I just wanna share my experience, opinions and a bit of researching through the internet about the famous Tamron 17-50mm f/2.81. Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 (without motor) - 1st version
- This lens is the
fastest focusing lens among all three versions.
- It has no motor and only can focus on bodies with built in motor like D80/D90/D200 etc.
- Some are made in china and some are made in japan. Japan versions are somewhat better optically.
- Quite a lot of this lens version have back/front focus problems especially the built in china ones.
2. Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 (with motor) - 2nd version
- This lens is the
slowest among all three versions.
- It has a motor and can focus on all bodies like D60/D5000.
- Afaik, all are made in Japan.
- A small number suffers back/front focus problems.
- The lens electronic contacts sometimes fails to connect to the body. This usually happens because it's still new. Try cleaning it with a clean cloth.
3. Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 (newest version with motor & VC)
- This lens is
2nd in terms of focusing speed.
- Slower than 18-105VR focusing speed but still acceptable.
- It has a motor and can focus on all bodies like D60/D5000.
- From what I've heard, there's no more problems with front/back focus issues.
Now the question most will ask me. Why does the built in motor ones are slower than the one without motor?1. Tamron still uses micro type motor in all it's lenses and this slows down the focusing speed and thus making it longer to achieve focus lock which is a b***h when taking wedding pics or other fast paced photography jobs. Been there..done that.. Really hate it because my friend's Nikon 18-55VR can have a faster focus lock than me. Sold it off in just a few months...
2. Sigma's 18-50 f/2.8 HSM is really fast because of the HSM motor but IQ and colour wise, Tamron wins. It's a toss between speed and overall IQ.
3. I'd like to note that the newer 1750VC has a faster motor than the 2nd version but it still uses a micro type motor and not a ring type motor.
4. Micro type motor are used in Tamron lenses with built in motor & cheap Canon lenses which usually dont have the words "USM" on it.
- This type of lens is cheaper to produce
- Slower in focusing speed
5. Ring type motor are lenses like Nikon SWM (stated as AF-S on it's lenses) , Sigma HSM, Canon USM, Sony SSM, Olympus SWD.
- This type of lens is more expensive to make
- Fastest focusing compared to micro type and non motor.
- Do note that pro lenses like the canon L lens and nikon's tele lenses have a faster SWM motor compared to normal/cheaper SWM lenses.
* This is why there's a lot of people selling the non motor tammy 1750 at a higher price than newer version (2nd hand).
* This is also why there's a lot of people selling their 1750 built in motor (some just 1 month old) or swapping it with a 1750 without motor.
* Most if not all sellers of the built in motor versions will just say they wanted to upgrade to other lenses, needed money, selling on behalf of friends etc etc...but now you know what the main problem is. It is slow!!!..at least for me where i really need a faster focus lock. The 1855VR, 1870 and 18105VR has a faster focus lock...yeah..
* The older non motor version is nice and fast but be careful if u wanna buy a 2nd hand NON motor version of the tammy 1750 because a lot of em has a front/back focus issue. U need to test it out yourself using a focus test chart here:
http://focustestchart.com/chart.htmlThis post has been edited by alpha_company: Mar 17 2010, 05:40 PM 
Mar 17 2010, 10:50 AM
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what kind of shots are u talking about? From experience, my 18-105VR and my friends 18-55VR beats the tamron 1750 with motor hands down speed wise in weddings. Maybe u should keep the D60 and get a 2nd hand Nikon 17-55 f/2.8. Sure gonna be puas hati with the Nikkor 1755 
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