Bsmooth wrote:
That stalling AF in the Chewyenfook report doesn't look good, especially for BIF, but maybe its just his example. But from reading it, I couldn't tell If it happened all the time, or just not when it was in single point AF.
I picked up one today. From a very quick test, it did seem like it didn't grab focus nearly as well as my 100-400L. I was in single point expanded on a 1dx. I am going to the lake tomorrow so I will have plenty of opportunity to test BIF. Lots of ducks, herons and osprey.
tanglefoot47 wrote:
Interesting but I worry how can they sell a lens like this for so little?
My theory is that it's being sold at a slight loss to draw market share from Canon. My thinking is that Canon is about to introduce a moderately (read, somewhat expensive) priced replacement for the 100-400 and it's going to be very good. The more buyers Tamron lures to this lens, the fewer people will want to buy the Canon when it comes out.
This puts Tamron's name on the table and, if the quality is good, opens up future sales for them.
Of course, the lens isn't made in Japan either, its apparently made in China where labor costs and regulations are less of a burden.
Snopchenko wrote:
A great practical review, in case someone didn't like the other reviewers running on test charts, and demanded real life scenarios.
Haters are still gonna hate, though.
Just read this review and thought is was very well done.
I only have an EOS M and I'm thinking about getting this lens!
Jase1125 wrote:
I picked up one today. From a very quick test, it did seem like it didn't grab focus nearly as well as my 100-400L. I was in single point expanded on a 1dx. I am going to the lake tomorrow so I will have plenty of opportunity to test BIF. Lots of ducks, herons and osprey.
Were you set at 400 when comparing AF grab? Curious............
Karl
Harold Carlson wrote:
Just read this review and thought is was very well done.
I only have an EOS M and I'm thinking about getting this lens!
I don't think you could effectively handhold this lens with the EOS-M (with adapter) and even on a tripod quicky moving objects would be challenging. But on a tripod, using the EOS-M touch screen to focus and fire, I could see it would working well for more static subjects and for video.
tanglefoot47 wrote:
Interesting but I worry how can they sell a lens like this for so little?
How about because they have developed an new and innovative way of making such a lens, and have less manufacturing costs than Canon or Nikon?
Employing 20 elements in 13 groups and boasting an advanced optical design, the lens delivers a superior balance of resolution and contrast for sharp, clear images. The front group contains three LD (Low Dispersion) glass elements (two in the first group, one in the third) for enhanced optical correction effectiveness, enabling the lens to thoroughly compensate for on-axis aberrations at the telephoto end. The lens also adopts eBAND Coating, developed from state-of-the-art coating technologies, and conventional BBAR (Broad-Band Anti-Reflection) Coating to greatly suppress ghosting and flare even when shooting under adverse lighting conditions.
So I just finished taking the lens on a test drive. For BIF, it is a complete fail. In fact, I'm returning the lens and sticking to my 100-400L. The reason is if the lens is prefocused toward the minimum to middle of the focusing range, sometimes it will not even try to acquire an Osprey or Duck in flight. The AF light blinks in the viewfinder on the 1Dx but the lens elements doesn't even attempt to move. I have to use my thumb to turn the focus ring close to focus on the subject and then AF will move and attempt to acquire the subject. So for every bird in flight, I had to manually pre-focus before AF would engage and track the subject. IQ wise, it appears comparable to the 100-400L @ F8. Bummer the AF doesn't work well though. This was tested at 600mm. Apparently others have experienced this issue too. However, they stated it does not happen when set to a single AF point. I only tested expanded single point and zone af modes.
Jase1125 wrote:
So I just finished taking the lens on a test drive. For BIF, it is a complete fail. In fact, I'm returning the lens and sticking to my 100-400L. The reason is if the lens is prefocused toward the minimum to middle of the focusing range, sometimes it will not even try to acquire an Osprey or Duck in flight. The AF light blinks in the viewfinder on the 1Dx but the lens elements doesn't even attempt to move. I have to use my thumb to turn the focus ring close to focus on the subject and then AF will move and attempt to acquire the subject. So for every bird in flight, I had to manually pre-focus before AF would engage and track the subject. IQ wise, it appears comparable to the 100-400L @ F8. Bummer the AF doesn't work well though. This was tested at 600mm. Apparently others have experienced this issue too. However, they stated it does not happen when set to a single AF point. I only tested expanded single point and zone af modes. ...Show more →
Did you check your AF setting "Lens drive when AF impossible"? Set it to "ON" to force the camera and lens to search through the entire focus range.
This was a malfunction on the lens. I always have focus search enabled in the custom functions. This happened with the focus limiter set or not. Pressing the shutter button it would respond like the lens was set to manual instead of AF. I had to prefocus for it to work at all. Put on my 100-400L and no problems. Several others experienced the exact same behavior.
Jase1125 wrote:
This was a malfunction on the lens. I always have focus search enabled in the custom functions. This happened with the focus limiter set or not. Pressing the shutter button it would respond like the lens was set to manual instead of AF. I had to prefocus for it to work at all. Put on my 100-400L and no problems. Several others experienced the exact same behavior.
Those are the exact symptoms that would show if the setting was on "OFF". At least one other user here made that same mistake and initially thought there might be a problem with the lens.
Jase1125 wrote:
So I just finished taking the lens on a test drive. For BIF, it is a complete fail. In fact, I'm returning the lens and sticking to my 100-400L. The reason is if the lens is prefocused toward the minimum to middle of the focusing range, sometimes it will not even try to acquire an Osprey or Duck in flight. The AF light blinks in the viewfinder on the 1Dx but the lens elements doesn't even attempt to move. I have to use my thumb to turn the focus ring close to focus on the subject and then AF will move and attempt to acquire the subject. So for every bird in flight, I had to manually pre-focus before AF would engage and track the subject. IQ wise, it appears comparable to the 100-400L @ F8. Bummer the AF doesn't work well though. This was tested at 600mm. Apparently others have experienced this issue too. However, they stated it does not happen when set to a single AF point. I only tested expanded single point and zone af modes. ...Show more →
Exact same problem with my 1DX & 5d3 in BIF. Both cameras are set to "lens drive when AF impossible ON"
mitesh wrote:
Those are the exact symptoms that would show if the setting was on "OFF". At least one other user here made that same mistake and initially thought there might be a problem with the lens.
I understand, but this isn't a user issue. It never even tries to acquire focus. I have never seen these exact symptoms with any other lens, even with focus search set to disable.
If everyone does not have the issue sounds like a bad copy or firmware in certain cameras.It will all come out soon enough with how many that are going to be out there. Doug M
I bought this lens at the weekend, and can confirm I also have problems mid to far distance AI SERVO focusing at approx 375-600 range. Although the weather is very gloomy, i'll try again on a sunny day. However as reported above, it didn't even attempt to focus so not holding out much hope. Mid to near is was fine, so I'm convincved it's not a settings issue. This is on a 7D with the back button focussing. Tried with limiter on and off, no difference. However otherwise really happy with this lens and really hoping this issue will be fixed with firmware upgrade/recall.
I have got good results with BIF left to right, but think the best front to back test maybe with cars going away from me/towards me.
I got out with my copy on Saturday with my 5DIII. My experience matches others, that as-is, this is not a very effective BIF lens. I actually packed it back in the box with the plan on calling to return on Monday.
Sunday was such a nice day, I gave it another chance. Same results for BIF. But the still photos of nesting and more static birds were very nice. For video, it great as well with either the 5DIII or the SL1 (for that extra reach).
Decided to keep it for now. If anyone has any improved technique for BIF or other with this lens please share. Also I plan to communicate with Tamron and hopefully if enough of us do the same, they will come out with a fix to improve focus.
So finally the one limitation has seemed to reveal itself in a lot of users. Are there any reports of good ai servo performance for BIF?
I guess I will continue to hold off on this one for now. AF aggravates me even with the very best L primes sometimes so I know that personally I wouldn't be able to deal with the performance many of you are reporting. I guess there are going to be a significant amount of returns and we shall see If a future FW can help if the lens can be updated??
I've spoken to Tamron UK service centre and they've asked me to email details of the issue. I'll do that with hope of helping to catalyse a fix. To be honest I only found the problem because I was looking for it. I've not had the lens long enough to determine if this will be a big issue for me, as looking at my photos, most are of static birds etc, or ones just taking off/landing. I don't anticipate that this issue will hinder me much, but time will tell. It seems to me to be the big distance jumps it struggles with. Also suggest anyone with this lens tests it and if experiences problems with Servo, get on to Tamron asap for our and their benefit!!
arbitrage wrote:
So finally the one limitation has seemed to reveal itself in a lot of users. Are there any reports of good ai servo performance for BIF?
I guess I will continue to hold off on this one for now. AF aggravates me even with the very best L primes sometimes so I know that personally I wouldn't be able to deal with the performance many of you are reporting. I guess there are going to be a significant amount of returns and we shall see If a future FW can help if the lens can be updated??
The reality is what else could we realistically expect at this price point?
The lens is a little soft at f/6.3 (but still usable in some circumstances), sharpens a lot at f/7.1, and is very sharp at f/8 and f/11. AF for static objects seem very fast and has been spot-on in my own experience. Build quality seems very much above average.
I'm not personally a BIF shooter, but I understand that a significant number of folks who are considering this lens will want the ability to shoot BIF with a reasonable keeper rate. Perhaps over time some of us will discover a "best practice" to facilitate BIF shooting. Or perhaps Tamron will release a firmware upgrade which provides better BIF performance. Only time will tell.
I do intend to shoot some sport and motorsports with the lens, but I'll need to wait for better weather and a different time of the year to do so. Perhaps someone in a warmer climate can be the first to report on this capability.
I personally believe it's still a helluva lens for anyone who can't afford the 200-400mm Canon, and that includes about 98% of us. Just my opinion.
So far the lens is for me . I don't really do BIF . I am more the flower I can not get to , bugs , lizards , anything that interests me at the time .
I am using my 70-200 [ sometimes with the 2 X III ] more than the 180 macro . I then crop . Since the shots are for me - they don't have to be perfect - if there is such a thing . [ I use filters , if that says the IQ I want / will accept ]
