Tamron 17-35mm f/2.8-4 Di OSD Review

The Tamron 17-35mm f/2.8-4 Di OSD ($599) is a small lens with a big view.

It works with full-frame systems, and while 17mm isn't the absolute widest focal length, it still captures a large swath of the world.

The lens is very sharp, handles shots with the sun prominently in frame with aplomb, and incorporates weather sealing and fluorine protection into its design.

It doesn't offer optical stabilization, however, and if that's a feature you're after, you'll need to look elsewhere.

But if you want a wide zoom, are shopping with a budget, and use a full-frame camera, the Tamron 17-35mm is worth a look.

Wide and Small

When you consider its angle of view and f-stop, the 17-35mm f/2.8-4 is almost shockingly small.

It measures 3.6 by 3.3 inches (HD) at its shortest position, around the 28mm setting.

The barrel telescopes very slightly, by about a quarter-inch at most, when set to other focal lengths.

Despite the small frame, the zoom weighs about a pound.

The barrel is sturdy polycarbonate, so the glass inside accounts for a good portion of the weight.

The lens supports the 77mm front filter size.

That's in contrast to Tamron's more premium option in this coverage range, the SP 15-30mm f/2.8 Di VC USD G2 ($1,299), which has a bulbous front element that precludes filter use.

The 15-30mm does have optical stabilization, slightly wider coverage, and a fixed f/2.8 aperture.

We haven't reviewed the G2 version yet, but its optics are identical to the first version we looked at in 2015.

The new 15-30mm G2's improvements aren't dramatic, but do include a fluorine protective coat.

Fluorine coating is included with the 17-35mm as well.

A few years ago it was something reserved for premium, exotic glass.

Now it's an almost expected feature.

The coating repels water, so drops slide right off, as well as grease.

If you fingerprint the front element, a quick wipe with a microfiber cloth is all that's needed to clean it.

The coating is only applied to the front element, though, so take care when the rear element is exposed during lens changes.

Weather protection is not limited to the exposed glass.

The 17-35mm includes internal seals to prevent moisture from seeping into the lens itself.

Controls include the standard AF/MF toggle and the focus and zoom rings.

The zoom ring sits in the middle of the barrel and is covered with textured rubber.

The manual focus ring is further forward.

It's bare plastic, although it does have a textured finish so you can identify it by feel.

The ring adjusts focus mechanically, typical of an SLR lens, but it does have a very short throw—a 60-degree turn moves from the close distance to infinity.

There are hard stops at either end of the range, but not depth of field or other distance scale.

The focus ring doesn't turn freely when the lens is set to AF—you do need to switch to MF for manual focus.

I don't recommend the 17-35mm as highly to photographers who prefer manual focus.

The short throw and lack of quick manual focus override and distance scale make the 17-35mm a better choice for use in autofocus mode.

Thankfully the autofocus system is quick and quiet.

The 17-35mm doesn't include optical stabilization.

It's on sale in Canon EF and Nikon F mounts, two systems that don't offer in-body image stabilization (IBIS).

The 17-35mm does work with mirrorless systems via an adapter.

I tested it with the Canon EOS R, another camera without IBIS, and found it worked perfectly.

The Canon EF version can also be used with Sony a7 cameras using an adapter, and recent entries do include IBIS.

It will also work with Nikon Z cameras—which include IBIS—via Nikon's official adapter.

Note that you may need to apply a firmware update before using the lens with a Z body.

To update the firmware you need to buy an accessory, the $59 TAP-in Console, that works with macOS and Windows systems.

You also have the option of sending the lens to Tamron for a firmware update.

There are wide-angle macro lenses out there, but the 17-35mm isn't one of them.

It does have a decent close-up focus capability, locking onto subjects as close as 11 inches.

At the 35mm setting, this gives the lens 1:4.9 life-size reproduction at best.

You can certainly take advantage of this, shooting a subject up close at a wide angle to give it a sense of place in the world.

If you want an ultra-wide macro, think about the all-manual Venus Laowa 15mm f/4 1:1 Macro.

Small Sacrifices for Size

You can have a wide lens, a small lens, a bright lens, an optically perfect lens, an affordable lens, and a zoom lens.

You're not going to get everything in the same package, though.

The Tamron 17-35mm is wide, bright, and affordable.

It's also sharp, but not optically perfect—it shows a noticeable vignette and distortion.

But for resolution, it delivers.

I tested it with the 50MP Canon EOS 5DS R, which packs more pixels than any other full-frame camera.

(Lab tests were performed using the 5DS R; but samples images were shot with the EOS R.) At 17mm f/2.8 the pair shows 3,581 lines on a center-weighted Imatest evaluation.

That's better than the 2,700 lines we want to see at a minimum from the 5DS R sensor, putting the lens squarely in the very good territory.

Edges do lag behind the center, but not by much—the periphery shows 3,311 lines.

See How We Test Digital Cameras

Stopping down to f/4 moves the lens well into excellent territory—4,041 lines.

The improvement is largely due to an uptick in center resolution—edges are about the same as they are at f/4.

That's also true at f/5.6, where the average score improves to 4,166 lines.

Landscape photographers should take Weegee's advice and shoot at f/8.

The lens is at its best here, notching an outstanding 4,260 lines on average, with a periphery that shows about 3,900 lines.

There's a slight dip at f/11 (3,864 lines) and the minimum f/16 setting (3,204 lines), but the 17-35mm is still very useable at both f-stops.

At the mid point of the zoom, around 25mm, the maximum aperture is f/3.5—also halfway between f/2.8 and f/4.

Resolution remains as strong as it is wide open at 17mm, with Imatest showing 3,493 lines at f/3.5, with edges that are just shy of 3,000 lines.

Results are nearly identical at f/4.

We see a marked improvement at f/5.6, with the average score hitting 3,942 lines and edges off that mark by less than 100 lines.

The lens peaks at f/8 (4,127 lines) and delivers strong results at f/11 (3,857 lines).

Stopping down to f/16 reduces resolution (3,226 lines), and there's a bigger drop if you move to the minimum f/20 setting (2,768 lines).

At 35mm the aperture opens up to f/4.

Here we see 3,389 lines, with edges that lag just a bit behind.

Again, you get an uptick in image quality by stopping down.

The lens shows 3,867 lines at f/5.6, 3,970 at f/8, and 3,763 at f/11.

Diffraction is unavoidable, but results at f/16 are decent (3,254 lines), and you may find yourself shooting that narrow in order to create the sunstar effect, pictured above.

Try to avoid f/22—the lens only shows 2,412 lines there.

You'll not be left wanting for fine detail with the 17-35mm.

But you will have to deal with some distortion.

At 17mm the lens shows a rather heavy (4.5 percent) barrel effect—lines that are straight in real life will be drawn with an outward bow.

You can minimize this type of distortion with technique—or using software editing tools, like Adobe Lightroom.

The barrel effect goes away as you zoom in.

It's gone at 25mm—the lens show almost no distortion at all there (0.4 percent), certainly none worth fretting about.

The barrel effect gives way to pincushion distortion as you near 35mm.

At maximum zoom we see 1.3 percent, which is certainly less severe than the wide-angle barrel look, but can be more distracting in images.

Pincushion distortion causes straight lines to curve inward toward the center of the frame.

The lens also shows a vignette, most noticeable when shooting at the maximum aperture.

The effect varies based on the zoom position, but expect to deal with noticeably darkened corners wide open.

We measured the lens at 17mm f/2.8 (-3.5EV), 25mm (-2.1EV), and 35mm (-1.6EV).

As with distortion, you can compensate for the vignette using software tools, and if you shoot with a Nikon camera it can apply corrections to JPG images.

But Canon models need data to correct the effect, and the lens does not provide it.

Even without correction, the effect isn't overwhelming, but it is noticeable.

A Fine Budget Option

With the 17-35mm f/2.8-4 Di OSD, Tamron has filled a gap for many photographers.

At $599 it's one of the most affordable wide-angle zooms we've seen for full-frame cameras.

It works natively with the two most popular SLR systems—just make sure you buy a version with the EF mount if you shoot Canon or F mount for Nikon—and can work on many mirrorless models via an adapter.

It's very sharp, doesn't have any major issues with flare when shooting into the sun (a big plus for a wide lens), doesn't add too much size or weight to your kit.

There are some drawbacks, of course.

But I'll take some distortion and a vignette—both of which can be ameliorated using software tools—in exchange for savings in size and cost.

What I do miss is a stabilization system—it's not entirely necessary for stills with a lens this wide, but it's handy, and you'll miss having it when shooting handheld video.

You can get around the omission by pairing the 17-35mm with an adapter and a mirrorless body with IBIS, of course.

If stabilization is key and you shoot with a camera without IBIS you do have options—just be prepared to dip a bit deeper into your wallet to get them.

The most obvious is the Tamron 15-30mm f/2.8 Di VC USD—either the original or G2 version—but you can also choose the Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM or Nikon AF-S Nikkor 16-35mm f/4G ED VR, both of which sell for around $1,000.