Upgrading from Tamron 17-50 VC for event photography

Hi,

At the moment I use a Tamron 17-50 2.8 VC on my 60D for a bit of event photography as well as landscapes etc. I also use a 85 1.8 for portraits.

I've noticed recently as I have gotten a bit more serious about things that my Tamron has significant sharpness falloff in the corners even stopped down to f/4 or f/5 and is missing focus quite often, as well as being generally not very sharp and slow to focus. I don't know if this is due to age, use or just because I am noticing it more and using it in different environments.

I'm looking to upgrade from the Tamron, and have been looking at the 17-40mm F4/L but have also been considering the 17-55mm f/2.8 as both have the focal range I am looking for. Do you guys think the 17-55mm f2.8 would be worth the upgrade from the Tamron or should I maybe go for the F4/L, or even neither? I mainly shoot nightclubs and events however use flash so I could sacrifice the faster aperture if it meant a better lens overall.

Thank you!

Joe

I would be surprised if you found the IQ of a 17-40L an upgrade - it is notoriously soft in corners, even on APS-C and especially on FF. It also doesn't have IS. It is an old lens.

I have never had a Canon 17-55mm, but when I was looking at this range years ago, it preformed quite well, but I settled on a Sigma 17-50 f2.8, which was a mistake - I sold it after a short time due to erratically inaccurate AF.

Arguably the best option might be a 24-70L f2.8 but it might not be wide enough on a APS-C. Even a 24-70L f4 or 24-105L f4 might be an option although a little slow and maybe not wide enough ?

There are not many options for wide fast zooms for APS-C.

Colin

I have not used the Tamron 17-40 but I have the Canon 17-55 and love that lens.  Use it all the time.  One of the best lenses, IMO, for crop cameras

I've had 2 copies of the canon 17-55 f2.8.and was dissapointed both times. Soft wide open, terrible lens creep and poor build quality. IQ was no better than my 18-135 stm @ 5.6 and beyond. It's an ancient lens now, maybe when camera's were 18 mp it was a good lens. Don't believe the hype this lens.gets.

I have a.sigma 17-50 that performs better than the canon did. I think there's a big sample variation with the sigma and was lucky to get a good one.

As others have said, not many options for a fast apsc zoom.

For fast I went primes, 35mm mostly and.sometimes 50mm

I have used two copies, one borrowed and one that I own and have been happy.  Of course, the cameras that I own are 18 and 20 MP, so maybe that helps

tdbmd wrote:

I have used two copies, one borrowed and one that I own and have been happy. Of course, the cameras that I own are 18 and 20 MP, so maybe that helps

I noticed it worked better on my 1100D 12 mp than my 80D