Shortly after i received the D7200 i took few shots with the Tamron 150-600.
Tried 300mm, 400mm 500mm and 600mm. All images appeared sharp except the 600mm
which had some slight out of focus areas (took pictures of USA Flag)
Very happy i was looking for the first bird which was visible in the viewfinder and at 600mm
it was way out of focus (AFC + single Sensor)
Next i took several shots of bar code at 600mm and sampled -20 to +20 Fine Tune.
Discovered that the sharpest result is with +15.
Then with this Fine Tune set to +15, i tried the other focal lengths and was shocked to find that now they are way out of focus.
Nikon states:
"AF tuning is not recommended in most situations and may interfere with normal focus; Use only when required"
Does all the above mean that only when i use 600mm i need to turn on the fine Tune?
If you can't tune both ends (I shoot Canon) of the zoom range, then you may want to exchange it for another, or for the Sigma C and the dock so that you can do independent adjustments on the lens itself.
rather than just trying each AF Fine Tune Setting, I'd do the Dot Tune Method to narrow the range down between two settings. With zooms it's always a compromise to AF Fine Tune, and sometimes the compromise isn't good. I'd test as above at a few different focal lengths to find the optimum setting for each, it may not be off as much as you think. If it is and you won't primarily be using the lens at the full long end, I'd agree to consider the Sigma 150-600mm C a better choice with the ability to AF adjust more than one focal length within the range regardless of different settings.
After further testing i found that the following Fine Tune settings are the best for my set (D7200 + Tamron 150-600):
150-300 0 (no Fine Tune is needed)
400 +5
500 +10
600 +15
The real question is, why Nikon does not allow individual focal length Fine Tune?
Possible answers:
1.Individual Fine Tune is not needed for Nikon Lenses
2. This menu function has not been fully developed by Nikon Engineers.
I do not own the 80-400 so i have not a clue if answer 1 is correct.
in any case i wish to see Firmware upgrade with this feature. (Answer #2)
Between 500mm and 600mm you could compromise between those settings, but the lesser focal lengths are pretty far off even though Fine Tune adjustments are subtle. With Sigma the adjustment is done within the lens circuitry via a dock, independent of the camera body, so not a matter of an added menu feature.
If you need different AFFT values at different focal lengths, exchange it until you get a perfect copy, or buy a Sigma 150-600 with the dock to fine tune every FL/distance.
aznature wrote:
After further testing i found that the following Fine Tune settings are the best for my set (D7200 + Tamron 150-600):
150-300 0 (no Fine Tune is needed)
400 +5
500 +10
600 +15
The real question is, why Nikon does not allow individual focal length Fine Tune?
Possible answers:
1.Individual Fine Tune is not needed for Nikon Lenses
2. This menu function has not been fully developed by Nikon Engineers.
I do not own the 80-400 so i have not a clue if answer 1 is correct.
in any case i wish to see Firmware upgrade with this feature. (Answer #2)
Hi aznature,
After doing the calibration at different FL, w/c AF tune value did you leave in the camera? the longer one (600mm)?
On that value, how out-of-focus does your pictures gets when u are at different FL's?
After doing the calibration at different FL, w/c AF tune value did you leave in the camera? the longer one (600mm)?
On that value, how out-of-focus does your pictures gets when u are at different FL's?
Thanks,
Christian
Practically i consider this lens as several primes so i am ready to use the right fine tune number
as needed.
The reason i mount it on the body is not to cover 150-300 but 400-600
It is also correct that if i shall use +10 or some number close to it i shall get acceptable sharpness.
I also own Sigma 50-500 (latest) and no fine tune is required here.
Before investing in sigma 150-600 i would first try the new Nikon 200-500 to be released next month.
Assuming that you want to keep the Tamron, I would pick +10 with AF fine tune on and then turn it off when shooting the 100-300mm short end. My guess as to why Nikon doesn't allow more in camera AF fine tuning options, is it's more often needed on longer telephotos. Nikon use to have only one, now they will have three, so maybe they will follow Canon on newer bodies, or follow Sigma with a dock.
