about 80% happy with the purchase because the Tamron is about 80% of the picture quality of the Sony 35mm.

Auto Focus: Regarding AF, this thing is almost as fast as a Sony lens. It's incredible tracking objects being a third party lens. I don't miss much shots. The focus was loud until I updated the lens to v3 firmware which helped speed up and reduce the noise of the focusing.

Lens Rendering: Colors are just ok. The images seem clinical and dry and doesn't seem to create a smooth look for me. The sharpness is on point. Very sharp.

Bokeh: At 2.8, the bokeh looks fine. I didn't find it too busy, but definitely not creamy. It's usable.

FOV: The FOV is amazing when it comes to real estate and landscape photography. However, distortion and vignetting was really prominent in my copy at 17mm. Straight lines were really bowing out. It was easily corrected in PS, but still there's that added step.

This is my first zoom lens and although the lens is really usable in terms of walk around real estate and landscape, I would probably prefer the Sony 20mm f1.8 prime instead. That's what I'll be purchasing next to compliment the 35mm prime I have.

19 people found this helpful

Helpful

Quantum TV

Slightly Overhyped but solid nonetheless

Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2020

Verified Purchase

Took this on a trip to Atlanta Georgia, and this thing was hit and miss. It gets clear shots, but you really have to try on landscapes, because sometimes it comes out way too soft. I expected some crazy clarity...and honestly My sigma f1.4 in super 35 mode was just as good...and better in low light. This lens is made like cheap garbage. Hollow plastic, and entry-level features galore, which I could forgive if all pictures were exceptional. It does great for portraits...but as a walk around lens...it's not gamechaning. In fact it's pretty disappointing for 899 buck before tax! These are edited uncompressed raw photos from My A7RII, from My trip. Some really great shots...but nothing My sigma f1.4 16mm couldn't do in super 35 mode. Pretty disappointing honestly. It needs to drop to about $699 before it would be worth it. While some photos explode with clarity, others are muddy and soft. Definitely not GM quality. Results are inconsistent. That said it's a good lens..but definitely overpriced and overhyped. Lower your expectations a bit, and it'll wow you. Do NOT go into it expecting sony G master quality. It won't be there. I don't care what YouTube reviews claim, in real world use this thing is not at that level. Best of luck!

- Q