Anyone who has followed this blog for a while knows I absolutely fell in love with the Nikon 17-55mm f2.8 lens during my week in New Orleans! What a lens! I attribute so much of the quality of the photos from that trip to that lens… it allowed me to capture what my mind’s eye saw.

But, WOW, what a price tag!

$1,200 is just not in my budget for a lens (yet). Luckily, there is a very worthy alternative, the Tamron 17-50mm f2.8… and it’s about 1/3 the price! So, I picked that up yesterday!

I got to play with it briefly last night and there were a couple very apparent differences between it and the Nikon:

• It’s not as fast in focusing, though not as slow as typical kit lenses… I’m really interested to see how it works with the quick randomness of toddlers’ wanderings.
• When zooming from 17 to 50mm, the glass extends outward over the entire range. The Nikon was most recessed at about 35mm and had an in/out motion over the zoom range (I’m sure there’s a more technical term for this, I just don’t know what it is…).
• The zoom ring is stiff… really stiff! I know it’ll loosen over time, I just hope it gets to the point of the Nikon I had in NOLA. I had rented that lens, so I know it was well used before I got it but, the zoom action was absolutely perfect on it! Fluid and solid.

I know I’ll use it a lot this weekend so I’ll be able to give a more in-depth review and get into glass quality as well some time next week… keep an eye out for that here.

Oh, and I also picked up a 5 in 1 reflector! I kind of feel like I’m cheating with it… you know, being that I’m a natural light photog and all. But it just manipulates available light… right? That’s OK, isn’t it? Well, if nothing else I have a new toy to play with that may or may not make its way into my sessions.

And to all the moms out there… Happy Mother’s Day!