Tamron 70-200 on K-1 (either version)

math guy wrote:

il_alexk wrote:

I'm still using the Tammy 70-200 on my K5IIs. AF was inconsistent for the first couple of years, AF calibration didn't help much, I decided to send it for servicing to the Tamron main dealer in UK. The lens now is super sharp with quite snappy and accurate AF.

Well I had not considered that it might be a repairable problem.

I wasn't happy about lens sharpness wide open and asked them to have a look. They fixed that and AF accuracy/consistency has improved at the same time.

The one knock on that lens is that it hunts when focusing, so I just always assumed it was a design flaw of some sort.

Mine sometimes hunts too especially with low contrast moving subjects. AF on eyebrows or face hairlines works better than focusing just on skin. This is how Pentax AF works. 😄

Not for exactly the combo to keep up with fast kids running towards you, but is well within Pentax AF performance expectations.

Yeah, I initially purchased it for baseball several years ago when I was asked to shoot the teams in our local Little League. And since baseball action is much more predictable and not quite as fast as football, it performed beautifully for that purpose. Then when I started shooting football and other sports, the sluggish AF became more of an issue. It's still usable, for sure, but if I can improve it then I'd like to do so.

I am afraid you are limited by Pentax AF system here. While K1 II will definitely improve your AF speed and accuracy, it will never be in the same league as Sony (no experience with Canon/Nikon). The difference is really night and day. As much as I like Pentax IQ and colors, I am planning to replace my Pentax Tammy with smaller and lighter Tamron 70-180/2.8 for my A7R3.