Canon and Nikon APS-C shooters will soon have access to Tamron’s popular zoom lens. Check out our sample gallery to see how the RF-mount version performed.
Canon EOS R7 | Tamron 17-70mm F2.8 Di III-A VC RXD | F2.8 | 1/2000 sec | ISO 160
Last week, Tamron announced new versions of its 17-70mm F2.8 Di III-A VC RXD zoom for Canon RF and Nikon Z mount APS-C cameras. While the lens has been around for several years in E-mount and X-mount versions, this news brings an exciting new zoom option to Canon and Nikon shooters.
The 17-70mm F2.8 delivers a 26-105mm equiv. range on Nikon APS-C cameras, and 28-112mm equiv. range on Canon’s APS-C bodies. Most other F2.8 zooms for APS-C cameras in this range top out around 50-55mm, making the Tamron a distinctive option for those who want extra zoom reach with a constant F2.8 aperture.
That range makes it a great walk-around or travel lens, but the extra reach to 105mm equiv. also makes it well-suited to events, portraits, and street photography in ways the shorter 50-55mm competitors aren’t.
We had a chance to borrow the RF-mount version of the lens, which we shot on a Canon EOS R7. Build quality and handling are pretty typical of Tamron’s product line; the lens is relatively light for its size, and the zoom ring is well-balanced and easy to turn. There’s no zoom lock, but I experienced virtually no lens creep during my use.
Notably, the RF-mount version of the lens gains two hardware controls not found on the other versions: manual switches to turn autofocus and optical image stabilization on or off – a nice touch, in our opinion.
Optically, the Tamron 17-70mm F2.8 delivers solid performance throughout its range. While it doesn’t deliver the same level of sharpness as the most premium zooms on the market, it doesn’t command a premium price, either, making it accessible to a lot of people.
To learn more about this lens, see our detailed launch coverage
. In addition to the gallery below,you can also check out our earlier sample gallery
, captured when the lens was launched for E-mount.
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). We make the originals available for private users to download to their own machines for personal examination or printing; we do so in good faith, so please don’t abuse it.
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