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Tamron 17-50 VC Focus Test Chart.

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SpartanWarrior

SpartanWarrior

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Just got the lens today and wanted to see if I have any back or front focus, so your opinions please thank you;)
Here are 2 tests 50mm @ f/2.8





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300.
 
My old Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 "nonVC" was very reliable AF wise @50mm, it is the 17mm that give me the problem. I'm not talking about field curvature, since I shoot landscape at mainly f/8 which FC disappear. What I notice is that tamron often product erratic AF result @17mm. The simple cured I used was to pre-focused at 50mm first, then zoom out to 17mm for problem-free focusing. If I leave the lens @17mm without going to 50mm first, it produce AF error like this:





My "working theory" is that mine Non-VC has somekind of AF mechanical error preventing lens from focusing @infiniti. By pre-zooming @50mm, then zoom back, the mechanical "gear" is loser and focus correctly. Anyhow, I sold that lens long ago, and eagerly waiting for more user report of this new VC.

How is the AF reliability @17mm?
 
AF reliability is great and much faster than the non VC here is a shot at 17mm in my living room, hand held ISO 100 1/4sec f/2.8 and VC was on, shot in RAW


007peter said:
My old Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 "nonVC" was very reliable AF wise @50mm, it is the 17mm that give me the problem. I'm not talking about field curvature, since I shoot landscape at mainly f/8 which FC disappear. What I notice is that tamron often product erratic AF result @17mm. The simple cured I used was to pre-focused at 50mm first, then zoom out to 17mm for problem-free focusing. If I leave the lens @17mm without going to 50mm first, it produce AF error like this:





My "working theory" is that mine Non-VC has somekind of AF mechanical error preventing lens from focusing @infiniti. By pre-zooming @50mm, then zoom back, the mechanical "gear" is loser and focus correctly. Anyhow, I sold that lens long ago, and eagerly waiting for more user report of this new VC.

How is the AF reliability @17mm?
Click to expand...
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300.
 
Ok here is one at -5



and one at -7



maybe i should even go to like -10 or so.
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300.
 
I will try that latter, but I will say this the IQ from the 15-85 I had is much better to this tamron, I just called the shop and told him to hold on to the 15-85 till Monday but most likely I will send the Tamron back,

the 15-85 has much faster and silent focus and the IS is quick and quiet and for good measure sharper than the Tamron.
clknight said:
and see what that does.
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http://www.pbase.com/clknight
Colin
Click to expand...
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300.
 
You think I need to go in the + direction? because in towards - my pictures are coming out a little blurry.
photonius said:
to me it looks like you are going in the wrong direction.

e i should even go to like -10 or so.
photonius said:
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300.
Click to expand...
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Life is short, time to zoom in ©
Click to expand...
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300.
 
is manual focus using live view magnified. Then switch to autofocus and watch the indication on the top of the lens to see which way the AF moves. I then adjust microAF in the appropriate direction so that AF doesn't not change from where I manually focused. This is a great was to get it REALLY close, then fine tune if necessary.
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http://www.pbase.com/clknight
Colin
 
I will try that also, so use live view and manual focus the lens then switch off live view and switch on auto focus right then press shutter button half way right?
clknight said:
is manual focus using live view magnified. Then switch to autofocus and watch the indication on the top of the lens to see which way the AF moves. I then adjust microAF in the appropriate direction so that AF doesn't not change from where I manually focused. This is a great was to get it REALLY close, then fine tune if necessary.
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http://www.pbase.com/clknight
Colin
Click to expand...
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300.
 
SpartanWarrior said:
I will try that also, so use live view and manual focus the lens then switch off live view and switch on auto focus right then press shutter button half way right?
Click to expand...
There are many ways to calibrate....this is just another one of them. This method worked on my 85 f/1.8 really well. Just keep adjusting the microAF until there's no movement when you switch to AF and depress the shutter.

When you're fine tuning, remember to rack the lens to infinity between each AF attempt and make sure you get repeatable results before you make adjustments.

Don't worry, it's worth the work to have it calibrated so that you can shoot confidently. I spent a couple hours obsessing over my 85mm before a wedding. The next day, I was rewarded with spot on AF though, capturing the words "I love you" as the groom wrote his wife-to-be a note. I hate staging shots like that, so if I would have missed it I wouldn't have been pleased at all. My work payed off and yours will too.



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http://www.pbase.com/clknight
Colin
 
photonius said:
to me it looks like you are going in the wrong direction.

e i should even go to like -10 or so.
photonius said:
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300.
Click to expand...
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Life is short, time to zoom in ©
Click to expand...
I agree. It looks like your adjustments moved the field of focus even closer to the camera (front focusing even more!). Try going with a small + setting.
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kmckinnon
 
SpartanWarrior said:
I will try that latter, but I will say this the IQ from the 15-85 I had is much better to this tamron, I just called the shop and told him to hold on to the 15-85 till Monday but most likely I will send the Tamron back,

the 15-85 has much faster and silent focus and the IS is quick and quiet and for good measure sharper than the Tamron.
Click to expand...
No......I didn't want to hear that. Your indoor room photo looks pretty good to my eyes. Are you staying that comparing against the 15-85mm IS, that photo looks soft? How "conclusive" is your observation. You only have the lens for couple hours. Is that enough time to call one lens sharper than the other?

Any chance of taking the lens back to camera shop, ask to borrow a tripod and shoot away for more detail comparison.

"Just how much louder" is he AF noise anyways. I was really hoping tamron would have improved the AF noise mechanism, perhaps my hope was too high :(
 
I will try to look for the same living room shot with my 15-85, tomorrow if it is a good day here i will shoot outside and compare to the 15-85 as well, now i set my AF MA on the 7D to +10 and so far I am liking what I'm seeing, now as far as me saying that the 15-85 has better IQ I better shut my mouth for right now, as far as AF noise it is much quieter than the non VC thats for sure but the 15-85 is quieter, also the VC focuses much faster than non VC and 15-85 little faster.
007peter said:
SpartanWarrior said:
I will try that latter, but I will say this the IQ from the 15-85 I had is much better to this tamron, I just called the shop and told him to hold on to the 15-85 till Monday but most likely I will send the Tamron back,

the 15-85 has much faster and silent focus and the IS is quick and quiet and for good measure sharper than the Tamron.
Click to expand...
No......I didn't want to hear that. Your indoor room photo looks pretty good to my eyes. Are you staying that comparing against the 15-85mm IS, that photo looks soft? How "conclusive" is your observation. You only have the lens for couple hours. Is that enough time to call one lens sharper than the other?

Any chance of taking the lens back to camera shop, ask to borrow a tripod and shoot away for more detail comparison.

"Just how much louder" is he AF noise anyways. I was really hoping tamron would have improved the AF noise mechanism, perhaps my hope was too high :(
Click to expand...
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300.
 
Well just wanted to compare the 17-50 to my sigma 30mm, both on tripod ISO 100 sigma is @ f/1.4 and the 17-50 @ 2.8, sigma is way sharper
sigma



Tamron



and the crops
sigma



Tamron



but i think that is supposed to be the outcome, you should see the sigmas 2.8 lol.
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300.
 
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