Guessing they holding back nikon to fix the issue prior to shipping after the canon issues?
How does that compute?So wait...
You were happy with the AF, got it checked anyway and they dertermined it had a fault??
It seems there might be a recall like with Sigma 150-500mm or firmware update for Canon cameras.
Oh yes? What have you heard..?
Think I'll leave it for a bit until they resolve the apparent issues...
So far Tamron told me that they're dealing with big amount of returns. I can't imagine them not addressing the issue officially.
I'm in Birmingham now on the show and people are trying 150-600mm at the Tamron stand. I can hear lots of complaining about hunting AF...
Sounds like it could be embarrassing for Tamron, I hope it can be sorted as this could be a great lens.
So far Tamron told me that they're dealing with big amount of returns. I can't imagine them not addressing the issue officially.
I'm in Birmingham now on the show and people are trying 150-600mm at the Tamron stand. I can hear lots of complaining about hunting AF...
Well I tried it at the nec, thought the AF was fine even in crap light, iso 2500 on a 60D body, not too shabby handheld at 600mm either, maybe they picked a good copy for the show, £949 was tempting
Well I tried it at the nec, thought the AF was fine even in crap light, iso 2500 on a 60D body, not too shabby handheld at 600mm either, maybe they picked a good copy for the show, £949 was tempting
My guess is that there's nothing wrong with this lens. But, it's f/6.3 and that is above the AF f/5.6 threshold for most DSLRs, so it's bound to struggle in some conditions.
The 150-600's focusing mech is actually very fast, but AF is a game of two halves. The lens can only respond to instructions from the camera, and the camera only has data delivered by the lens to work with. When they're both working well together, ie with the AF point properly nailed to a nice contrasty subject, no problem - it will lock focus and hold it. But that's not always easy, and there's a lot of operator technique, camera set-up, and practise needed to get the best out of any super-telephoto.
For anyone interested, my review with MTF sharpness graphs and AF servo-tracking shots are in the next edition of Digital SLR Photography mag, April-dated I think.
I am keeping my Nikon 300mm f4 for now and have got a 1.4 TC on its way to me, once the lens is out for Nikon (and maybe I use one from Lenses for Hire to test) then I ca decide.
Going a bit off topic...
- neither Canon nor Nikon makes a lens with a max aperture smaller than f/5.6. The f/6.3 Tamrons and Sigmas have to trick the camera into thinking they're really f/5.6 or the camera wouldn't focus at all and simply switch out.
- What does this actually mean... can anyone explain this in simple terms as I don't see why say an f8 lens couldn't AF.
- Why couldn't Tamron have made this into say an f5.6 lens rather than f6.3 at 600mm - what would be involved in that?
Why did tamron choose to demonstrate this lens on a camera that couldn't focus it at the long end? I tried focussing at c.300mm and it was fine, but at 600mm, no chance. Be aware of the limitation on this lens, if you can live with it then fine but it is a budget lens.That makes sense. It must be frustrating for a manufacturer to come up this something that's ****-hot technically but they get complaints because users have problems of their own making. A long tele zoom is a pretty specialised piece of equipment.
Why did tamron choose to demonstrate this lens on a camera that couldn't focus it at the long end? I tried focussing at c.300mm and it was fine, but at 600mm, no chance. Be aware of the limitation on this lens, if you can live with it then fine but it is a budget lens.