Tamron launches the small and lightweight 17-35mm f/2.8-4 Di OSD ultra-wide lens

With their usual fanfare, Tamron today announced a new 17-35mm f/2.8-4 Di OSD lens for full frame cameras. Available in Nikon F and Canon EF mounts, Tamron says that the goal with this lens was to produce something that offers “easy portability” while retaining “superb image quality”.

Covering 17-35mm focal lengths, it’s a pretty common range for photographers to sit, especially for any kind of landscapes or street photography. Specifically mentioning genres like landscape, the variable aperture likely won’t put too many people off buying this lens, especially with a $599 price tag. Landscape and street photographers are often usually sitting closer to f/8 than they are wide open.

• Focal length: 17-35mm
• Max aperture: f/2.8-4
• Min aperture: f/16-22
• Angle of view: 103°41′ – 63°26′ (full frame)
• Optics: 15 elements in 10 groups
• Aperture blades: 7 (circular)
• Minimum focus distance: 11″
• Filter size: 77mm
• Mounts: Nikon F, Canon EF
• Dimensions: 3.3 x 3.5″
• Weight: 16.2oz

The Tamron 17-35mm f/2.8-4 Di OSD uses four low dispersion elements in its 15 element, 10 group construction. It also features two “Glass Molded Aspherical” (GM) elements to minise distortion and other aberration. And those elements features the standard moisture, oil and dust repellant coatings we’ve come to expect from Tamron of late.

Tamron says that this is the smallest and lightest lens of its class and that keeping the lens as small as possible has been a high priority in its development. But they say this has been done without having to compromise on quality, having been “carefully designed to allow peripheral point image reproducibility and thereby facilitate a high degree of sharpness and contrast”.

There’s no image stabilisation in this lens, although it’s hardly needed at such focal lengths. You’re usually going to be either using a fast enough shutter that you’re not capturing any camera shake in the images from handholding, or you’re going to have it mounted on a tripod.

The Tamron 17-35mm f/2.8-4 Di OSD lens is available to pre-order now for $599 and is available in Nikon F and Canon EF flavours.