Seeking guidance: using 10yr old Tamron 18-270: Seeking guidance: using 10yr old Tamron 18-270 f3.5 on a D3200, but shots are not sharp enough for me. Considering sharper faster...

schneiss Loc: Long Island NY

Seeking guidance: using 10yr old Tamron 18-270 f3.5 on a D3200, but shots are not sharp enough for me. Considering sharper faster telephoto lens like 50-150 or 200. Suggestions?

Grahame Loc: Fiji

Firstly, are you sure it's the lens causing the lack of sharpness and not your technique?

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

schneiss wrote:

Seeking guidance: using 10yr old Tamron 18-270 f3.5 on a D3200, but shots are not sharp enough for me. Considering sharper faster telephoto lens like 50-150 or 200. Suggestions?

Which version of the 18-270 do you have. The newer PZD version is sharper than the older one, but neither is terribly sharp at 270mm, or at the image edges. and even stopped down the centers are not really tack sharp. So, if you have high standards for sharpness don't let yourself be convinced by others that your technique is the problem. While it may be, its just as likely a result of the limitations of the lens.

LEGALDR Loc: Southern California

Before you do anything drastic, mount the camera and lens on a tripod and shoot a batch at various apertures and speeds. Use both manual and automatic focus. Use the timer on the camera to fire the camera. Check the results for sharpness.

Plieku69 Loc: The Gopher State, south end

I have the same lens for Canon. It is not a sharp lens. I used it for a trip to the Rockies and got satisfactory results in bright light. Other than that it is soft. Today it's in a bag, never to be used again.
Ken

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

schneiss wrote:

Seeking guidance: using 10yr old Tamron 18-270 f3.5 on a D3200, but shots are not sharp enough for me. Considering sharper faster telephoto lens like 50-150 or 200. Suggestions?

Nikon 70-300.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1349415-REG/nikon_20068_af_p_nikkor_70_300mm_f_4_5_5_6e.html?sts=pi

lamontcranston

schneiss wrote:

Seeking guidance: using 10yr old Tamron 18-270 f3.5 on a D3200, but shots are not sharp enough for me.

I have the same lens (PZD Model) on a D3300 and the sharpness is excellent. It's been through a photo safari in Africa and it did a great job. I would examine your technique before blaming the lens. Just shooting some shots with the camera mounted on a tripod on a calm day is a simple way to check sharpness. If the lens is still fuzzy, you may need a trip back to Tamron.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

lamontcranston wrote:

I have the same lens (PZD Model) on a D3300 and the sharpness is excellent. It's been through a photo safari in Africa and it did a great job. I would examine your technique before blaming the lens. Just shooting some shots with the camera mounted on a tripod on a calm day is a simple way to check sharpness. If the lens is still fuzzy, you may need a trip back to Tamron.

The Tamron 18-270 PZD, a lens that I have owned for years and no longer use, is an excellent do it all superzoom. However, like all superzooms it has significant limitations. It is adequately sharp in the center at most focal lengths so that most people may not recognize it's shortcomings. However, it is still far less sharp than most current prime and short zoom lenses.

The lens also tends to be much softer towards the image edges than in the center, and that softness is not improved upon even by stopping down. Again most people may not notice this edge softness because the area of interest to them is usually in the center of the image and if that seems acceptably sharp they are happy.

Finally at 270 mm the lens is much softer in the center than at shorter focal lengths. While I'm happy that this very decent superzoom lens meet your requirements, I suspect your expectations for lens sharpness may differ somewhat from other people.

Bill_de Loc: US

lamontcranston wrote:

I have the same lens (PZD Model) on a D3300 and the sharpness is excellent. It's been through a photo safari in Africa and it did a great job. I would examine your technique before blaming the lens. Just shooting some shots with the camera mounted on a tripod on a calm day is a simple way to check sharpness. If the lens is still fuzzy, you may need a trip back to Tamron.

Could you post an image taken with that lens so the OP can see what it is capable of? Some folks give up too soon blaming the lens when they just need some encouragement to try harder.

Thanks

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olemikey Loc: 6 mile creek, Spacecoast Florida

LEGALDR wrote:

Before you do anything drastic, mount the camera and lens on a tripod and shoot a batch at various apertures and speeds. Use both manual and automatic focus. Use the timer on the camera to fire the camera. Check the results for sharpness.

Good test advice. I have the early version of this lens (B003), it does OK, and is very handy. It won't win "sharpest tack" award, but when used with care (me doing my part), and VC is working, and in it's sharper ranges, makes good images. I see variation over the zoom range, and it is a superzoom, a compromise lens, but a pretty good one (at least my copy is). I have fine tuned it for grins, found the best way on that is to predetermine your favorite zoom range and subjest distance, and tune for that (for instance, if you shoot a lot of flowers and small critters, tune for range appropriate, etc.).

CWGordon

I had one of those lenses a few years back. It was pretty good and had a reasonable price tag. Over the years since I have acquired full-frame cameras and higher quality lenses. That one stopped zooming, but Tamron sent me a new one (through the dealer). I have never found a Tamron lens that was not a good value and the company is great with the support and service it provides. All of that said, it is now an older lens and there are some good lenses out there up to 200mm and even 300mm. I think I’d go for a bit shorter lens, maybe 70-200 if I wanted a high quality and sharp zoom at a good fixed aperture. Tamron has a great one at what is today a very reasonable price. This will give you great flexibility and a very sharp image. Just OMO!

harleridr Loc: S.Texas

You took the words right out of my mouth.
Harle

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

If you would post an example using "store original" we can see the camera settings and better determine what is going on.

carl hervol Loc: jacksonville florida

Have you had your glasses checked lately.

cochese

If you can find a copy of the Sigma 50-150 ex os hsm it is one of the sharpest lenses I have ever owned. My was on a canon but I'm sure it will be just as good on nikon. It is a large lens, anbout the size of a 70-200 but amazing g!ass. I used a sigma 17-50 for the short end.