Tamron issue or Canon issue or is it me?

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

Hey guys. Me again! I own a Canon 80D and a Tamron 150-600 G2. I use AI servo, Manual Mode, 9 point AF zone and back button focus.

Here's the problem. I don't know if it's me paying too close attention or if something is wrong. As i remember it, with these settings i could hold the back button to focus on something STILL or MOVING and it would lock focus. At 600mm the lens now hunts if i'm holding the focus button and shooting a still subject. To my knowledge anytime i've done this it has locked focus. Now, it hunts a bit almost getting sharp and then backing off. Is this normal and i'm just being a ding dong? Example, shooting a baseball game. Kids on home plate and it did it. Or standing in the field. Randomly does it, not EVERY time. A bit wider of an angle and i haven't seen it. Today i was focused on a birch tree, it did it. I always get flustered and don't try to focus on something farther away when it does it. Tamron just serviced the lens (i sent the body in too) and just said they made an AF adjustment on the machine, otherwise everything checked out. The camera doesn't do this with any other lenses at the extreme end. My uncle who is in the photog business says that this is not unheard of and if tamron passed it's inspection then it's probably a combination of my settings or my subjects and not the gear.

Ideas? Opinions? Just wanting a second opinion so i can lay the issue to rest!

 

[Derrel]

I would re-set the camera's settings to factiory defaults. The problem(s) could be a camera settings issue.I am not familiar with the 80D's operational nuances. Does it have a dedicated, labeled BBF button? Or is it the " * " or "Star" button being re-assigned? What about the protocol you've selected for the BBF focusing? Press and hold? Press to lock? Is it required to re-press, let go, and then press again to achieve a new AF lock point? How might the prior protocols interact with Ai-Single and Ai-Servo?

The above is why I suggest an immediate re-set of the camera to Factory Defaults, which is likely how Tamron has checked the lens, against the default back button focus protocols Canon sells the 80D with in default mode.

If there is a second button, like an AF-Lock, then the issue of how a lens works can be even more-complex; some cameras have an AF-On and an AE-Lock and an AF-Lock, in two buttons for the three operations, AND the shutter release button might also factor in as an AE-Lock bitton OR as an AF-Lock button, so again...setting the 80D back to factory defaults is the best way for you to check the lens out.

Those are the ideas I have about the issue.

 

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

I have reset ALL camera settings (there are a few areas you need to visit to reset "all" settings on the camera) previous, twice. Pulled the battery for 30 minutes. BBF is set to the AF-ON button via a menu dedicated to making this happen (as an option within the camera, not necessarily reassigning a button that wasn' dedicated for it). I have no specific custom settings set for AF.

 

[Derrel]

I did a Google search on this search string EOS 80D AF-ON button tips and tricks and got a LOT of hits. Not sure what you mean that you have no specific custom settings set for AF, since the camera has 45-point AF, and a very sophisticated AF system that can be configured multiple ways for different types of subjects,m like Birds in Flight, field sports, portraiture, video,etc..

Rudy Winston over at Canon, USA's website apparently has a number of articles he's written about 70D and 80D AF topics.

Wish I could help you out man, but Canon AF is NOT my forte!

 

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

Thank you for the help though! You did give me some insight. If it's something that's normal, i'll deal with it as i can't reinvent the wheel but if something is wrong, i'd really like to get it pinned down. I was told tamron has a machine that they focus the lens on as well as something that can pull codes (similar to the CAN BUS on a 1996+ vehicle that pulls trouble codes) to tell them if the lens has issues and mine did not. My camera works with all my canon branded lenses just fine... i just don't remember it doing this and i've owned it since december, got the camera 2 months before the lens and just started having "issues" this july (i don't know if im just losing my mind!)

 

[weepete]

the tammys can hunt a bit if your focus point is not nice and contrasty, or if it's not quite big enough. occasionally it just focus hunts anyway, especially if the focus is going between extremes. Sometimes with my G1 I'll quickly use the full time manual focus to get it closer to in focus and AF again. The AF can also be a bit finicky if you are using a single point focus on a small subject, so it might be worth trying single point and zone focus to see if one is better.

 

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

Got it on video!

 

[astroNikon]

With my G1 I make sure to use the "15" limited focus selector option instead of Inifinty/Full/No Limit.
This helps it get focus on further distant stuff. The Full helps for closer things.

 

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

With my G1 I make sure to use the "15" limited focus selector option instead of Inifinty/Full/No Limit.
This helps it get focus on further distant stuff. The Full helps for closer things.

So is it just the nature of the beast or does it look like it needs to go back for a third time? I can't remember it doing this before i "noticed" it...

 

[astroNikon]

With my G1 I make sure to use the "15" limited focus selector option instead of Inifinty/Full/No Limit.
This helps it get focus on further distant stuff. The Full helps for closer things.

So is it just the nature of the beast or does it look like it needs to go back for a third time? I can't remember it doing this before i "noticed" it...

I keep mine on 15 for further objects. Otherwise mine does like to hunt too.
If I try something up close then I put it on FULL

 

[john.margetts]

With my Sigma 150-600 lens, I sometimes accidentally knock the focus limiter switch so instead of focusing through the whole range, it is trying to focus on close to instead of a distant subject.

 

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

With my Sigma 150-600 lens, I sometimes accidentally knock the focus limiter switch so instead of focusing through the whole range, it is trying to focus on close to instead of a distant subject.

I've done that, but not the case this time lol

 

[beagle100]

Got it on video!

[MEDIA[/MEDIA]

OK - return if it's not operating properly
www.flickr.com/photos/mmirrorless

 

[weepete]

looks to me like it's struggling to lock focus between the nest and the background. What focal point(s) did you have on?

 

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

I've tried single shot single AF. Ai servo, 9 point zone. It has to be the lens