Tamron 24-70 2.8 VC, production problems?

Peter69

Peter69

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I'm looking to buy a Tamron 24-70 2.8 VC for Nikon.
I have found a grey one at the right price from a good UK supplier that offers a 3 year warranty.
I emailed them and received a reply today saying that they are discontinuing the Tamron 24-70 & 70-200 as they have had too many returned & as they are grey imports and warrantied separately they can't afford to keep selling them. They told me 25% were defective.

I was just wondering what other owners have found on the reliability of these 2 lenses. I guess it makes no difference of the fit.
(I'm not looking for a discussion on greys v EU imports)
 
I have the 24-70 VC on a Canon mount and cannot be happier with it. Build, handling, focus accuracy, IQ and speed are all excellent. I actually prefer it to most the Canon L lenses I have owned.
 
Couldn't be happier with my Tamron 24-70 f2.8 VC - cracking lens and by most accounts said to be as good if not better than the Nikon 24-70 f2.8 G which is a lot dearer.
I've had 2x copies of the lens and found no difference between them (Both UK stock)
I haven't heard of too many issues with them online either so not sure what the problem is?????
 
Yes there are a lot of chatter with the QC of the new tamron lens. A lot of people say the 24-70 has decentering issue or some kind of focus breathing or some kind of left or right focusing. I was look to get one but seems I will be sticking with my 28-70 until Nikon does one with VR
 
Wonder if this is why Panamoz never seem to have these 2 lenses in stock?
 
mike_6480 said:
Wonder if this is why Panamoz never seem to have these 2 lenses in stock?
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That could be the very reason.

this is because we've had a lot of problems with Tamron lenses (24-70, 70-200), and the return rate is too high for us to sell. We estimate about 1 in 4 has problems which is much too high for us,
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Some people have reported an issue with the VR, I had the Nikon version for a while, can't remember having to many problems :)
 
I had to return my first Tamron 24-70 bought from DigitalRev a couple of weeks ago.It was badly front focussing beyond what could be corrected by AFMA. Was confirmed as defective very quickly by H Lehmans. Second copy is fine.
 
There certainly remains an issue with Tamron (& Sigma) that the Quality Control isn't great and some copies aren't as good as others and back focus, etc - but its not an issue solely to them, I had 4x Nikon 16-35 f4 VR lenses before I got one that was sharp - and I've had 3x Sigma 35mm f1.4 A lenses all which performed vastly differently.
 
I had two copies and both went back. One to Panamoz (great service), and one to Amazon. both had the same fault (VC stopped working)
There were also variable AF issues on my 60D, although most could be fixed with MFA on my 5DMKIII.

A mate has had one before i got my first one and although he hasn't had the same issue as far as i know, but he had the focus ring break and had to get it repaired.
 
I wonder if tamron is going to try to fix their production line, clearly there has been a lot of money thrown into the design and development of these new generation of VC lenses. and I do love the VC on tamron as it is even better than the nikon versions. shame that there are so much QC issues. Hope they sort it out and would be a shame if they can't and end up making a massive loss and effectively become such a minor player in the consumer lens market.

sigma seems to be faring a lot better with the new range of Art, Sport and Contemporary lenses...don't seem to have such reports on QC...
 
From Tamron

I do feel you pre conceptions regarding this lens are misplaced as we do see the occasional lens returned but not to the point where we can call it a production problem. The sheer quantity of sales for this lens are testimony to its popularity in the range offered by Tamron and as with the entire range of lenses, Tamron offer an extended 5year warranty not because its needed but simply to endorse confidence in the product and its durability to the end user.
 
well I could tell you that even not all new Canons are perfect. Some people go into the large showrooms and test a bunch of lenses to find one that just about works properly... or just try your luck.
 
As an engineer, I find it amazing that products as expensive as camera lenses and cameras have unacceptable tolerances.
 
daugirdas said:
well I could tell you that even not all new Canons are perfect. Some people go into the large showrooms and test a bunch of lenses to find one that just about works properly... or just try your luck.
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i think if you pixel peep you will find most of the lens are some what vary on the performance from shot to shot. but that is part of the tolerances given to the design and manufacturing process. But the difference is the consistency at which these tolerances occur that determines if the QC is good or bad. the new tamron vc lenses seem to have the problem more so than others. this includes the 24-70 and the 70-200. also the issue become worse and worse over a short time.

a bit like your 24-70L that you had a major issue with. but that probably was down to the choice of material as opposed to any QC issue.

although what i don't understand is why people still buy those lenses when they are aware of the problems. on FM forum, there are threads filled with people bemoaning their experience with the 24-70VC and 70-200VC but always there are people in the middle of these threads saying "I am getting one and arriving in 3 days". you are like "WHAT AND WHY???" did you misread the title of the threads or somehow think everyone's discussion was just another reality that didn't apply to you? I have read one thread where the bloke sent 5 copies back finally got 1 back and it was perfect - "golden copy". then after a few weeks it has gone bad again...then off to tamron for repairs and got worse, then repair again and got fixed for the issue but some other thing was not right...it was a saga and grief. I just don't have that much spare time to deal with this kind of headaches and especially the lens aint cheap and by the sound of it, out of the 6 month he has owned the lens, the lens spent a good 4 months being exchanged and being repaired.

worse of it is that a lens is supposed to be built to tight tolerances, so by opening it and fiddling with its inside then closing it and repeat and rinse, you are not going to get a better lens out of it at the end of the day. bits are definitely going to fall out of alignment if not the least the casing will be loose...
 
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Peter69 said:
As an engineer, I find it amazing that products as expensive as camera lenses and cameras have unacceptable tolerances.
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i think the design of the lens might have assumed a tolerance then the manufacturing process is another reality is the root cause of these issues.

VC failure may well be down to crappy CPU or firmware. but front/back focus and decentering may well be something is loose or don't fit inside especially if it is perfect at the beginning then gets worse over a time.
 
ricky1980 said:
i think the design of the lens might have assumed a tolerance then the manufacturing process is another reality is the root cause of these issues.

VC failure may well be down to crappy CPU or firmware. but front/back focus and decentering may well be something is loose or don't fit inside especially if it is perfect at the beginning then gets worse over a time.
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Imagine planes were built to these tolerance levels. Imagine a Corsa plane that has severe steering issues. :p So it is certainly doable if they wanted / need to. Sadly some calculations point to more cash by making items more cheaply and oversupplying the market. It is really not difficult to detect a faulty lens before it leaves the factory, but they really don't want to. And many people accept low quality gear because they have no idea or can't be asked to return the product. There is also obsession with losing a few grams or cutting a few dollars by using cheapest plastics - that leads to poor quality products, be it an awful manfrotto tripod with corroding magnesium alloy (simple stainless steal or engineering grade Alu is just fine!) or cheap soft / fragile plastic in lens assembly.
 
Luckily I have had no such issues with my 70-200 VC. The only "problem" is the lens vignettes quite ALOT! However for portraits and the work I do I actually never correct it as it adds a nice look. I have owned pretty much all the other high end 70-200's out there (Nikon VR2 etc) and the Tamron easily matches it for sharpness/af speed and accuracy etc. Not sure how it would fare for sports etc but that isn't a factor for me. It seems like when Tamron gets its right so to speak theyre hard to beat.
 
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