Tamron SP400mm F/4LD

[RVT1K]

I dunno... I think it is a mistake to get rid of it unless the fungus is really, really bad... how are the images?

I got it back yesterday and decided to take your advice and give it a try with the 2x tele-converter that came with it. I propped it up on my tripod (the same one I got with this deal) and took some shots of my neighbor's garage door.
Based on what you see when you look through it, I was very pleasantly surprised at what the images look like. I do have to say that I have yet to look at anything on my PC but based on what I see on the camera's LCD it very well may produce nice shots.

It will be a bit of a challenge to use for wildlife since its fully manual. I also noticed that the shots were dark until I bumped up the exposure comp.

I have woodchucks living under my shed and, weather permitting, I'll set it up and try to get some shots of them this weekend. I think it will lend itself well to that type of situation.

 

[Derrel]

Since the lens does not have a CPU or contacts, you need to manually enter the lens data in the Nikon camera's set up menu. Enter in the focal length and the maximum f/ stop. This should help get better metering. I wish you luck with it.

The field to enter the lens data is called the non-CPU lens menu line.

 

[RVT1K]

Since the lens does not have a CPU or contacts, you need to manually enter the lens data in the Nikon camera's set up menu. Enter in the focal length and the maximum f/ stop. This should help get better metering. I wish you luck with it.

The field to enter the lens data is called the non-CPU lens menu line.

I was wondering about that.
That would be the focal length and f-stop WITH the tele-converter if I'm using it at the time, correct?

 

[Derrel]

Since the lens does not have a CPU or contacts, you need to manually enter the lens data in the Nikon camera's set up menu. Enter in the focal length and the maximum f/ stop. This should help get better metering. I wish you luck with it.

The field to enter the lens data is called the non-CPU lens menu line.

I was wondering about that.
That would be the focal length and f-stop WITH the tele-converter if I'm using it at the time, correct?

Yes I believe that is correct. You would enter in 800 mm focal length, and F8 for maximum Aperture

 

[RVT1K]

Well I finally got to use this lens in anger and it looks to me as if the results are mixed.

This shot was taken with the 2x tele-converter installed using my D7000.

I'm happy with the sharpness but there is a blue tinge to everything. Is this a byproduct of the fungus in the lens? My other thought was that I never bothered to make a non-CPU lens entry for this lens. Could that be a factor?

 

[Derrel]

I think you'll probably find that the Color fringing is a lot less visible once you take the 2X converter off. As I said, I used to own the 300 F2.8 LD model, and when used with the converter there was some color fringing which was not there when the lens was used by itself. 800 mm is very long, and it is long enough that you would expect chromatic aberration, commonly called color fringing. Again I would caution you about evaluating the lens performance when a telephoto converter of the 2X persuasion has been added. A telephoto converter quite often causes quite a bit of Optical degradation

 

[Derrel]

You not having made a non-CPU lens entry would not cause chromatic aberration. I am positive that this lens is not in any of the current light room profiles, which would be an easy way to reduce any characteristic color fringing or lens distortion that is typical of the 400 mm Tamron F 4


Creating a non- CPU lens profile is something I am very familiar with, and i have each of my Nikon cameras set up with a full gamut of non-CPU lens profiles for my most commonly used non-CPU lenses, with the short lenses being number 1,2,3, and 4... and the higher numbers up to eight, being used for my telephoto lenses.

The non-CPU lens set up menu helps you regarding the exif information, end it also lets the meter know The maximum Aperture of the lens

 

[RVT1K]

Once again you prove to be a very deep well of knowledge and experience.
I appreciate your help and all the time and effort that you put into answering my (and many other's) questions.