johnctharp wrote:
I'm kind of surprised by the 'lemon' reports in here; for this reason alone, I'd be more likely to pick up the current Canon version...
In the process of people switching to mirrorless, you get excellent used copies of the 70-200ii. I got a Canon 70-200ii in perfect conditions (as new) for 1300Euros. The Tamron is 1600 Euros in Germany. It is a very good lens, better than the Nikon 70-200vr2 I had in the past.
Holger wrote:
In the process of people switching to mirrorless, you get excellent used copies of the 70-200ii. I got a Canon 70-200ii in perfect conditions (as new) for 1300Euros. The Tamron is 1600 Euros in Germany. It is a very good lens, better than the Nikon 70-200vr2 I had in the past.
It's really no different here; personally, I'm waiting for Sigma's entry (as I've probably stated before) due to ergonomic consistency and for now better adaptability to E-mount. But if I decide to stay with Canon and/or the Sigma isn't as impressive, I'm likely to just grab the current Canon and 6D II/5D IV.
monkey007 wrote:
Finally got my hands on this lens. I wanted to replace my Nikon vr1 and did a quick comparison. For those who are thinking replacing VR1 here some thoughts.
Tamron has faster and more accurate AF, better image contrast and VR (the VR3 setting is absolutely fantastic! , the Nikon VR feels very slow and noisy).
Nikon on the other hand has a better lens design (I like the slimmer design), the focusing ring is closer to the camera and feels much smoother and lens has no focus breathing. These are not deal breakers for me and I think I can get used to them.
Boheh, CA, Lens flare control all is about the same.
The very last thing is sharpness. My copy of Tamron was super soft right out of the box. It had sever front focusing. On both of my D750s not even +20 fine tune would fix it (according Reikan Focal I would need +36 and +32). However, when I focused manually via live view the images were super sharp (sharper than Nikon)
Unfortunately my copy is a lemon and I'm going to return. But I want to give it another try. This can be a great lens when calibrated properly and I hope my next one will be good. ...Show more →
Just recently took delivery of my G2, and like yours, it was also super soft out of the box. In addition, my copy seemed to shoot a little over exposed in day light. Sometimes as much as a full stop. Frequently I'd have to dial in a full 3 ticks of negative exposure compensation just to get shots where important stuff wouldn't be blown out. I'm talking shots where zero exposure compensation with my VR II would be needed.
Like you, I want to give it another try, so I ordered the Tap-in Console,... hopefully, that will tame the front/back focusing issue and sharpen things up. But it's the consistent over exposure that worries me the most,... so I'm inclined to send it back for a replacement as well. But I want to spend a day or two with the console first.
Question: Have any of you run across a serial # list showing a threshold serial # that marks the beginning of safe purchase? Lists like these are popular with musical instruments depicting the serial #s of best performing copies. I remember seeing a list like this once for the Nikon D810 letting us know when certain production problems had righted themselves, or if you needed to send your Nikon in for repairs and/or updates we couldn't perform. My serial # is 006603. That's still pretty much an early copy I'm guessing. Maybe with a little more production maturity, copies will start coming out of the box sharp! Just a thought.
I returned my first copy (serial #5118) which was severely front focusing. My second one (serial #5450) is much better. The early copies seem to be hit and miss. The new lens still requires AF fine tune about +15 on short and 0 at long distance. I have been waiting for the Tap-in console to be brough in the store.
The over exposure problem with your lens is interesting. I shoot M, but just tried A and it is perfectly fine. What mode do you shoot in?
I have been using Reikan Focal Pro to fine tune my lenses and it requires certain distance from the target. The Tap-in needs 0.95m, 5m and infinity values. Does anybody know if Reikan will work accurately for these distances?
I returned 4777 with the binding zoom ring and big chunk of internal dust mentioned a page or so ago, but don't remember and didn't document the serial number of its replacement, that I also sent back since the front/back focus couldn't be corrected even with a combo of in-body and dock adjustments. I think it was in the 6000s, though.
Today I uploaded the AF values via Tap-in console to the lens and it seems to be very sharp on every distance + FL combination i tried. I used Reikan Focal Pro to get the values and they ranged from +17 to -5. No way to make the lens working properly just with one AF fine tune setting in camera.
I'll be doing some more testing in the next few days and post the results.
So, is not a good buy at the moment judging by the lemon reports.... I have been thinking about this lens to upgrade my Nikon AF D 2.8 80-200. Maybe I should settle for the Tamron version 1? It can be had for around $800 new Canadian import.
EricJrSax wrote:
Just recently took delivery of my G2, and like yours, it was also super soft out of the box. In addition, my copy seemed to shoot a little over exposed in day light. Sometimes as much as a full stop. Frequently I'd have to dial in a full 3 ticks of negative exposure compensation just to get shots where important stuff wouldn't be blown out. I'm talking shots where zero exposure compensation with my VR II would be needed.
Like you, I want to give it another try, so I ordered the Tap-in Console,... hopefully, that will tame the front/back focusing issue and sharpen things up. But it's the consistent over exposure that worries me the most,... so I'm inclined to send it back for a replacement as well. But I want to spend a day or two with the console first.
Question: Have any of you run across a serial # list showing a threshold serial # that marks the beginning of safe purchase? Lists like these are popular with musical instruments depicting the serial #s of best performing copies. I remember seeing a list like this once for the Nikon D810 letting us know when certain production problems had righted themselves, or if you needed to send your Nikon in for repairs and/or updates we couldn't perform. My serial # is 006603. That's still pretty much an early copy I'm guessing. Maybe with a little more production maturity, copies will start coming out of the box sharp! Just a thought. ...Show more →
Can anyone explain how a lens can possibly under or over expose? I just don't understand the mechanics of it. Unless the lens isn't stopping down to the set aperture. Anyone?
dreamlander wrote:
Can anyone explain how a lens can possibly under or over expose? I just don't understand the mechanics of it. Unless the lens isn't stopping down to the set aperture. Anyone?
That's correct, it isn't stopping down to the correct aperture. With electronic apertures it can be a simple firmware fix, but it can also happen with a broken blade.
To tell if it's a broken blade, look through the lens wide open and you should see clear circles all the way through. Then stop it down to f/5.6 or so on the camera and remove the lens while holding the preview button down. Now when you look through it you'll see the narrowed aperture. If a blade is broken on either the wide open or the stopped down (or both) look-through you'll see the blade out of position. The aperture won't be circular, it will have a gap or a blade sticking out into the imaging circle.
dreamlander wrote:
Can anyone explain how a lens can possibly under or over expose? I just don't understand the mechanics of it. Unless the lens isn't stopping down to the set aperture. Anyone?
RCicala wrote:
That's correct, it isn't stopping down to the correct aperture. With electronic apertures it can be a simple firmware fix, but it can also happen with a broken blade.
To tell if it's a broken blade, look through the lens wide open and you should see clear circles all the way through. Then stop it down to f/5.6 or so on the camera and remove the lens while holding the preview button down. Now when you look through it you'll see the narrowed aperture. If a blade is broken on either the wide open or the stopped down (or both) look-through you'll see the blade out of position. The aperture won't be circular, it will have a gap or a blade sticking out into the imaging circle. ...Show more →
I've also had it happen on older cameras with mechanical aperture control from the camera (i.e. pre-dating electronic apertures) when the aperture doesn't stop down fast enough. I've experienced it because of oil on the aperture blades (from separated lubricants) and when the lens gets really cold (only happened with one lens). I haven't seen it since switching to EOS in 2004, because now my lenses have either electronic apertures, or manual 'stop-down" apertures.
Finally managed to find the serial number on my G2. It is 1244. It was spot on right out of the box. I even started AF calibration with console, but stoped very quickly because all adjustments were 0. I also did not notice any overexposure issues.
JohnK007 wrote:
Why would anyone waste their time with this lemon, on a Nikon camera, when the Nikkor 70-200 f/2.8 FL ED is available?
You can only land the bullet where you aim ... so why aim low?
This sounds like unfounded ellitism.
Nikon 2.8E version is not better in all respects. Nikon still has only one number for calibrating AF.
The price difference is ginormous: $2800 vs $1300 at the time of my purchase.
There is simply no contest here.
I have not tried Nikon E version, but I have all I need from G2 when it comes to image quality and VC performance.
vitalishe wrote:
Finally managed to find the serial number on my G2. It is 1244. It was spot on right out of the box. I even started AF calibration with console, but stoped very quickly because all adjustments were 0. I also did not notice any overexposure issues.
The 70-200 VRII was on of Nikon's & Nikon fans highest praised lenses...despite being more expensive, not even close to be the sharpest and suffering from the worst focus breathing (more like "focus choking", when 200mm setting was like 135mm FOV @ portrait distances)...so blanket bashing Tamron's Zoom offerings because Nikon put out ONE really good zoom after a decade or more of trailing the pack (ok, 14-24, you are the exception, respect!), is kinda unfair...no?
Especially when Nikkor's new offering is >$3000 in most regions.
I think everyone likes using their OEM lenses, I get it, but lets call a spade a spade.
