Tamron SP 150-600mm F5-6.3 DI IF VC USD

Had the worst possible day weather wise at woburn but got these





 
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I have a Tamron 150-600 lens on my 6D and I have had focusing issues so I just went out and had a play. What I found was at close range, about less than 10m if I set the focus to infinity and then autofocus it fails to focus, however if I set the focus ring to the closest and then autofocus it seems to focus quite well. So I was just wondering if anyone else had noticed this issue?

BTW I have also posted this in the 6D thread in case it is the camera rather than the lens.
 
The Tamron can have focus issues but this does not sound like it,i know nothing about Canon cameras but did read in the early days of this lens some Canon cameras had a focus setting which to avoid wasted time it would not try or stop trying if it couldn't achieve focus,not sure which models though.

The focus problem is normally just a refusal to focus at any preset distance or focal length,then removing the lens and refitting or doing the same with the battery would clear it.
 
mikew said:
The Tamron can have focus issues but this does not sound like it,i know nothing about Canon cameras but did read in the early days of this lens some Canon cameras had a focus setting which to avoid wasted time it would not try or stop trying if it couldn't achieve focus,not sure which models though.

The focus problem is normally just a refusal to focus at any preset distance or focal length,then removing the lens and refitting or doing the same with the battery would clear it.
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Thanks Mike, it does try a a bit to focus, i.e. it does move so far bus stops before it gets anywhere near so may be it is a setting that makes it think it is not going to achieve focus, I'll have a Google
 
sirch said:
Thanks Mike, it does try a a bit to focus, i.e. it does move so far bus stops before it gets anywhere near so may be it is a setting that makes it think it is not going to achieve focus, I'll have a Google
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It doesn't sound like you have the focus freeze issue
 
Just looked at the camera settings and the "Lens drive when AF impossible" was set to "0:Continue focus search" but I set it just in case and tried it but no luck.

Any other ideas?
 
The best way to check if its related to the normal problem is next time dont touch the manual focus ring but try in this order,switch camera off and on then try again,remove and refit battery then try again,remove and refit lens then try again,if any one of those options makes it work the its possible its the freeze problem.
 
mikew said:
The best way to check if its related to the normal problem is next time dont touch the manual focus ring but try in this order,switch camera off and on then try again,remove and refit battery then try again,remove and refit lens then try again,if any one of those options makes it work the its possible its the freeze problem.
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:oops: :$ :oops: :$ :oops: :$

Was doing a bit of googling about this today and I read about a focus limiter, which had completely slipped my mind, must be getting old, but yes it wouldn't focus below 15m.

DOH!!!
 
sirch said:
:oops: :$ :oops: :$ :oops: :$

Was doing a bit of googling about this today and I read about a focus limiter, which had completely slipped my mind, must be getting old, but yes it wouldn't focus below 15m.

DOH!!!
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I hate it when that happens! Glad you got it sorted though.
 
Thank you :)

I have to say I was pretty pleased with that - just a grab shot as she turned round - haha, having just looked at it again perhaps I should sell it to Nikon, theres excellent product placement in that!
 
Long time since we had a 'in competition' post against the Stigma variants of the 150-600 fraternity.... so...

Rutland Water in sunnier times!

Rutland Sunshine by Barry Cant, on Flickr
 
Took this lens to Monkey World yesterday, focussed very quickly and consistently in some very tricky conditions.
 
Has anyone else had any problems with the AF on a Nikon D810?

I just can't get it to focus sharply - unless up closely, up to around 5 meters away - and have just emailed Tamron about a possible firmware update.

It worked totally fine, with no problems at all, on my D7100 and D600, just not the D810.
 
wezza13 said:
Has anyone else had any problems with the AF on a Nikon D810?

I just can't get it to focus sharply - unless up closely, up to around 5 meters away - and have just emailed Tamron about a possible firmware update.

It worked totally fine, with no problems at all, on my D7100 and D600, just not the D810.
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Three possibilities spring to mind:-

1: Firmware as you've mentioned
2: Needs micro adjusting for the D810
3: You need to increase shutter speed due to the extra resolution on the D810.
 
snerkler said:
Three possibilities spring to mind:-

1: Firmware as you've mentioned
2: Needs micro adjusting for the D810
3: You need to increase shutter speed due to the extra resolution on the D810.
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2 and 3 done :)

Honestly, I've AF fine-tuned all of my lenses, with FoCal Pro, on this D810. I've tried every AF tuning setting and with it off too!
 
jerry12953 said:
There are times when mine drives me wild in its refusal to find focus - even on stationary subjects.........

....that's on a 5d3.
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wezza13 said:
Yeah, I get that too when the AF just freezes. It's a well-known problem though, so I just switch off the camera then back on again!
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Touch wood I've not had this with mine.
 
wezza13 said:
Yeah, I get that too when the AF just freezes. It's a well-known problem though, so I just switch off the camera then back on again!
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Sometimes it's a split second thing though isn't it? Like a hawfinch in a cherry tree! No time to switch off and switch on again. Maybe it's quicker to switch to manual focussing? But either way it's a real pain.

I wonder if we're talking about the same problem, though? I see there's a freeze thing, but mine hunts and gives up.

And it's FULL of dust!

Having said all that the lens is capable of getting some excellent results.
 
jerry12953 said:
And it's FULL of dust!

Having said all that the lens is capable of getting some excellent results.
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I've noticed this with mine, never known a lens get so much dust in it. Supposedly it's partially weather sealed too :rolleyes:
 
snerkler said:
I've noticed this with mine, never known a lens get so much dust in it. Supposedly it's partially weather sealed too :rolleyes:
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Same here full of dust but so far not affecting the IQ but strangely there is a large white speck too no idea how that got in there. :D
 
I use one of those zoom socks to stop the dust getting sucked in
 
Wildlife watching supplies and similar companies do them, don't know if mainstream ones carry them.
Hope that helps.
 
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