I broke my 70-200, seeking advice

andrewdoeshair · Mar 24, 2018

I got a Tamron 70-200mm G2 lens and fell in love with it. I stored it in a camera-specific backpack (by Pro Master) typically mounted to my 5Diii with the tripod collar attached to the lens, and I was always reasonably careful handling it (“it” as in both the lens itself and the bag which held the lens). Last week I noticed something horribly shocking. The lens had basically bent. The whole casing was separating between two pieces about 1/3 of the way from the mount, right where the tripod collar sits. I sent it to Tamron for repair and was told that the warranty didn’t cover this. They want $270 to repair it. I’m going to pay it, it beats buying another lens, but now I’m worried about my future relationship with this lens and I want to ask some opinions.

How careful are you in storing a 70-200? Do you remove the tripod collar to avoid putting extra pressure on the lens? There was never a moment where I bumped or dropped the lens or bag, so now I’m basically afraid to carry the lens anywhere without putting it in a pelican case. Was it irresponsible of me to keep such a hefty lens in a soft bag all the time, or is that something I should do as little as possible? Maybe I’m over reacting, maybe I should just be extra super protective in the future, remove the tripod collar, and use other lenses when possible. Have you ever had one of these kinds of lenses break in this way? Now I’m also worrying about my 150-600m

Thanks for reading. I think I just need to hear that it’s all going to be okay, ha ha

jaomul · Mar 24, 2018

If they fix it they will test it, likely be like brand new.

Not sure about how careful and removing collars or hoods etc. I try store camera gear so there is no stress or strain on anything

Destin · Mar 24, 2018

I have the generation before yours.. the old VC version 1. I bought it used and have literally beat the crap out of it. I’ve used it in pouring rain and freezing temps. It’s been covered in mud multiple times, dropped, knocked into stuff, etc.

It has some brassing showing on a few spots and the lens hood is scuffed but other than that it shows no signs of wear and has been extremely solid.

It’s been transported in a bunch of small soft bags and I’ve not exactly been gentle with the bags it’s in. Ive never taken the collar off of it other than to clean it a few times.

I find it hard to believe that the G2 version is weak enough that it bent from just a little pressure put on it in the bag. Was it ever out of your sight? Could someone else have dropped it or set something on your camera bag?

It could just be that you got a bad copy of the lens that had a flaw in it or something.. but I find it extremely odd. In the future I wouldn’t worry about storing it with the collar on... I don’t see how that would cause a problem unless you’re applying extreme force to to the tripod foot while there is an opposing force pushing on the lens or camera body to cause damage.

weepete · Mar 24, 2018

I've got a 150-600mm that I store in exactly the same way, attached to the camera in a lowepro 400aw, but I've never had any issues. I'm not paticularly careful with my bag either, but I won't put it on the bottom if other luggage is going on top, it doesn't go in cargo holds of planes or busses etc.

Sounds fishy to me though, there must have been quite a bit of external pressure applied to your bag at some point.

Overread · Mar 24, 2018

I'm also in the "something happened to it" camp. A lot of people use Lens Coats on their lenses (or similar brand neoprine covers). With them mounted the collar can't be slipped on and off as there's a section of the coat behind its mounting point. So the collar often remains on all the time and there are not regular reports of lenses breaking through pressure around the collar area.

When I put the lens in the bag mounted to the camera I will often use the collar on the underside as my cameras all have battery grips mounted. Whilst if the lens is in on its own the collar is at an angle to the side so that it lays as flat as possible in the bag (but not to the side of the lens as that would make it take up more space).

For a lens to be breaking in half I "could" see it happen if you've not got a battery grip on the camera and you put the lens and camera in the bag with the collar facing down and then a heavy weight were applied to the top. But some sort of crushing/pressure must have been applied at some stage; the collar mount area should be strong as its got to hold the lens up with a camera mounted.

Derrel · Mar 24, 2018

If you look at the Lensrentals.com online blog, you'll see that 70-200 AF lenses are _very_ complex mechanisms...and their experience shows that they can break down in any number of ways. There are a huge number of parts and pieces and sub-assemblies within a modern AF zoom, either 24-70 or 70-200, whatever.

A dPreview article from 2013 is titled ,"
Epic fail? 70-200s of all makes among least reliable lenses"
Epic fail? 70-200s of all makes among least reliable lenses

Now, I know this was in 2013...but I owned the Canon 70-200/2.8 L IS USM and the 70-200/2.8 VR-G Nikkor (1st gen) at that very time frame...and they were used, packed in an unpadded Domke bag, loaned out during the day to my partner, and handled normally, not really babied in any way. Yet--that's just one owner, and two users. At Lensrentals.com, they rent 70-200 f/2.8 zoom lenses a LOT. With their huge sample size, they had an average "weeks to failure" rate of 39 weeks and 42 weeks for the two, newer-than-what-I-owned, or Generation II Canon and Nikon 70-200 lenses of the 2013 era. The Tamron 24-70/2.8 VC was at 42 weeks to failure. The Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 OS was 45 weeks. Sony's 70-200/2.8 was 51 weeks. Lensrentals had many different rental models, and a total of 12,000 lenses in inventory, the least-reliable lenses had rates of repair that were 60 weeks of use or fewer; 70-200 zooms were statistically quite prone to needing repairs.

Lensrentals.com has now stopped publishing what later became their semi-annual failure rate articles. Now, read this carefully, it's a quote:

"Even having removed instances of the lenses being damaged, Cicala found the Nikon 70-200mm F2.8 VR II, Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 OS, Canon 70-200mm F2.8 IS II, 70-200mm F4 ISand Sony 70-200mm F2.8 to be amongst the eighteen lenses that last the least amount of rental weeks between requiring servicing. Indeed all of them needed repairing nearly twice as often as the average lens (which would last for a little over 100 rental weeks between services)."

It is _NOT_ odd in any way whatsoever, that your complex 70-200 autofocusing lens has severely malfunctioned. Canon,Sony,and Nikon models are pretty much just as complicated.The Tamron G2 is a new design,with fantastic optics and great focusing--but it also has a metric ****-ton of tiny parts inside...just like the 70-200's from The Big Three.

Cortian · Mar 24, 2018

I'm going to have to go along with the "something happened to it" crowd. If these lenses were so delicate they couldn't tolerate normal use and transport, they'd have a bad rep and few would be buying them. Yet, while not every Tamron lens has been a "winner," I generally see and hear praise for the build quality of their glass.

Following with interest, however, as a Tamron 150-600mm G2 is on my list...

Derrel · Mar 24, 2018

How odd...here's a photo of a user from one of my FB user groups...his post just popped up in my Facebook feed about one minute ago. The mount on his Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 APO-DG just snapped off...broke the ribbon cable too... useless now for anything. 29570711_1565043430210737_4474826202822915191_n.jpg

tirediron · Mar 24, 2018

Ouch!

andrewdoeshair · Mar 25, 2018

Oh man, you guys sound like Tamron! I swear I have no reason to lie here, but as far as I know the lens has never had any bumps or drops, inside the backpack or not. I think the pressure on the tripod collar through various temperature changes and with the repeated slight wiggles of walking around wearing the backpack might’ve just shaken it loose over time. The repair invoice says “evidence of shock damage” however I know for damn sure that there wasn’t a scuff or dent anywhere on the outside of the lens, just that joint where the two pieces of metal were slipping apart and showing O-ring on the top side. I wish I had taken photos of the damage. Maybe there was internal damage that they were referring to. In any case, I’m going to call them tomorrow and hope to get someone on the phone about it. I’m happy to pay the repair fee ($270) but, again, I think i’m going to be so skeptical of this lens breaking in the future. I just wish I knew exactly when and how it happened so I can avoid that in the future. It seems that I stored it as anyone else would. Maybe I shouldn’t have stood on it and tried to ride it like a skateboard (of course I’m joking).

Destin · Mar 25, 2018

I’m not saying you’re lying or wrong at all man.

Just seems weird that it would break that easily after knowing what I’ve put my lenses through.

andrewdoeshair · Mar 25, 2018

Hey Destin... Wanna trade lenses?

dxqcanada · Mar 25, 2018

"evidence of shock damage" ... I find that surprising from a lens that has not been impacted ... I wonder if a lens would display characteristics of shock damage if the securing screws were not tightened properly during production, and over time/usage it would accumulate enough shock/movement to finally fail ? Hmmm.

andrewdoeshair · Mar 25, 2018

I wish I had taken detailed photos of the damage. This is a screen shot from a brief video I recorded for an Instagram story.

andrewdoeshair · Apr 6, 2018

I received my lens from Tamron today and I am livid. First, I sent the lens in the original box, but they returned it without the box. Maybe that was my fault, I just figured their factory packing would be better than me wrapping it in bubble wrap- but in any case, the original box is nice to have in case I try to sell the lens (which I'm about to try to do). Second, they returned it with an older model CLEARLY USED rear cap that doesn't cover the weather seal gasket like the original cap does. It's like they grabbed someone else's scuffed rear cap from a pile and stuck it on my lens. Here's the real problem (are you ready?)... The lens won't focus even close to accurately, near or far. I've tried it on two 5Diii's and a 6D and the focus is so far off I can't even see where it's actually focusing. Like it's de-centered now or something. I'm writing this during a much needed break from some video editing that has a strict deadline, otherwise I would set up to test where and how the focus is off. For now, I just needed to vent (thanks for reading). What would you do? I'm calling them tomorrow when I have some time (remembering to be polite to whoever answers the phone because their operator didn't do this) to request my $290 back, along with my original rear cap. I'm selling this thing the instant it's "good" again, then buying a canon.