Tamron 17-50mm lens

My new Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 lens finally arrived from B&H at 5:01pm on Friday. UPS updated the on-line information within 15 minutes of delivery as I found out from work. I had been looking forward to this lens since all the reviews indicate it is very sharp and majority of the purchasers were very happy with their purchase.

Wife and RyanC helped to open the box and take out the lens. I immediately put it on the Rebel XT and snapped a few shots of the family. It was really disappointing to see the first few pictures taken turned out soft/blurry -- just like my Sigma 30mm f/1.4 before I sent it in for calibration. Of course the Sigma 30mm was notorious for focusing issues so I had been better prepared for disappoints then. Tamron is supposed to be good. I probably should not have expected my luck to be as good as others... then again, it is rather disturbing that lens manufactures have problem calibrating their lens properly in this day and age.

After performing several tests, I have confirmed that my copy of this Tamron lens front-focuses at 17mm (wide-angle) setting. At 50mm, the focus is pretty good so the pictures are fine there. I decided that I will exchange it for another copy. It was good to confirm that B&H has excellent service matching their reputation. The exchange-request went smoothly. They sent me a UPS label with email so I just have to use that on the return box and drop it off at UPS. (no need to pay return shipping)

At 50mm f/2.8, the focus is right on:


At 17mm f/2.8, focusing on the middle post result in the closer posts being in focus instead (front-focus):


Here is a picture of RyanC and AidanC at 50mm f/2.8:

The View In The Back

I started playing with panoramic picture-stitching today. Here is the best composition using Canon Rebel XT and Sigma 30mm 1.4: