Tamron 16-300mm In Low Light
Apr 21, 2017 14:37:26 #
robertcbyrd
Loc: 28754
Tamron 16-300mm
I just bought this lens and am somewhat disappointed in the results. I do a lot of low-light photography at music venues. I often have the lens zoomed all the way out.
I'm really just looking for some comments on whether or not I am doing something wrong. I have the lens mounted on a Canon 70D. I'm mostly using automatic with flash or automatic with no flash.
I'm not in a position where I can use a tripod. I do often use a bean bag.
The results tend to be fuzzy and or soft focused. If that's really the best I can inspect then that's fine I just need to know.
Thanks for all you do.
I just bought this lens and am somewhat disappointed in the results. I do a lot of low-light photography at music venues. I often have the lens zoomed all the way out.
I'm really just looking for some comments on whether or not I am doing something wrong. I have the lens mounted on a Canon 70D. I'm mostly using automatic with flash or automatic with no flash.
I'm not in a position where I can use a tripod. I do often use a bean bag.
The results tend to be fuzzy and or soft focused. If that's really the best I can inspect then that's fine I just need to know.
Thanks for all you do.
Apr 21, 2017 14:58:30 #
It might be the best you can expect. That's unfortunately not a lens known for sharpness.
Apr 21, 2017 15:00:33 #
Old Timer
Loc: Greenfield, In.
Have you back of to about 250mm and see if that helps. I have found that most long zooms are soft on one end or the other. For your purpose you should have a lower f, stop number I would think.
I would suggest you set your camera shutter priority also f4 or lower and up you ISO if you have too.
I would suggest you set your camera shutter priority also f4 or lower and up you ISO if you have too.
Apr 21, 2017 15:02:54 #
Unfortunately all in one lenses tend to be soft at the wide and long end but sharpness is completely subjective. Low light performance isn't going to stellar either with a variable aperture of F3.5-6.3. It's a slow aperture lens.
Apr 21, 2017 15:43:15 #
robertcbyrd wrote:
Tamron 16-300mm br br I just bought this lens and... (show quote)
If your using flash , how far are you from subject , I use around f11 , if your pic are under exposed , open up or add iso, shutter speed
Can be 125 , 200, if your camera is focused and flash is reaching subject
Apr 21, 2017 18:59:30 #
robertcbyrd wrote:
Tamron 16-300mm br br I just bought this lens and... (show quote)
That is a very slow lens at F6.3 on the long end. It's NOT sold as, nor intended for use as, an indoor low light lens. Outdoors it's very fast focusing and quite sharp if properly focused.
If you want to do indoor low light shooting you really need to invest in a faster fixed aperture lens that is at least an F2.8, or faster, ESPECIALLY when using a crop sensor camera that is known to be a poor low light performer anyway.
Apr 21, 2017 19:16:54 #
Apr 21, 2017 19:52:52 #
what you need for low light and long reach is something like the Canon EF 200 f2.8L II
Apr 21, 2017 20:59:09 #
LensTip.com does extensive lens testing. I downloaded their image resolution charts for the Tamron 16-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC lens. Its resolution is the lowest at 300mm but not bad. It can still resolve 40 line pairs per millimeter at 300mm and f/8 at the lens center. That's decent performance. What was the shutter speed for your shots? You may have to really boost your ISO high to compensate for the slow f/6.3 aperture at 300mm. You might also check to see if your camera and lens combination is back focusing and front focusing. I'm not sure if the 70D has AF fine tuning. The best thing, as UHH members have already said, is to get a lens with a larger max aperture.
Tamron 16-300mm f/3.5-6.3 lens center resolution
Tamron 16-300mm f/3.5-6.3 lens edge resolution
Apr 22, 2017 05:17:09 #
robertcbyrd wrote:
It is expected for this lens to not perform very well in low light, as it is not intended for such use. It is a very slow lens and and zoomed all the way out, IQ is compromised!Tamron 16-300mm br br I just bought this lens and... (show quote)
Apr 22, 2017 05:28:37 #
robertcbyrd
Loc: 28754
Thank everyone who has responded. I really appreciate all the expertise that is here. I'm going to try some of the same you all have suggested.
Love my ugly Hedgehog peeps.
Love my ugly Hedgehog peeps.
Apr 22, 2017 06:05:37 #
robertcbyrd wrote:
Tamron 16-300mm br br I just bought this lens and... (show quote)
To put it out there being honest about it and removing the frosting; you cannot expect to get professional results with an inferior lens. Long telephotos, especially at the long end are very soft, get even softer towards the corners and show a lot of flaws in the glass. You are also shooting in low light with an f stop, I believe of f6.3, which is neither giving you a good shutter speed nor the ability to isolate the subject on the stage. You need to go to a 80-200mm f2.8 lens and/or a 300mm f2.8 or f4.0 if you want to get decent shots. The other alternative is get closer to the stage and use a quality fast prime or a normal zoom with a constant f2.8. You get what you pay for when it comes to glass. If on budget, look at used.
Apr 22, 2017 06:14:03 #
All the inexpensive zoom lenses are slow. You do not want to use automatic. I never use it. Understand the relation between ISO, aperature, and shutter speed. Understand depth of field. A fast prime lens would be much better. A monopod would help. When you take a photo, look at where the camera settings are in automatic. Some times you are expecting too much from equipment that is not capable of doing the jog.
Apr 22, 2017 07:16:30 #
16 x 300 mm is my walk around lens on my Nikon D 500 it does many things well none of them great it's a short focus telephone I find in low light you can get quite exceptional photographs with fairly high asa and remember all lenses expensive or cheap have a sweet spot on the f-stop I find that this particular lens around f8 But if You plan on doing a lot of indoor shooting on a regular basis there's quite a few lenses That will fill the bill but they are expensive
Apr 22, 2017 07:20:50 #
robertcbyrd
Loc: 28754
So I have a Canon 70D. What is a good ~70 to 200mm 2.8 lens for it on a budget for low light?
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