Cult status MANUAL FOCUS rectilinear 17MM f/3.5 Super Wide-Angle Lens for those in the know!
Written: Mar 07 '03 (Updated Mar 15 '03)
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Pros: Stunning image quality. Rugged robust mechanical construction. Rectilinear. Adaptall-2 lens mounts.
Cons: Lacking electronic interface makes blending fill flash with ambient light more challenging.
The Bottom Line: First class super wide-angle glass at a reasonable price. It will open so many photographic opportunities you will wonder how you ever lived without it.
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| zlotmachinskyr's Full Review: Tamron 17mm f/3.5 Manual Focus Adaptall Lens (Moun... |
This is the second version of this very useful MANUAL-FOCUS, full-frame, rectilinear 17MM super wide-angle lens produced by Tamron. The Tamron SP 17MM f/3.5 lens has cult status among those who are lovers of super wide-angle lenses. If you use this lovely hunk of glass you'll be at great risk of becoming a lover of super wide-angle lenses. This is a phenomenal starter super wide bound to cause addiction only satisfied by even wider and much more expensive 12-14 MM glass.
This lens has commanded the nearly stable price of $390 (U.S.) for many years plus the cost of one or more Adaptall-2 user changeable lens mounts. Adaptall-2 Lens Mounts for various SLR camera makes cost about $40 (U.S.).
Tamron even made one Adaptall-2 mount for Canon EOS SLRs but it seems to have disappeared from dealer stocks. The Adaptall-2 mount for Canon EOS (engraved EOS-M) was a solid machined piece of metal with no ball bearing races, only 3 screws (for the black light baffel in the center) and no stainless springs. The Tamron 17MM on my Canon EOS Elan required that AV mode be set to F-value of 1.0 to allow for correct automatic stopped down exposure control, was closed down to f/4 or f/5.6, focus taped with infinity on the right depth of field marker, camera set for aperture priority auto exposure and was in focus from about three feet to infinity. Thus all one need do with the lens setup this way is compose and shoot.
And if your camera has TTL (through the lens) or OTF (off the film) flash metering and a dedicated TTL flash, then the photographer has good control of their fill-flash contribution to day, twilight and night exposures as well.
The manual focus Tamron SP (SUPER PERFORMANCE)17MM f3.5 has to be one of the finest lenses produced in this focal length. It also has one of the longest production runs of any 17mm lens ever produced. Tamron's Model Designation is 151B and a great lens it is. Depth of field is enormous from f/4 and closed smaller. Photographs taken with this lens are very sharp and have excellent contrast and color saturation.
Features of the redoubtable Tamron SP 17MM f/3.5: Minimum focusing distance is 9.8 in. (0.25 M); 12 elements of glass in 10 groups; flat-field or rectilinear with diagonal field of view of 104 degrees; 5 blade diaphragm; min aperture of f/22; filter size of 82 mm; weight is 11.5 oz (327 gm); diameter 2.8 in. (71MM) by 1.9 in. (48MM) long in Nikon AI mount. Lots of lens mounts are available. Best match for autofocus SLRs would be Nikon and Pentax and possibly Canon EOS SLRs. This lens is a full frame flat field super wide-angle lens NOT A FISHEYE LENS. A great boon for hurting digital photographers in need of affordable wide-angle help in beating lens magnification woos.
Comes with a very sturdy padded leather case and a large slip-on screw tightened lens hood, front lens cap and plastic rear elements protector. Warranty typically is 6 years. Adaptall-2 lens mounts are very rugged and easily changed and only one is needed on your SLR camera body if you have more than one Adaptall-2 lens. Would recommend use of square glass filters in a Lee mount for economical filter options. There are no threads on the front of this lens as they are inside the supplied removable lens hood.
I have used this lens for many many years and just can't let go of it. My lens has a very low serial number making it one of the earliest copies of this newest Tanron 17 mm design.
Note: Rodger Hicks, free-lance writer-photographer for Shutterbug magazine et al, owns and loves using this lens too.
3-9-2003 I have seen adds for Adaptall-2 mounts offered for Minolta Maxxum autofocus SLRs as well, by major mailorder camera dealers. I do not wish to overlook Minolta as they are an amazing optical company and must not be forgotten.
Manual focus SLRs are usually easily supplied with an Adaptall-2 lens mount either new or used.
So there you are and there you is!
Recommended:
Yes
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zlotmachinskyr
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Location: California
Reviews written: 23
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