Great shot!! Looking forward to a clear night for a good moon shot, although that could be around 2017 here in the UK! Interesting you found it better on the tripod with VC on - Did you have mirror lockup enabled? If not, I wonder if that is the vibration it controls, as I was always led to believe having VC enabled on a still camera confuses it and it then creates it's own vibration trying to cancel it.......or something!!
Imagemaster wrote:
That is true, and the 400 f5.6 will probably nail more BIF shots. However, I still don't believe that the up-rezzed shots will be as good as the 600mm shots.
The big advantage many are looking for is the 150-600mm range in such a light, compact, and inexpensive lens that is so much more versatile.
On static shots, the IQ is still impressive at 600mm. IMO.
And only $11,730 cheaper than the Canon 600.
This image looks very nice. Then again, most of the stuff you post looks really nice also.
I know 2x extenders aren't recommended for zooms, especially "budget" zooms, but I couldn't resist trying it. Here's tonight's moon with the tamron 2x on my 6D (iso 800, f16, 1/15).
rongoe wrote:
I know 2x extenders aren't recommended for zooms, especially "budget" zooms, but I couldn't resist trying it. Here's tonight's moon with the tamron 2x on my 6D (iso 800, f16, 1/15). Image is cropped, but full res. You may need to move down to see the image since the top half is mostly dark.
I bought the lens Friday, but sea fog and rain prevented me from shooting outdoors until this morning. The sea fog was still present, hence the white backgrounds, but there was enough light to put it through it's paces for a couple of hours. All shots are hand held, with VC and ISO 800.
Here are a couple of shots, EXIF should be intact.
I thought the lens did rather well given the conditions and the first time using the lens. I normally shoot with the Canon 100~400mm or 300mm f/2.8 with a Canon 2X Extender. This lens is much more versatile than the 300mm and 2X combo in regard to framing and composition. Weight is also a factor and it's easier to handhold.
The extra reach makes it ideal for these "perched" shots in comparison to the 100~400mm. I could never have gotten close enough to capture this type of image. Most of these shots were from around 15 feet to maybe 10 feet and the birds would have flown had I tried the same composition (size) with the 100~400mm.
The focus is slower over both Canon lenses I normally use, but not drastically so. In most cases the lens focused in a second to a second and a half. In better light, I hope it improves, but the results say that the focus is certainly usable, if not ideal.
BIF is another matter, but I'm optimistic of the results. The sea fog is really preventing me from giving it a real workout, but maybe by Wednesday we'll have some decent light and blue skies.
Very impressive. I wonder how well it will do on a crop body with a 2X TC.
Higher pixel density should give better image (for given moon size).
I used the remote app via wifi to manually focus, which the 70D also has. I would think focusing 1200mm in live-view with 5x or 10x would be hard without wifi since touching the lens at all causes shake. I suppose one could connect to a PC/mac for remote shooting, but on a cold night that'd be a pain.
surfinrobin wrote:
Great shot!! Looking forward to a clear night for a good moon shot, although that could be around 2017 here in the UK! Interesting you found it better on the tripod with VC on - Did you have mirror lockup enabled? If not, I wonder if that is the vibration it controls, as I was always led to believe having VC enabled on a still camera confuses it and it then creates it's own vibration trying to cancel it.......or something!!
Hi surfinrobin.
I used live view as a mirror lockup.
VC worked fine at 1/100, but I tried 1/10 and it was extremly bad.
I had better results at 1/100 VC ON than VC OFF
Karl Witt wrote:
Went out yesterday with 1DMKIII, I too have an AF problem on continuous focus. A call to Tamron service confirms they are aware of the problem but strangely they did not experience it in field testing for them.
So, this will be most frustrating for those that can be using their lenses a lot right now. I will continue to work on my static results and will work with Lens Align, or FoCal to do a proper Micro Adjust. In my limited testing I think I have experienced inconsistent focus at the 600mm range. I plan on giving the lens a good work out with the FoCal by Reikan software to analyze better as well as test it on actual subjects.
I'm going to hang in here and be patient as well as understanding as long as Tamron shows me they are sincere in pursuing the problems I/we are experiencing and works with me and keeps me informed. It seems that they do NOT have direct access to Canon's technology on AF and they have to do a work around to make things work.
Hey Karl, good to here you are at least in contact with a human being. I would however caution you that if you feel the AF issue would be a deal breaker if Tamron decided they can't fix it then I would maybe consider returning the lens now while in a normal return window and watch from the sidelines until said fix can be done. Otherwise, Tamron will likely not allow returns of hundreds of lenses later on if they realize they can't fix the issue. All depends on whether you are okay with the current AI Servo limitations or not. Those are just my thoughts....also depends I guess how important $1100 is to you....for some it isn't a big amount....for others it could be a big savings to get this lens.
Otherwise, just wanted to say that I'm continually impressed with a lot of the shots for sharpness, colour and contrast that I've seen posted lately as more experienced shooters are getting the lens!! Keep them coming guys and gals.
Some shots on 1Dx and 5D Mark III. All shot on tripod, mirror lock, Canon wired remote. Stabilization does not always work on tripod at 600mm. In some instances, after I AF, I switch to MF which is the norm for compressed cityscape in night photography.
Hope this helps.
P.S. I clicked Show Exif on all of these but it didn't show up except for one. Weird. Just manually added EXIF data. Thanks!
I usually shoot static subjects, so I can't comment on tracking or BIF images. I just bought this lens and did a really quick test on the guest bathroom sink (pardon the setup). Single light source at upper right frame, distance around 20 feet or so. Full image (at 600mm) and significant crop from that image.
