jimmix7 Loc: England

I bought a Tamron 24-70 2.8 a few months ago wanting to use it for Portraits Since using it I have not been happy at all with the images, so kept resorting back to my Sigma 70mm 2.8 which is much sharper. I took the Tamron back to Jessops saying I wasn't happy with the Quality, One of the staff took several images (see enclosed image) with my D7100 and the Tamron and told me that is the quality I expect, bearing in mind the lens was £830. I said I was not happy, now I have decided to use my Nikon 50mm 1.4 for my portraits which is way sharper than the Tamron, If any of the members can zoom in on the image I have enclosed could you possibly tell me if you would be happy with the quality, (The staff member took the image).I know he had the white ballance wrong but I was just concerned with quality. I have taken many images testing all my lenses and to me the Tamron is by far the softest, .I have since fallen out with Jessops after spending over £3000 in the store ..Thanks for any feedback. Jimmy.

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rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

The image was shot with a zoom lens wide open at f/2.8 - with that aperture setting, one shouldn't expect it to be at its sharpest, especially when compared to a fixed lens at the same aperture.

jimmix7 Loc: England

Thanks for your quick response Rook, , I have tried the lens at many settings and at F8 along with the Sigma and Nikon the Tamorn is still much much softer, I was very dissapointed with the lens after reading so many reviews .. Thanks again.

oldtigger Loc: Roanoke Virginia-USA

He could have used a tripod, flash, lower ISO, higher speed shutter, smaller f stop, color balance, focused on eyes. not used zoom limit, etc..etc. but all considered if my tamron 24-70/2.8 performed that poorly on my 7100 i would be very unhappy.

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MT Shooter Loc: Montana

1/500 sec, F2.8, ISO 1600, aperture priority, spot focus.
Not exactly optimum settings for the shot by any means, but the image is indeed quite soft in almost all areas and I am unable to locate any point of sharp focus in the image.
I do have to ask if you had a UV filter on the lens at the time, some of the softness appears suspiciously similar to the softening typically caused by using UV filters when they should not be used.

Coker Loc: Havana, IL

Is the Tamon you have, is it the SP pro glass product... I love mine.

jimmix7 Loc: England

Thanks again. no there was no filter on as I took it back to Jessops and the Shop assistant said he would try it out, so he set it up for himself and shot the image of his co-worker, , I looked at it in the shop and said ''do you really think that is sharp ??'' he said thats what you would expect from that lens !! I told him Rubbish and started a bit of a 'fuss' in the shop.. I just know going off my other lenses this lens if 'soft'

jimmix7 Loc: England

Thanks , I told Jessops this and they would not listen,, I'm glad others agree with me as I thought I was being too critical with the Tamron,, for £830 I really thought it be a better lens,, and yes I have set the fine adjustment...

jimmix7 Loc: England

It's the SP 24-70mm 2.8 Di VC USD Thanks

JBohinc Loc: Chesterland Ohio

I love mine, tack sharp, best lens I have ever used

nikonlad Loc: Venice, FL

I believe your photo is not as sharp as it should be.
Before blaming the lens I would try some shots with a tripod, and or flash. I would use a slower ISO like 200.
Also, check to see if your in camera FINE FOCUS needs adjusting. You will need something similar to the LensAlign MkII tool.

jimmix7 Loc: England

Thanks Nikonlad, I have done many many tests over and over again, seriously wanting this lens to produce good results, , I even paid a professional photographer £70 to use the lens and give me his honest opinion, he said what I expected, it was very soft indeed, I did send it back to Tamron whome said it was within the quality range of that lens. . When I took it back to Jessops one member of staff agreed with me it was 'soft' but another member who was not helpfull at all said it was ok,, So I fell out with Jessops, It is deffinatly going up for sale as now it is never ever on my camera,, thanks for your input,,

Bill Emmett Loc: Bow, New Hampshire

Hi, I took a very close look at the image shot by the camera store employee. I don't think the image is really soft. I did see some aberration along the edge of the subject, but I could see very good linage of the actual iris of the eyes, and of course individual eye lashes. I could not locate the actual focus point of the photo. Being shot inside the store, without good lighting makes it difficult to really pull out the real detail of the photo. I also took a photo of myself using my copy of the Tamron SP 24-70mm f2.8 VC. USM, but could not duplicate the settings you had in your photo. I shoot Canon products, and using a 6D, I had much better photo. I did run my photo through Lightroom, and removed the chromatic distortion. I did take my photo using RAW so I could really take it apart, maybe your should look again on a RAW image. The CD that came with the lens will have a program that will allow you to remove Chromatic Aberration from the photo. After that is removed look again, you'll see the difference, if not return the lens to Tamron service with print outs of the photos. That is how I did with my 18-270mm. Remember, you have a 6 year warranty. (in the US, I don't know how long in the UK) Oh, I forgot to mention, I did use FoCal on my copy of this lens, it measured front focus by +7, but was corrected within the camera. (6D and 7D)

prayingmantis

I don't shoot Nikon so I don't know your cameras features however if you have a camera setting to reduce noise on high ISO settings (you used 1600, is that correct?) and you have it turned on that can result in some softening across the image. I agree with others that you should test the sharpness in much better lighting such as outdoors in daytime. Don't really don't need a tripod in bright light with ISO 200 as you will have plenty high enough shutter speeds especially when you shoot f2.8 which is where one could expect to see your softest images. Another thing I would try is taking the same image, first shot with what you or the camera believes to be in focus and then a series of shots with the focus distance on the lens barrel moved in tiny increments to focus closer and farther than what you believe to be in focus. This test should be done wide open with the shallowest depth of field. This way you can determine if your autofocus or your eyes are off with regard to where the focus is sharp. One last thing which I would urge every photographer to do is to use reading glasses when you look at your images on your display. If you are over 40 years old it is likely that you need reading glasses and I have told other photographers who were 45 years or older and handed them my reading glasses to look at the display of their camera with their images. Everyone who I have shown this to has been blown away at the difference. Make sure the glasses are at least +2 diopters or higher. You can get a great pair of Foster Grant reading glasses for $10 at WalMart.

jimmix7 Loc: England

I took the lens into the shop, the shop assistant set the camera up himself and took the images himself, He took the actual image and produced that very soft image, I realise all the afor-mentioned is true but the shop assistant wanted to prove to me the lens was sharp, it was obvious to me he just wanted me out of the shop after taking my money, I have taken many many images with different lenses and the Tamron is by far the softest, I have done fine tuning and yes I do wear specs, with or without specs ..the image is way way below the sharpnes I would expect from that lens !!!!!!!.