Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 hmm, not happy.

supraman215 · Oct 31, 2010

Were my expectations too high, perhaps. I expected the clarity to be AS good as my 18-105 f/3.5-5.6 kit lens. I didn't expect it to be as sharp as the Nikon 24-70 f/2.8.

The softness if this lens is intolerable. There are worse examples that I have but I wanted to show what it looks like, on average. I've had this lens a week and already I can see it's not what I'm looking for. I want to be at 2.8 all the time, if it can't perform there then I'm going to get rid of it and go back to my kit lens.

I'd like to find a 2.8 zoom in this price range, even a little higher, that performs better. Can't afford the 24-70 Nikon @$1,499 used.

thoughts?

rocdoc · Oct 31, 2010

If that is a properly focused shot, you have a defective copy. I get shots like this with mine:

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smiling eyes by ondionais, on Flickr[/IMG]

Try sending it to Tamron and having it fixed. Incidentally, NO lens gets pictures like the one you posted, something is off, my guess would be focus.

orb9220 · Oct 31, 2010

" want to be at 2.8 all the time, if it can't perform there then I'm going to get rid of it and go back to my kit lens."

Well shooting portraits at f2.8 is not the best aperture trying f4 may help. Also what shutter speed are you using? As you want to shoot above 1/50th at least. And doesn't have VR so you have to be steady shooting with it. Breathing and jabbing shutter not allowed.

UpDate!: As not paying attention so is this hanheld or tripod and with flash?
Then would have to agree with Derrel below may very well be a bad lens.

"I expected the clarity to be AS good as my 18-105 f/3.5-5.6 kit lens."

A Good copy is a giant step up in clarity. I have the tamron 17-50 f2.8 and has been tack sharp on half-a-dozen nikons including the D90.

As a general rule 7 out of 10 people have problems with f2.8 zooms as they are not using them right and the other 3 generally get a bad lens.

But Tamrons are quite sharp. Baby pic was at f2.8 @ 1/50th.

Baby Riley for a Visit 2 of 3 by orb9220, on Flickr

Maximum Crop of Center of Pic here.

Bug Cushy Job (Crop) by orb9220, on Flickr

Good luck and check out the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 groups at flickr to help narrow your problem down.
.

Derrel · Oct 31, 2010

The shot of the little girl...is so bad it looks as if the lens is defective.

j-dogg · Oct 31, 2010

I have a Tamron 18-270 Di-II LD VC for Canon and my images are pretty much razor sharp even at the far end with a tad of post, here:

and up close

which is remarkable for a hyperzoom, let alone a little 28-75 f2.8. Tamron lenses have come a long way since their early AF days.

I think the auto-focus on your lens may be defective, try manually focusing and report back. :thumbup:

bentcountershaft · Oct 31, 2010

Yeah, that's pretty bad. It's almost like you weren't far enough away for the lens' minimum focus distance, but I looked it up and it's 13". You were obviously further away than that.

shaunly · Nov 1, 2010

that is definitely a bad copy. I have this lens as well and actually just shot a wedding with it and it's a great sharp lens. Your copy looks like it has focusing issue. Try MF and see if you can get it dead on.

supraman215 · Nov 1, 2010

Here is an example of same lighting and everything with an in-animate object. No tripod here for either of these pics. Tonight I'll test that out to confirm it wasn't a case of my not having enough coffee and shoot with a tripod. However I was shooting at 1/200, 75mm, f2.8 and a strobe, though the strobe was really just doing fill, so it could be the background lighting causing the blur. I'm used to shooting with my 35mm no tripod and no VR, of course that's wide angle not tele so it's not exactly the same.

I hope I didn't get bad copy. If I did I hope Adorama is good about it because I bought it used.

flameshots · Nov 1, 2010

Maybe a silly question but, does it look soft through the viewfinder? Have you tried to manually focus and see if it's still soft?

Just a thought.

supraman215 · Nov 1, 2010

BTW these are 100% crops. At full size they look ok.

Derrel · Nov 1, 2010

AH, you are the new owner of somebody else's former problem...the lens is performing absolutely terribly, crops or not. It looks like it has been damaged. The lens is NOT a good sample...the crops you show have Coke-bottle-bottom quality.

supraman215 · Nov 1, 2010

Ok good, than I guess my expectations were inline, and I'm not crazy. I did clean it well. I'm still going to verify tonight with a tripod and all that. If I have no luck then I'm calling Adorama in the morning.