Tamron 70-200 decentered/tilted - worth paying to fix it in UK?

[il_alexk]

My Tamron 70-200/2.8 has tilted/decentered elements. The lens is pretty sharp when closed to 5.6, but is quite disappointing at 2.8-4.0.

I understand that UK service center (Intro2020) can inspect the lens and quote me before they charge me for the actual work. I assume this not going to be a cheap fix, they typically charge £40-£50 per hour of labour.

Does anyone have experience with Intro 2020 aligning Tamron glass? The lens is out of warranty, so I may be willing to pay for the fix only if they can properly align the optics. I would definitely like to avoid the situation of paying for the "lens cleaned and looked at, now it is within the specs" type of service.

I've also posted the same question on Canikon SLR lens forums, hope this is ok.

--

Cheers,
Alex

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[chary zp]

My Tamron 70-200/2.8 has tilted/decentered elements. The lens is pretty sharp when closed to 5.6, but is quite disappointing at 2.8-4.0.

I understand that UK service center (Intro2020) can inspect the lens and quote me before they charge me for the actual work. I assume this not going to be a cheap fix, they typically charge £40-£50 per hour of labour.

Does anyone have experience with Intro 2020 aligning Tamron glass? The lens is out of warranty, so I may be willing to pay for the fix only if they can properly align the optics. I would definitely like to avoid the situation of paying for the "lens cleaned and looked at, now it is within the specs" type of service.

I've also posted the same question on Canikon SLR lens forums, hope this is ok.

--

Cheers,
Alex
http://1x.com/member/alexk

I had the same problem with a Nikkor 70-300 G (the old one, without ED and AFS), asked nikon for price and they told me they'd actually have to replace the whole lens system (all or a huge part of individual glass elements inside) and the price of repair would actually be higher then the price of the lens, about a 140% of the original purchase price, as it was discontinued and quite a cheap one to start with. They told me that this is a standard procedure and normal way how to deal with decentered elements. Simply replace the whole segment of lenses inside.

So, I ended up buying a new lens instead and have the old one still at home, waiting for some time to make a real lens-cup out of it

 

[il_alexk]

My Tamron 70-200/2.8 has tilted/decentered elements. The lens is pretty sharp when closed to 5.6, but is quite disappointing at 2.8-4.0.

I understand that UK service center (Intro2020) can inspect the lens and quote me before they charge me for the actual work. I assume this not going to be a cheap fix, they typically charge £40-£50 per hour of labour.

Does anyone have experience with Intro 2020 aligning Tamron glass? The lens is out of warranty, so I may be willing to pay for the fix only if they can properly align the optics. I would definitely like to avoid the situation of paying for the "lens cleaned and looked at, now it is within the specs" type of service.

I've also posted the same question on Canikon SLR lens forums, hope this is ok.

--

Cheers,
Alex
http://1x.com/member/alexk

I had the same problem with a Nikkor 70-300 G (the old one, without ED and AFS), asked nikon for price and they told me they'd actually have to replace the whole lens system (all or a huge part of individual glass elements inside) and the price of repair would actually be higher then the price of the lens, about a 140% of the original purchase price, as it was discontinued and quite a cheap one to start with.

I'll be happy to pay £150-250 to properly fix a £500 lens. As long as they fix it: ).

They told me that this is a standard procedure and normal way how to deal with decentered elements. Simply replace the whole segment of lenses inside.

So, I ended up buying a new lens instead and have the old one still at home, waiting for some time to make a real lens-cup out of it

If you feel bored and have extra $4 to waste, you may want to have a look at this repair manual.

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servicerepairmanuals.net

 

[CapturedByHisDesign]

I'm not in the UK so can't speak to that, but I have a 70-200 VC that needs calibrating/alignment as well. Same exact issue as you. Pictures are soft (really soft) until f/4. Took the lens to a camera store and confirmed that it is my copy of the lens that is at fault. The lens in the store was nice and sharp at 2.8. Forget AF-fine tune, tripod, manual focus in LV, VC off. Tried all of that to no avail. All images under f/4 are soft. There is one sweet spot on the lower left side of the image that is sort-a-sharp. Called Tamron-USA and they quoted me $250-$340 for repairs. It's not under warranty, but is insured so I'll be sending it in.

In reply to the post regarding having to replace all of the lens elements: I really doubt that Tamron would make a professional level lens of this nature and not have the ability to re-align and calibrate the critical elements.

 

[WindwardHaole]

These partial comments from Roger Cicala's LensRentals' teardowns of the Sony 35mm f/1.4 ZA and Sigma 35 1.4 Art lenses, while not specific to the Tamron, say something about what we might even expect in current professional level lens construction, and zoom lens designs are significantly more complex.

"The one negative is that the Sony 35mm f/1.4 does not have much in the way of adjustable optics; just some shims to adjust tilt in the front group. That doesn't make the optics bad, and some good, low variation lenses don't have much in the way of adjustments. But that is why I've said several times that optically adjusting a decentered copy of this lens isn't likely to be successful; there's not a lot of adjustment to work with. Whether this is just the norm for all lenses made for this mount, or whether other manufacturers making lenses for FE mount cameras have more adjustment options I can't say".

And this additional comment from their teardown of Sigma's 35, 1.4 Art.

"There are no optical adjustments in the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 Art lens that we can find. The Sony 35mm f/1.4 had a single tilt adjustment of the front group".

 

[NickZ2016]

I had a lens fixed by Tamron Italy . I assume Tamron EU is basically the same across the EU. They charged a fixed price without even seeing the lens. Mine was dropped and had an internal element come lose. The list of things they did was quite long. All covered by the fixed price.

I'd call Tamron and ask. The price depends on the lens.

 

[il_alexk]

Paid £220. It is an expensive fix, yet it is cheaper then buying a new lens.

The lens is now raser sharp.

 

[Mike Riach]

Good result.

I had a second hand Sigma 70-200 f2.8 EX APO with a decentering issue. They adjusted it in the UK with no real improvement so it went back a second time (Japan this time) for repair. It came back better but still not right so I gave up. Never used it since.

Mike