Traveller_Jeff

Mounted my Tamron 150-600 G2 on my Nikon D500. Shot at 600mm ISO 200 f/6.3 at 1/1000th second. Processed in Lightroom, bringing up the brightness and using the black slider, and dehazer. I've seen sharper images that this here, but I think this is the best this lens can do. If anyone else has the same lens/camera combination and can create a sharper image than this, I'd appreciate seeing your post and methodology.

pmackd Loc: Alameda CA

I've done better than this with either Nikon 300mm f4 VR PF or Nikon 200-500mm f5.6. But I doubt the lens is the limiting factor. What was the air quality when you took the shot...how much moisture etc. How close to the horizon.

Doc Barry Loc: Huntsville, Alabama USA

Jeff,

I also have this lens and use it on a D810 and D7000. Looking at you image gives me the impression there was some light haze and you were not in sharp focus. Did you use spot autofocus or live view? It is not easy to get the focus compensation for the G2 at infinity. Have you performed the AF fine tune for the G2 using the TAP-IN Console?

On a clear night with no haze, I photographed the super Moon of November 2016 using a D3 and a Nikon 70-200 F/2.8 with 2X teleconvertor. From my experience with the G2, I think it will do as well under the same conditions; however, this time I would the G2 with the D810. The image I captured with the D3 is shown below.

Thanks,
Doc Barry

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Traveller_Jeff

[quote=Doc Barry]Jeff,

I also have this lens and use it on a D810 and D7000. Looking at you image gives me the impression there was some light haze and you were not in sharp focus. Did you use spot autofocus or live view? It is not easy to get the focus compensation for the G2 at infinity. Have you performed the AF fine tune for the G2 using the TAP-IN Console?
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Hi, Barry,

Thank you for your quick reply. There was a fine film of haze last night. Definitely a factor.
Have not yet performed the fine-tune. I've seen setups for the procedure, and I haven't had the time to devote to the meticulousness required. I'm sure you're right, and that after I've finally gotten around to performing it, the focus will improve. Thank you for your insight and helpful comment.

Doc Barry Loc: Huntsville, Alabama USA

Hi Jeff,
FWIW, in talking with the helpful tech at Tamron, she told me the importance of getting the setting for infinity set correctly. Also, the folks at Reikan told me that the relationship between the Nikon AF fine tune numbers and those used by Tamron are NOT 1:1. However, they are close to 1:1. Other G2 150-600 owners have reported a modest variation in the ratio relationship. Also, he told me that the Sigma equivalent lens ratio is around 2:1 (Sigma to Nikon). Also, the Nikon AF tune values vary from camera to camera.

For our lens, the Tamron tech told me the "correct" way to find the values for the Tamron lens is to input a tune value into the lens using the TAP-IN Console, take a photo of the target, change the value, take photo, repeat until you have the value you desire. And yes, she stated that this means dismounting the lens, mounting the TAP-IN, change the value, take off the TAP-IN, remount the lens, take photo, over and over! We have 18 distance and focal length combinations to measure. ARG! Oh yes, the AF fine tune in the camera should be set to zero.

What I did was to mount my camera on my solid tripod and use the Reikan FoCal program for the close and intermediate distances. The AF tune values that FoCal finds are close I found to being about 1:1, maybe 1.1:1. Once I got these numbers, I loaded them into the G2 and spot checked the focus using FoCal again. It looked okay. Remember that in Nikon units, having the value good to +/-1 or so is acceptable. I have used FoCal to compensate the back focus error of all of my Nikon lenses and am pleased with the results. Happily only one measurement is needed per lens.

Okay, what about the tricky infinity values? My approach was to wait until there was a very, very clear night to photograph the Moon. With the camera mounted on the sturdy tripod and using a remote trigger, I photographed the Moon. First, I used live view to manually focus the G2 using the magnifier feature to aid in focusing. I used this as a benchmark for knowing what best focus looks like. I then took a series of photos changing the camera's AF tune values and allowed the lens-camera to autofocus. This is not very time consuming except that you may need to reaim you camera during the test since the Moon doesn't hold it position. I did this for all 6 focal lengths and the results were fine. I did tweak a couple of values, e.g., one compensation value for Nikon was +6 and I input to the G2 +7. My approach reduced the number of lens mounts and dismounts to just a few.

Does my description have adequate clarity Jeff?

Barry