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The Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 EX DC OS HSM is a normal range zoom lens designed specifically for DSLRs with an APS-C sensor. A fast f2.8 maximum aperture makes it great for low-light event shooting, as well as on-the-go portraits. The lens features Sigma’s built-in 4-stop OS to further aid low-light shooting. Sigma has minimized optical defects such as aberrations and ghosting/flaring by utilizing aspherical and low dispersion elements, as well as their Super Multi-Layer coating. This makes for a highly versatile lens that’s been designed from the ground-up for crop-frame shooters.
Only Works With: Crop sensor cameras (T5i, 7D, etc…)

President of LensRentals.com
There are several choices in the 17-50mm range for crop sensor cameras and rather than doing separate takes for each, I thought a bit of comparison would be better. The summary, though, is they are all pretty good. Whichever you choose you’ll probably be happy with. An important generalization first: all of the 17-50 lenses are sharper at the wide end than at the long end. If you think you’ll be shooting mostly at 50mm or so, you might want to consider a 24-70 or similar range lens.
Canon 17-55 f/2.8 IS The most expensive of the bunch. It has good image stabilization, but no better than the others. It will definitely autofocus more accurately, particularly on older cameras and in lower light. It also has the smallest barrel distortion at the wide end (although it’s still significant at 2%. Possibly the best of the group, definitely the most expensive.
Sigma 17-50 HSM OS is as sharp as the Canon in the center, and at f/4 is as sharp in the corners too. Maybe even sharper than the Canon at f/4. It has more barrel distortion at the wide end at 2.9%. That is easy to correct in photoshop, but correcting distortion also decreases resolution, particularly in the corners. Probably as good as the Canon except for autofocus in low light.
Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 VC this lens has excellent vibration control, as does the Sigma and Canon. It’s not quite as sharp as either, although it’s in the same ballpark, and it is less expensive. It has even more barrel distortion than the Sigma, though, at 3.3% at the wide end. Has had some autofocus problems with some Canon cameras where only the center AF point is active.
Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 This is the older, non-vibration controlled version of the tamron lens. It is optically different and actually sharper than the Tamron VC — as sharp as the Canon and Sigma versions. It doesn’t give you image stabilization, but if you’re shooting in good light where that doesn’t matter, it’s a great bargain being less expensive than any of the others.
April, 2013
LensRentals.com offers rentals ranging in length from 1 to 90 days. The shopping cart will automatically update the quoted price as you adjust the length of your rental. Our most common rental periods are shown below:
| Rental Period | Waiver Price | Rental Price | Total Price | Approximate Day Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 days | $5.00 | $34.00 | $39.00 | $13.00 |
| 4 days | $5.00 | $37.00 | $42.00 | $10.50 |
| 7 days | $7.00 | $49.00 | $56.00 | $8.00 |
| 10 days | $9.00 | $66.00 | $75.00 | $7.50 |
| 14 days | $12.00 | $86.00 | $98.00 | $7.00 |
| 21 days | $16.00 | $115.00 | $131.00 | $6.24 |
| 30 days | $21.00 | $145.00 | $166.00 | $5.53 |
| 45 days | $27.00 | $189.00 | $216.00 | $4.80 |
| 60 days | $32.00 | $221.00 | $253.00 | $4.22 |
| 90 days | $41.00 | $284.00 | $325.00 | $3.61 |
| Rental Period | Rental Price | Approximate Day Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 3 days | $34.00 | $11.33 |
| 4 days | $37.00 | $9.25 |
| 7 days | $49.00 | $7.00 |
| 10 days | $66.00 | $6.60 |
| 14 days | $86.00 | $6.14 |
| 21 days | $115.00 | $5.48 |
| 30 days | $145.00 | $4.83 |
| 45 days | $189.00 | $4.20 |
| 60 days | $221.00 | $3.68 |
| 90 days | $284.00 | $3.16 |
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