Tamron 150-600mm focus issue

[J-see]

I finished going through my morning shots. I took close to 400 and while I evidently lost some, all in all the lens behaved pretty normal.

It was a couple of degrees warmer than yesterday but the light was poor in comparison and resulted in shots around 1-2 stops less exposed. But even when, they were overall better than yesterday in regards to sharpness.

I shot single, group, and d9 up to 51 just to check them all.

 

[Eyelight]

Could mount the camera on a tripod inside where it is warm. Then walk it out in the cold and set up on a subject that you can easily see the focus point. Take a series of photos of the same static subject once every X minutes. If the cold is affecting the AF, it should get worse as the hardware cools down.

 

[J-see]

Could mount the camera on a tripod inside where it is warm. Then walk it out in the cold and set up on a subject that you can easily see the focus point. Take a series of photos of the same static subject once every X minutes. If the cold is affecting the AF, it should get worse as the hardware cools down.

I'll have to wait until the temperatures go a bit down again.

Today I semi-tested it. After close to 200, I quit shooting for a while, put the cam and lens inside my jacket and sat down until it got warmed up by my body heat. If that first series would have been affected by the cold today, I should have seen a sudden change after warming it up but I had no issues.

All I can rule out after today is it being a low light issue or a focus mode problem. It's not even shake since most of my bad shots today were fast shutter. That's normal for me when shooting gulls in flight.

 

[Vixen]

Don't see how you can rule out user error without taking the user out of the equation.
Get out there and stick your camera on a tripod and take some shots before making out it couldn't possibly be your fault that you are maybe shivering in the cold, or after 400 shots your arms are a tad tired, or you are just having a bad day

 

[J-see]

Don't see how you can rule out user error without taking the user out of the equation.
Get out there and stick your camera on a tripod and take some shots before making out it couldn't possibly be your fault that you are maybe shivering in the cold, or after 400 shots your arms are a tad tired, or you are just having a bad day

I'm not the shivering type. I used to climb frozen waterfalls and still wear some of that clothing during the winter. My hand might get cold, my body usually is sweating.

You see the difference between shake and bad focus in a shot and when the focus box is there but the focus isn't, it's tool-error. It happened a couple of times before but there's no pattern to it I can discover. I understand that others might consider user-error to be a logical explanation but I'm pretty confident that's not the cause. It's not that I'm perfect, it's that I'm not that bad.

It's waiting on a cold day now or hoping it happens again real soon.

 

[Eyelight]

I'm not the shivering type. I used to climb frozen waterfalls and still wear some of that clothing during the winter. My hand might get cold, my body usually is sweating.

You see the difference between shake and bad focus in a shot and when the focus box is there but the focus isn't, it's tool-error. It happened a couple of times before but there's no pattern to it I can discover. I understand that others might consider user-error to be a logical explanation but I'm pretty confident that's not the cause. It's not that I'm perfect, it's that I'm not that bad.

It's waiting on a cold day now or hoping it happens again real soon.

I've been aiming to mention that the red square simply indicates which focus point(s) locked and actually has absolutely nothing to do with what is in or out of focus in the image. It's just a reference.

 

[J-see]

I've been aiming to mention that the red square simply indicates which focus point(s) locked and actually has absolutely nothing to do with what is in or out of focus in the image. It's just a reference.

Yes but when the square is there, I at least have an indication focus locked. Those that had none, I excluded.

 

[J-see]

I think I know what goes on. I was checking my focus just before and it's a bit misty.

I set focus perfect with live on a pod, switched the lens to manual and when pushing the focus button to see what the cam indicates, it keeps jumping between its <o> indicators. It never settles to the focus dot.

The last time the lens messed up, it was misty in the morning too and likely, even when I was shooting later on and no longer seeing any mist myself, there might still be have been a thin layer that messes up the AF. Or it's possible that creates some difference between the AF upon wide open and the shot taken closed down.

I'll go shooting in a bit to know for sure. It's not because I no longer see mist, the AF can't be affected by it. It should also explain why I hardly ever had a problem before it got colder.

 

[J-see]

I think it's the weather. I'm going through my shots of today and many are not in focus, exactly as the last time.

It's not as cold but there's the mist again. It's not the mist itself that obscures the subject since every now and then I got a good shot and it's clear but somehow the mist throws the AF out of balance.

It's not that I'm shooting through a thick fog since I myself don't really see the mist. It's there in the distance but that implies, it's layered all around me too.

 

[Woodyg3]

Soft light = soft focus. Even the Mighty Tamzooka cannot defy the laws of physics.

 

[J-see]

Soft light = soft focus. Even the Mighty Tamzooka cannot defy the laws of physics.

I don't know if it is the light but there's something the mist does to the AF itself. Once in a while it hits it right and the shots are sharp but most of the time it's just messing about and you get the fuzzy stuff.

This time the more time went by, the better the shots became which is in tune with the mist disappearing. Last time it started well but that might have to do with me starting to shoot in town.

 

[Woodyg3]

The mist reflects and refracts the light, so it is scattered. The AF can only focus on the light that is available, and the light will be soft and scattered when it reaches the camera lens. Again, the laws of physics.

 

[J-see]

The mist reflects and refracts the light, so it is scattered. The AF can only focus on the light that is available, and the light will be soft and scattered when it reaches the camera lens. Again, the laws of physics.

I haven't got any issue with the laws of physics.

If that's the problem, there's a solution; don't shoot when it's misty or focus manually. One mystery less.

 

[Woodyg3]

Yeah, but focusing manually won't help either. The light is scattered. The lens can only collect the light that gets to it.

Anyway, I'm glad you figured out the problem.

 

[J-see]

Yeah, but focusing manually won't help either. The light is scattered. The lens can only collect the light that gets to it.

Anyway, I'm glad you figured out the problem.

If that would be the case, how do you explain the sharp shots between the fuzzy? I'm talking about shots of the same subject, most fuzzy, some sharp.

 

[nikonpup]

my unit is going back for checkout today. @ 150mm focus solid 300mm and above focus is always hunting (no focus lock) i can hear the motor working all the time. checked operation
on d7100 - d600 - d610. Focus distance did not matter. I talked with tamron, they suggested
changing focus points, which did not help.

 

[J-see]

My occasional focus issues might be an indication I will encounter the same problem you have and that at some point, it can't get focus any longer. It's been a while now since the Tam last had focus problems.

At the moment I only have the occasional freeze.

It's too many people all with different cams which makes me wonder if there's something fundamentally wrong with the Tam that starts to surface after enough use.

 

[grandpaw]

I experienced my Tamron not focusing today. I noticed the battery was low so i changed it and the problem went away.