Tamron 17-28mm 2.8 Di III RXD für Sony E

The Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8 Di III RXD delivers a quite convincing performance with just a few caveats. Considering its ultra-wide character, it's pretty sharp where it counts the most - the wider settings. The center quality is great and the borders/corners also on a comparatively high level between 17mm and 21mm. Many ultra-wide zoom lenses struggle a bit at their "long" end and the Tamron is no exception in this respect. While the results are good from f/5.6, the outer image field could be better at larger aperture settings here. The native distortion characteristic is very decent for such a lens and there's nothing to worry about with image auto-correction. The vignetting figures are roughly in line with other lenses in this class. Reads: there's some hefty vignetting at f/2.8 in RAW images. Auto-correction eases this is a bit but, a bit surprisingly, Tamron chose a non-aggressive correction profile here so you may still be able to spot some light falloff depending on the shooting conditions. The bokeh has its pros and cons. Out-of-focus highlights are comparatively nicely rendered whereas the overall rendition can be a bit harsh. The build quality is very good relative to its price tag. And whether you like the somewhat plasticky body material or not is also a matter of taste. However, an indisputable advantage of this approach is the very low weight of just 420g - and we are talking about an f/2.8 lens here. Unlike its fast, in-house zoom mates, it doesn't extend when zooming which is always something that we book on the plus side. The "moisture-resistant construction" seems to be somewhat inferior to other manufacturers - namely, there's no word about dust protection. However, we are talking in the context of a consumer-grade lens here. We quite liked the RXD AF motor on the 28-75mm f/2.8 but on the 17-28mm f/2.8, it's a bit on the slow side. This is usually no deal-breaker in this class though. Overall, the Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8 Di III RXD is a solid performer. It doesn't excel in any criteria but it does the job and, possibly more important than that, it does so for a reasonable price.

The 17-28mm F2.8 Di III RXD is Tamron's second ever lens for Sony's now exxtensive range of Alpha E-Mount full-frame and APS-C mirrorless cameras. This new wide-angle zoom lens features a constant aperture of F2.8 throughout the range, an impressive minimum focus distance of 0.19m, an all-new RXD (Rapid eXtra-silent stepping Drive) focus motor for quiet and fast AF operation, and a moisture-sealed construction.

The Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8 Di III RXD is a superb lens, handles well, performs well and at a good price.

The 17-28mm f2.8 Di III RXD is Tamron's second native lens designed specifically for Sony's full-frame mirrorless E-mount bodies. From my tests Tamron's 17-28mm seems to follow in the footsteps of their 28-75mm f2.8 Di III RXD standard zoom: it offers a constant f2.8 focal ratio, is sharp to very sharp, shows very good resistance against flare and glare in challenging contra-light situations, and offers useful performance in close-up shooting. The lens is also pretty small and light. So light in fact that both the 17-28mm plus the 28-75mm f2.8 Tamron zooms together weigh only 1kg although they offer a constant f2.8 aperture throughout the zoom-range. And crucially you can get both at a price below that of Sony's FE 16-35mm f2.8 GM. What's not to like? Well, the 1.6x zoom range can feel pretty limited at times, the working distance at close-up shooting is a very short 6cm making it pretty hard not to throw a shadow on your subject and scare little critters away, and the full-frame corners are a bit soft when shooting at around 1-2m distance. But most of us want an ultra-wide zoom for more distant subjects where the Tamron excels, indeed equalling or even surpassing the sharpness of the Sony GM at times. So if you can live with the somewhat limited 1.6x zoom range, Tamron's second native E-mount lens earns a clear recommendation and becomes even more compelling when paired with the 28-75mm.