JCam Loc: MD Eastern Shore

I bought this lens for my Canon 60D in May 2004 while it was available and still on sale from B&H . I am generally quite pleased with it, but it seems a bit soft at maximum extension.

For long distances, ie. 300 yards or moon shots should I be using the max extension or perhaps a bit less? With live view focus and the screen, my 78 year old eyes and glasses can't see any difference. I almost always use AF or A1, not A Servo. If I'm using this lens, my shots are more likely to be in the 200-250mm length; oh year I hate using the tripod because in the time it takes to set up the shot composition, racing sail or power boats in action, has changed. But with the special Moon Eclipse is coming up on July 27 and I'd like to get a semi decently focused picture and will suffer the tripod.

Any suggestions will be gratefully received.

Any advice is appreciated.

Jim

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

That lens is noted for it's softness @ 300mm - I have used a couple and was very un-impressed with the image quality over 250mm ! If you must, shoot at 250mm at f8 and CROP and if needed use well applied pixel enlargement software for larger printings.

Beyond that, do yourself a big favor and get the latest Canon 70-300 IS II nano ! @ 300= beautiful !

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rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

Someone should create a rental company that specializes in lenses that zoom out to 200mm, 300mm, 400mm, 500mm and 600mm. The company should offer moderate length rental periods of 90-180 days. This way no photographer would ever have to buy a longer zoom lens. They could use a zoom for the cost of the rental fee and when they become tired of that focal length or disenchanted with its “softness” as they inevitably do, they could trade them in for a perceived better choice no questions asked.

Strodav Loc: Houston, Tx

Went though a similar issue with a Tamron 150-600mm G2 on a Nikon D7200 body. Exchanged some emails with Tamron Customer Service and ended up sending the lens AND body to Tamron repair to have the lens calibrated to the camera. It came back much better, but I still had to tweak it a bit with Tamron's Tap In device at 600mm and 20meters. Now, I'm getting very sharp pictures at all zoom settings and distances with AF.

If your lens and body give you sharp images in manual focus at full extension at the normal distances you shoot, but are not as sharp in AF, then you may need to tune the lens to the body. Another option is that I've heard some photographers regularly let AF do its thing then use manual override.

FreddB Loc: PA - Delaware County

Wouldn't swear to it, but, I don't think we'll see this eclipse.
It's supposed to be a western Europe event, especially Ireland and UK

traderjohn Loc: New York City

Correct.

Pablo8 Loc: Nottingham UK.

Yes !!! It's the UK Moon, not the US Moon. We do not have a Flag on our moon.

JCam Loc: MD Eastern Shore

Imagemeister and Stroday

Thank you for your replies, they give me something to think about, however as this is 'Photo season' here I don't want to be without the lens for a couple of weeks, but with their six year warranty still good I may just send it back again. In the meantime I'll limit it to 250 mm and see if that is any improvement. At a 1.6 factor it is still equal to about 400mm.

Assuming I can get 50% of the retail cost for a trade-in that puts the new lens at about $675 which seems a bit much for 300mm, but far less than a Canon lens; I'll study the specs and decide in the fall.

Strowday, What is that Tap in Device and why 600mm for a 300 mm lens?

Strodav Loc: Houston, Tx

Tamron makes a device that lets you plug your newer Tamron lenses into a computer USB port. It works a lot like the fine focus adjust on some camera bodies, but lets you adjust the focus at different distances and different zoom factors, not just one or two settings. Sorry to confuse, I was talking about my experience with a 150-600mm G2 where the focus was off at 20m and 600mm and I was able to correct it, but any lens AF can be off, which is why they need to be checked.

I often wonder if good lenses get bad reviews because the AF focus was off when the lens really is very sharp.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

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