Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 old vs. new

[bakubo]

I was looking at the specs of the old and new (new has VC) Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 lenses:

Tamron SP AF17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di II (old)
67mm filter
83.2mm (3.3 in)
440g (15.5 oz.)
MFD 0.27m (10.6 in)

Tamron SP AF17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di II VC (new)
72mm filter
94.5mm (3.7 in)
570g (20.1 oz.)
MFD 0.29m (11.4 inches)

I notice that adding VC rather dramatically increased the size and weight of the lens and also extended the MFD a bit.

A few years ago I wrote a couple of posts about IBIS vs. ILIS and mentioned that it seemed that ILIS lenses were bigger and heavier, but didn't have a direct comparison. These Tamron lenses are the best ones I have seen so far.

Summary of in-body vs. in-lens IS advantages & disadvantages

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read. ... e=24966312

Speculations, marketing spin, hopes, fears, etc.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read. ... e=24966357

[bakubo]

I also took a look at the 2 versions of the Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 and the new Sigma 17-50mm OS:

Sigma 18-50mm F2.8 EX DC Macro
72mm filter
79x85.8 mm/3.1x3.4 in
450g
MFD 28 cm / 11 in

Sigma 18-50mm F2.8 EX DC Macro HSM
72mm filter
79x85.3 mm/3.1x3.4 in
535g
MFD 20 cm / 7.9 in

With HSM the lens got heavier. Also, with HSM the MFD got shorter.

Sigma 17-50mm F2.8 EX DC OS HSM
77mm filter
83.5x91.8 mm/3.3x3.6 in
565g
MFD 28 cm / 11 in

The new 17-50mm has a 1mm wider angle of view, is heavier, is longer, has a bigger diameter, and the MFD gets longer again. Filter size, of course, is bigger too.

[Dusty]

One of the thinks I liked about Sony was the IBIS. The cost savings alone in buying lenses is worth quite a bit of cash. Now the trend is to put the weight and cost of focusing motors into lens systems. And I'm the guy who still thinks we didn't need Autofocus in our camera bodies at all!

Dusty

[bakubo]

One of the thinks I liked about Sony was the IBIS. The cost savings alone in buying lenses is worth quite a bit of cash. Now the trend is to put the weight and cost of focusing motors into lens systems. And I'm the guy who still thinks we didn't need Autofocus in our camera bodies at all!

I think Canon and Nikon would make a lot of their customers very happy to add IBIS so that all their non-IS/non-VC lenses would get stabilized. Both of them still have most of their lenses without stabilization. Seems to be the best of both worlds. ILIS for lenses that have it and IBIS for lenses that don't.

[bakubo]

I guess with video that is a plus for ILIS since there are so many reports of IBIS contributing to overheating in the A55/A33. Personally, I don't care much about video though.

[dvincent]

The VC version (even with it disabled) will not be available for Minolta/Sony mount, so the comparison is a bit moot.

[bakubo]

The VC version (even with it disabled) will not be available for Minolta/Sony mount, so the comparison is a bit moot.

Where did I say anything about Sony? This was just looking at the size of lenses with and without ILIS as a follow-up to the posts I linked to.

[Greg Beetham]

Yep more lens complexity, and an increase in size and weight with the not needed focus motor and stabilization in the lens, this will probably lead to more compatibility snafus as well.
Greg