Tamron 17-70 2.8, initial impressions on X-H2!

[alphaZ]

Unfortunately my impressions on the X-H2 are the same as the X-H2s, and I am unlikely to be keeping this copy either.

I wanted it for indoor/low light use and in all honesty its not that useful imo despite being 2.8. The af motor seems noisy/lumpy compared to Fuji almost like its struggling. Af accuracy seems hit and miss with the pin-point and one larger af box, but it just doesn't provide any confidence.

Swapping back to the 18-120.4 is night and day better, the focus and accuracy in the same low light conditions is superior in every way, quiet/fast, accurate and to my eye sharper too.

I need to decide if I'm going to do any further testing with it as its intended purpose was lower light. Now I'm thinking I might as well get a prime in the 20/30 range.

Very disappointed in this lens for a second time now, the rxd motor might be at the heart of the problem, the best motors on Tamron are vxd.

 

[fotoword]

I tried a few shots today with the 17-70 at slower shutter speed indoors (1/15th at 17mm and 1/80th at 70mm) on the on the xt4 and xh2s and I think it performed well enough.

Images were acceptably sharp and focusing was not slow at all.

Later in a brighter room I tried a 1 second shot but with the aperture at F10 In afc. At that point it was pulsing/hunting etc. I switched to single a/f and it locked in just fine. The pics were all terrible at 70mm at 1 second but that was me. I did manage some at 1/4 second though.

Only mild sounds from the focus motor so not a problem .

But I understand that if you've tried 2 and had a bad experience you might want to go with the 16-55.

Cheers

Paul

 

[alphaZ]

I tried a few shots today with the 17-70 at slower shutter speed indoors (1/15th at 17mm and 1/80th at 70mm) on the on the xt4 and xh2s and I think it performed well enough.

Images were acceptably sharp and focusing was not slow at all.

Later in a brighter room I tried a 1 second shot but with the aperture at F10 In afc. At that point it was pulsing/hunting etc. I switched to single a/f and it locked in just fine. The pics were all terrible at 70mm at 1 second but that was me. I did manage some at 1/4 second though.

Only mild sounds from the focus motor so not a problem .

But I understand that if you've tried 2 and had a bad experience you might want to go with the 16-55.

Cheers

Paul

Thanks for you feedback, I wanted to replace the 16-80 with it if I'm honest as its a stop faster and it has great focal range too, ie I'd give up the 16 and 80 for the 2.8 but its not doing it for me, not even close. Once I have a dislike to something I'm unlikely to go back on it so it will probably be returned. I don't really want/need the 16-55 as I find the 16-80 more practical and not prepared to replace it with something with shorter range and its a big chunck of lens, heavy too, I'll either go for a prime or try the Sigma 18-50 2.8 now.

Actually what I want Fuji to make are short f2 zoom's, 14-30/27-60 ie 21-45 and 40-90!

 

[BeatX]

Unfortunately my impressions on the X-H2 are the same as the X-H2s, and I am unlikely to be keeping this copy either.

I wanted it for indoor/low light use and in all honesty its not that useful imo despite being 2.8. The af motor seems noisy/lumpy compared to Fuji almost like its struggling. Af accuracy seems hit and miss with the pin-point and one larger af box, but it just doesn't provide any confidence.

Swapping back to the 18-120.4 is night and day better, the focus and accuracy in the same low light conditions is superior in every way, quiet/fast, accurate and to my eye sharper too.

I need to decide if I'm going to do any further testing with it as its intended purpose was lower light. Now I'm thinking I might as well get a prime in the 20/30 range.

Very disappointed in this lens for a second time now, the rxd motor might be at the heart of the problem, the best motors on Tamron are vxd.

Thanks for honest review!

Now I'm sure, that for vacation/travel standard zoom lens I will not even consider Tamron 17-70/2.8

Sigma 18-50/2.8 is on my horizon But I will wait for first feedbacks from dpreview forum users, how it performs in many categories

 

[alphaZ]

Unfortunately my impressions on the X-H2 are the same as the X-H2s, and I am unlikely to be keeping this copy either.

I wanted it for indoor/low light use and in all honesty its not that useful imo despite being 2.8. The af motor seems noisy/lumpy compared to Fuji almost like its struggling. Af accuracy seems hit and miss with the pin-point and one larger af box, but it just doesn't provide any confidence.

Swapping back to the 18-120.4 is night and day better, the focus and accuracy in the same low light conditions is superior in every way, quiet/fast, accurate and to my eye sharper too.

I need to decide if I'm going to do any further testing with it as its intended purpose was lower light. Now I'm thinking I might as well get a prime in the 20/30 range.

Very disappointed in this lens for a second time now, the rxd motor might be at the heart of the problem, the best motors on Tamron are vxd.

Thanks for honest review!

Now I'm sure, that for vacation/travel standard zoom lens I will not even consider Tamron 17-70/2.8

I really wanted to like the Tamron 17-70, really wanted to, in my head it works, in practice

Sigma 18-50/2.8 is on my horizon But I will wait for first feedbacks from dpreview forum users, how it performs in many categories

I'm thinking a prime now, but will try 18-50 as well

--
My gallery: https://flickr.com/photos/193816559@N05/

 

[baobob]

I have been using the Tamron sinceits launch with XT3 then XH2s and I have no issue with AF, fast and accurate. I have used it also for BIF and it works perfectly with close to 100% tack sharp.

Would it be possible a sample issue ?

https://www.lesnumeriques.com/zooms/tamron-17-70-mm-f-2-8-di-iii-a-vc-rxd-p61165/test.html (use Google translation)

https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/tamron-17-70mm-f28-di-iii-a-vc-rxd

" This combo is faster than any lens and zoom combo Fujifilm has as of January 2021. It’s even a bit faster than what the Fujifilm XT4 can give you. You’ll find the Tamron 17-70mm f2.8 Di III-A VC RXD very useful." from https://www.thephoblographer.com/2021/02/24/tamron-17-70mm-f28-review/

There seems to have a general agreement about the excellence of AF....

Bob

 

[alphaZ]

I have been using the Tamron sinceits launch with XT3 then XH2s and I have no issue with AF, fast and accurate. I have used it also for BIF and it works perfectly with close to 100% tack sharp.

Would it be possible a sample issue ?

Its the second copy and I'm not getting the accuracy or speed from an f2.8 lens I expected. I found almost identical unreliability on the X-H2s and put it down to the fact it was new/fw or some sort of ibis/ois issue. Turns out this version is giving similar results for me on the H2 with latest fw. Hard to describe-explain but the 18-120.4 is far far better. I'll keep testing the 17-70 see what I can conclude.

--
Good judgment comes from experience
Experience comes from bad judgment

 

[alphaZ]

I have been using the Tamron sinceits launch with XT3 then XH2s and I have no issue with AF, fast and accurate. I have used it also for BIF and it works perfectly with close to 100% tack sharp.

Would it be possible a sample issue ?

https://www.lesnumeriques.com/zooms/tamron-17-70-mm-f-2-8-di-iii-a-vc-rxd-p61165/test.html (use Google translation)

https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/tamron-17-70mm-f28-di-iii-a-vc-rxd

" This combo is faster than any lens and zoom combo Fujifilm has as of January 2021. It’s even a bit faster than what the Fujifilm XT4 can give you. You’ll find the Tamron 17-70mm f2.8 Di III-A VC RXD very useful." from https://www.thephoblographer.com/2021/02/24/tamron-17-70mm-f28-review/

There seems to have a general agreement about the excellence of AF....

Bob

Apologies Bob, I have a second random copy from a second different outlet and to me they are the same on 2 different bodies now. I don't put any stock in any of those websites, they are very low quality sites imo. But obviously if it works for you that is brilliant but I wouldn't put it in the same category af wise as the 18-120.4, I'll do a side by side with the 16-80.4 too and the 10-24 as well, and try and look at the sharpness too. But for me first impressions usually last and its costing me time, money and effort to try this lens twice and twice its disappointed to me.

 

[alphaZ]

Unfortunately my impressions on the X-H2 are the same as the X-H2s, and I am unlikely to be keeping this copy either.

I wanted it for indoor/low light use and in all honesty its not that useful imo despite being 2.8. The af motor seems noisy/lumpy compared to Fuji almost like its struggling. Af accuracy seems hit and miss with the pin-point and one larger af box, but it just doesn't provide any confidence.

Swapping back to the 18-120.4 is night and day better, the focus and accuracy in the same low light conditions is superior in every way, quiet/fast, accurate and to my eye sharper too.

I need to decide if I'm going to do any further testing with it as its intended purpose was lower light. Now I'm thinking I might as well get a prime in the 20/30 range.

Very disappointed in this lens for a second time now, the rxd motor might be at the heart of the problem, the best motors on Tamron are vxd.

Will update these first impressions based on new f/w released today, very opportune!

 

[RobertMachin]

You have the 17-70 and the 18-120?

I have the Tamron, I think it is quite competitive apart from some distortion correction bugs.

Are you saying the 18-120 is better?

Do you have comparison samples we could look at?

 

[Ken Ross]

Surprised to see And-roid’s negative review. Virtually every online review I’ve seen from Dustin Abbott’s to almost any other I read, just raved about this lens.

I know And-roid mentioned he had 2 copies, so it’s really weird. He mentioned he was doing the latest firmware upgrade on the lens, but I didn’t see anything subsequent to that. I’d be using it primarily for video, so my main concern is the effectiveness of the VC. I found the VC to be a dismal failure on the 18-300 in video mode on both the XH2 & XH2s, even though it worked fine in stills mode.

 

[sluggy_warrior]

I have been using the Tamron sinceits launch with XT3 then XH2s and I have no issue with AF, fast and accurate. I have used it also for BIF and it works perfectly with close to 100% tack sharp.

Would it be possible a sample issue ?

Here are a few shots from another copy (mine), just so we are on the same page, maybe OP has a higher standard. I have at least 10K shots on the Tamron by now (a 4-day Summit, a few indoor/outdoor events, ...) and it works pretty well, there are a few misfocused shots but I'd blame it on the AF of the old X-T2/X-T20 (as I've seen the same problem with other Fuji lenses, too).

For the state fair, those are mostly candid shots so I spent less than 2 seconds on a shot, just walking by, point and snap, using point AF (size=3). It didn't have any problem at the ballroom dance neither, using zone AF.

All shots are processed from RAW in darktable.

 

[baobob]

Great shots indeed. In the reviews there is a quasi unanimity on the excellent IQ and AF of the lens, which I do support.

There is a new FW BTW I posted the link a few days ago (17/11/22)

 

[baobob]

I found the VC to be a dismal failure on the 18-300 in video mode on both the XH2 & XH2s, even though it worked fine in stills mode.

Did you upgrade the FW as well

I found in stills a huge improvement of the VC

Bob

 

[sluggy_warrior]

Great shots indeed. In the reviews there is a quasi unanimity on the excellent IQ and AF of the lens, which I do support.

There is a new FW BTW I posted the link a few days ago (17/11/22)

thanks for the info, just updated my lens FW now, doesn't notice any difference :-( Perhaps as the FW log says, just a fix for AF-C mode. Good to see Tamron keeps on fixing bugs.

 

[baobob]

It has to do with VC (get full details on their site) or on my post

 

[baobob]

From ramron

This update improves the following;
VC shall function when the shutter button is pressed halfway under the following settings.
- "IS MODE": "SHOOTING"
- "FOCUS MODE": "AF-C"

 

[Ken Ross]

I found the VC to be a dismal failure on the 18-300 in video mode on both the XH2 & XH2s, even though it worked fine in stills mode.

Did you upgrade the FW as well

I found in stills a huge improvement of the VC

Bob

Bob, I returned the lens about 3 weeks ago, but it had the latest firmware as of that date. It didn't seem to be an issue with stills, as a half press of the shutter would significantly steady the image. However at the same focal length in video mode, it would be 'shake, rattle & roll'. It was literally like 2 different lenses. Fuji tech support thought it was a communication issue between the lens and the camera in video mode.

Since I had 2 copies of the lens on 2 different bodies, I ruled out any sample issue as opposed to a design issue. I'd like to hear from someone with an XH2 or XH2s that applied the new firmware update to this lens and how it behaves at longer focal lengths in video mode.

 

[alphaZ]

Unfortunately my impressions on the X-H2 are the same as the X-H2s, and I am unlikely to be keeping this copy either.

I wanted it for indoor/low light use and in all honesty its not that useful imo despite being 2.8. The af motor seems noisy/lumpy compared to Fuji almost like its struggling. Af accuracy seems hit and miss with the pin-point and one larger af box, but it just doesn't provide any confidence.

Swapping back to the 18-120.4 is night and day better, the focus and accuracy in the same low light conditions is superior in every way, quiet/fast, accurate and to my eye sharper too.

I need to decide if I'm going to do any further testing with it as its intended purpose was lower light. Now I'm thinking I might as well get a prime in the 20/30 range.

Very disappointed in this lens for a second time now, the rxd motor might be at the heart of the problem, the best motors on Tamron are vxd.

Returning the 17-70, just feels sluggish to me, despite the f/w update. I am also worried about focus accuracy with it. Without going into details it just doesn't seem as accurate or as reliable as Fuji lenses on the X-H2 and H2s before it.

I will try and hang-on to it for a week to see if the A7RV arrives before I return it, be nice to compare Sony 24-105 against the Tamron on the X-H2 for equivalence, but not sure how quickly I will receive the A7RV.

 

[baobob]

ken,

I tried the 2 Tamron zooms in video

1/ 18-300mm : Perfect OIS in the range 18-100mm, after there is this strange vibration of the frame in the X and Y directions

2/- 17-70mm : perfect OIS in the whole range

tested on my XH2s

Wondering why in the range 100-300mm it does not work ...

Bob