Tamron 70-300 VC soft on one side?

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Is this badly decentred? Should I send it back to the eBay seller, or is it within the parameters you'd expect for a consumer zoom?

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Lenses will vary in quality dependant on many factors especially if you dont know its history. However, having said that you only need ask a couple of question's. "Am I happy with the results from this lens" and " Have I eliminated all possibilites that I am doing something wrong" If it's No and Yes then send it back. Doesn't matter if this is normal for this lens or not if you are not happy with it.
 
Looks more like tilt than decentered to me... it could be a lens element, but also check the lens mounts for loose screws. There is a pretty simple test you can do (google it).
 
I'm gonna send it back. It's a pain in the wotsits but the I think I'd rather shoot with my 85/1.8 and crop than have that bleary look to the right hand side. The lens arrived with surprisingly little padding so maybe it took a few knocks en route.
 
I'm gonna send it back. It's a pain in the wotsits but the I think I'd rather shoot with my 85/1.8 and crop than have that bleary look to the right hand side. The lens arrived with surprisingly little padding so maybe it took a few knocks en route.

Correct choice. It's what I would do.
 
I agree also, best to send it back if you're not happy with it.

I always buy used and also I check them against the data on this site: https://www.imaging-resource.com/ after buying to see if there's anything that doesn't match with their findings - if it doesn't match reasonably closely, it goes back.

Their sharpness maps are very easy to digest, and one can easily see if there are any softness anomalies at the corners etc., at various f-stops and focal lengths, Not all lenses have been lab tested, but most have though, and if they encounter any weirdness, they sometimes test several copies.

I took the liberty of looking up your lens, and it seems there is a bit of unevenness corner to corner (the top right side does look a little softer - worse on FF), but perhaps not to the extent you describe, and certainly not to the extent that show in your images.

The lens they tested seemed to perform quite well on crop sensor cameras, which would confirm that you did indeed make the right decision, by sending it back.
 
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I'm gonna send it back. It's a pain in the wotsits but the I think I'd rather shoot with my 85/1.8 and crop than have that bleary look to the right hand side. The lens arrived with surprisingly little padding so maybe it took a few knocks en route.

I had a similar experience with a Tamron lens I bought here: very little padding, one side smeary-soft. Unfortunately I let enthusiasm get the better of me initially, and said it was OK when it wasn't. At least I've learned my lesson at a cost of a hundred quid or so.
 
I've informed the seller but first I'm going to do a 'formal test' - VC off, tripod, focussed on a distant scene. I am not sure why the VC would cause one side of the image would be soft and not the other, but it's worth checking.
 
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Much better on a tripod with VC off. I think the VC was adding a rotational movement that created the blur, or perhaps inadequately compensated for camera shake.

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I've informed the seller but first I'm going to do a 'formal test' - VC off, tripod, focussed on a distant scene. I am not sure why the VC would cause one side of the image would be soft and not the other, but it's worth checking.

What shutter speed was the dodgy image taken at? Either you have some shake showing through which is fine or the stabiliser is consistently killing sharpness and requires replacement.
 
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