[scottax1]

Just talked to Tamron U.S. about something else and it occurred to me to ask about the 17-50. According to their service manager the Pentax mount version will be available this October.

FWIW/Scottax1

[AVANT]

Cool, slightly wider than the sigma lens, now if only they could put SDM on it as well...

[scottax1]

Yeah, it'll be interesting to see which of the independents implement SDM. I'm betting Sigma will be first even though Tokina has keys to the back door.

[AlexL]

How reliable or certain is this info?

I'm hoping to move over to Pentax next month to take advantage of their rebate. If it is in October, I can still get the body but then survive off a used prime (that I plan to get) and hold out until the Tamron lens comes out. I've read really good things about this lens.

Alex

[Wethphotography]

Just talked to Tamron U.S. about something else and it occurred to me to ask about the 17-50. According to their service manager the Pentax mount version will be available this October.

FWIW/Scottax1

That is great news; I hope other manufacturers will begin offering more of their fast lenses in the Pentax mount since the the popularity of Pentax is on the increase!

[ycl]

Having read so many excellent accounts of this lens, I'm glad to hear of the news. And if the price of the lens in Nikon / Canon mounts is an indication, it should be less than half the price of the new DA* 16-50 (with little sacrifice -- if any -- in image quality).

[FotoPete]

none of the tamron lenses have USM/AF-S/SDM right? Good to hear that they going to make the 17-50/2.8 for pentaxians! All that talk about the 28-75 is driving me nuts.

[Tbear]

Hope its true as competition will keep Pentax honest with their lens prices.

Ted

[FotoPete]

Well the prices of the canikon mounts are in the $400ish range (more in canada...ugh)

Anyhow $400 is pretty good considering the MTF graphs at photozone. A bit of field curvature but the lens is very consistent throughout!

[Wethphotography]

I emailed Tamron USA last evening about the pending availability of this lens for Pentax and got this response: "Sorry, but there are no plans that we have been informed of at this time."

So we will have to wait for Tamron to figure out whethe they are releasing this lens in a pentax mount or not....

[FotoPete]

omg this is terrible. haha. Chuck out $1000 for DA*16-50....$400 for DA16-45...or stick with Da18-55..lol

[AlexL]

I emailed Tamron USA last evening about the pending availability of this lens for Pentax and got this response: "Sorry, but there are no plans that we have been informed of at this time."

So we will have to wait for Tamron to figure out whethe they are releasing this lens in a pentax mount or not....

I, too, sent them an e-mail, and got essentially the same thing: "There are no plans that we have been advised of, sorry."

I'm just hoping that the person replying to the e-mails is just out-of-the-loop on future releases.

Alex

[scottax1]

Sorry I lost track of this thread. Forgot to subscribe to it.

I think what we're running into here is the classic Official Position vs. Those In The Know. A lot of companies have learned that it's better to announce availability of a product only when they know it's truly available rather than risk disappointing potential customers if a product doesn't make it.

The person with whom I spoke was a customer service agent. I initially asked about something else, then casually (yeah, right!) asked if they were planning to offer the 17-50 in Pentax mount. Quick response was "Yes." Any idea when? "Our Service Manager told us October."

I'm betting we'll see it then. In any case, this will be a good test of Rumors vs. Official Word vs. Inside Word at Tamron.

[vinzer]

Well, I've been leaning towards the Sigma 18-50 2.8 to replace my kit lens. Here's reason to wait some more. Waiting for a little over a month won't hurt me.

[Wethphotography]

Sorry I lost track of this thread. Forgot to subscribe to it.

I think what we're running into here is the classic Official Position vs. Those In The Know. A lot of companies have learned that it's better to announce availability of a product only when they know it's truly available rather than risk disappointing potential customers if a product doesn't make it.

The person with whom I spoke was a customer service agent. I initially asked about something else, then casually (yeah, right!) asked if they were planning to offer the 17-50 in Pentax mount. Quick response was "Yes." Any idea when? "Our Service Manager told us October."

I'm betting we'll see it then. In any case, this will be a good test of Rumors vs. Official Word vs. Inside Word at Tamron.

Sorry if I am raising the dead by resurecting this thread, but I am curious if anyone has heard anything more about the Tamron 17-50 being released yet in a Pentax mount? I am still getting "no plans" in response to my recent inquiry.