Sigma or Tarmon

ClickOnMe · 22nd January 2008

Looking for a good lens for general & wedding use. Sigma or Tarmon? Which model? Thanks!!

mtunlinn · 22nd January 2008

Originally Posted by ClickOnMe

Looking for a good lens for general & wedding use. Sigma or Tarmon? Which model? Thanks!!

Tamron SP 17-50 F2.8. No other lens for me.

geraldkhoo · 22nd January 2008

I concur... the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8. Do a search for reviews on this lens and you will see the many positive reviews on it. I have one personally, and it is a good shape fast lens

synapseman · 28th January 2008

I owned both the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 and the Sigma 17-70mm. The Tamron's sharpness wide open wasn't great. Found that I was shooting at f/4 most of the time anyway. Very sharp indeed, but at 50mm, a bit too short for my liking. In the end, I switched to the Sigma 17-70mm. Sold the Tamron.

Now I shoot with a Carl Zeiss 16-80mm, but still keep the Sigma as a back-up lens.

myong · 29th January 2008

Originally Posted by synapseman

I owned both the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 and the Sigma 17-70mm. The Tamron's sharpness wide open wasn't great. Found that I was shooting at f/4 most of the time anyway. Very sharp indeed, but at 50mm, a bit too short for my liking. In the end, I switched to the Sigma 17-70mm. Sold the Tamron.

Now I shoot with a Carl Zeiss 16-80mm, but still keep the Sigma as a back-up lens.

Are you sure the sharpness of sigma 17-70 (f4.5) is even close to the Tamron 17-50(f2.8)? If Tamron has to open to f4 for good IQ, Sigma would probably have to be f6.7! CZ is of course better!

geraldkhoo · 30th January 2008

You can do a comparison of the Sigma 17-70 with the Tamron 17-50 from the following links...

Sigma 17-70
http://www.photozone.de/Reviews/Cano...report--review

Tamron 17-50
http://www.photozone.de/Reviews/Cano...report--review

The MTF for the Tamron is reall good...

To understand MTF... you can read up the following...
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tu...ding-mtf.shtml

calebk · 31st January 2008

Originally Posted by synapseman

I owned both the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 and the Sigma 17-70mm. The Tamron's sharpness wide open wasn't great. Found that I was shooting at f/4 most of the time anyway. Very sharp indeed, but at 50mm, a bit too short for my liking. In the end, I switched to the Sigma 17-70mm. Sold the Tamron.

Now I shoot with a Carl Zeiss 16-80mm, but still keep the Sigma as a back-up lens.

I have a heavy suspicion you got a bad copy, as I've used the Tamron wide open and it resolves very well already. It is at f/4 when things become so sharp you have to check whether you shot it with a prime.

Viewpoint · 31st January 2008

Agreed. It is sharp at 2.8 but only a little soft. At f4 it is as good as it gets. My only reservation is the field curvature of the lens -- the extreme corners need quite a bit of stopping down to get them all sharp (maybe i have a not so good copy). By contrast, the expensive Nikon 17-55DX has beautifully sharp corners at most apertures.

Fotophilic · 31st January 2008

Originally Posted by ClickOnMe

Looking for a good lens for general & wedding use. Sigma or Tarmon? Which model? Thanks!!

What kinda focal length u always use?
Generally Tamron 17-50 2.8 is very good for its price. Quite regretted selling mine thou...

kiama · 1st February 2008

i have ditched my sigmas in favour of the tamron 17-50 and 28-75, both are well reviewed and compact for general events

22nd January 2008	#1
ClickOnMe New Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Singapore Posts: 47	Sigma or Tarmon Looking for a good lens for general & wedding use. Sigma or Tarmon? Which model? Thanks!!

22nd January 2008	#3
geraldkhoo Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: The Tiny Red Dot Posts: 2,027	Re: Sigma or Tarmon I concur... the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8. Do a search for reviews on this lens and you will see the many positive reviews on it. I have one personally, and it is a good shape fast lens __________________ A picture tells a thousand words... make yours speak a million! My Flickr \| My Blog

28th January 2008	#4
synapseman Senior Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: State of Confusion Posts: 2,088	Re: Sigma or Tarmon I owned both the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 and the Sigma 17-70mm. The Tamron's sharpness wide open wasn't great. Found that I was shooting at f/4 most of the time anyway. Very sharp indeed, but at 50mm, a bit too short for my liking. In the end, I switched to the Sigma 17-70mm. Sold the Tamron. Now I shoot with a Carl Zeiss 16-80mm, but still keep the Sigma as a back-up lens. __________________ The synapseman uses Sony Alpha system & Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2.

30th January 2008	#6
geraldkhoo Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: The Tiny Red Dot Posts: 2,027	Re: Sigma or Tarmon You can do a comparison of the Sigma 17-70 with the Tamron 17-50 from the following links... Sigma 17-70 http://www.photozone.de/Reviews/Cano...report--review Tamron 17-50 http://www.photozone.de/Reviews/Cano...report--review The MTF for the Tamron is reall good... To understand MTF... you can read up the following... http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tu...ding-mtf.shtml __________________ A picture tells a thousand words... make yours speak a million! My Flickr \| My Blog

31st January 2008	#8
Viewpoint Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 350	Re: Sigma or Tarmon Agreed. It is sharp at 2.8 but only a little soft. At f4 it is as good as it gets. My only reservation is the field curvature of the lens -- the extreme corners need quite a bit of stopping down to get them all sharp (maybe i have a not so good copy). By contrast, the expensive Nikon 17-55DX has beautifully sharp corners at most apertures.

1st February 2008	#10
kiama Member Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 1,024	Re: Sigma or Tarmon i have ditched my sigmas in favour of the tamron 17-50 and 28-75, both are well reviewed and compact for general events __________________ Lensmanfoto.com : Event Photography : Event Photographer