:: My Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 G2 Has Arrived ::

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
After much deliberation I upgraded my previous Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD to the new Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD G2, which arrived yesterday. By all accounts the G2 is an entirely different lens as compared to its predecessor. I've taken the lens out for a couple of shoots now and I'm starting to feel more at home with it. Every review I read/watched regarding this lens promised snappy, confident auto-focus leaps and bounds better than the G1 and I am finding this to be true. Focus confirmation is immediate and unwavering.

Tamron sells the Tap-In Console that allows for calibrating the Auto-focus on this particular lens at four focusing distances, and at three different focal lengths, for a total of up to twelve calibration adjustments. Phew! That's a little more work that I'm willing to put in right now so I ran a test at 200mm, and again at 70mm, and found the lens needed a minor adjustment (+7) that worked very well at both extremes. Close enough for government work!

I am finding I need to handle this lens a little differently while shooting because the focus-ring makes it easy to inadvertently "adjust" focus manually. The focus ring is in the same place as it is on the G1, but the G2 version seems more prone, somehow, to me rotating it by mistake. It could be that I've simply not shot this lens in some time and that I need to reacquaint myself with it.

Another minor bummer is that Correction Profiles have not yet been released for this lens. That means things like vignetting and linear distortion have to be corrected manually in Camera Raw (((( GAH!! ))) I guess didn't realize how dependent I had become on lens profiles. A profile will be out shortly I'm sure but it sucks in the mean time.

So any-hoo... Here are some test shots taken earlier this morning. Not any great art, just some quick shots taken while putzing about. The lizard was quite the little ham, though, and a nice surprise subject. He found a nice hot rock to bake his belly on after our shoot so that was nice for him. Oh, and his name is Alonzo.
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G2 Test Shot #1.jpg
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G2 Test Shot #3.jpg
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Blacktop

Senior Member
Everyone knows you can't fully test a lens like this without shooting a wet t-shirt contest....sheeeshh.

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
Tamron sells the Tap-In Console that allows for calibrating the Auto-focus on this particular lens at four focusing distances, and at three different focal lengths, for a total of up to twelve calibration adjustments.

That's impressive! Did Tamron offer any way to adjust the first version of the lens, or is this something new?

Everyone knows you can't fully test a lens like this without shooting a wet t-shirt contest....sheeeshh.

Are you volunteering to be the subject? :shame:
 

Camera Fun

Senior Member
The G2 is on my 'I really want one' list. Originally I had thought about potentially trying to get the G1 version at a reduced price once the G2 was out and selling. However, the more I read about the G2 makes me want to wait until I can swing it. Something just tells me I would have buyer's remorse if I got the G1.
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
That's impressive! Did Tamron offer any way to adjust the first version of the lens, or is this something new?
The Tap-in Console isn't particularly new I don't think... The Tapi-in is much the same as the Sigma "Dock" in that it allows you to calibrate Auto-focus, the focus distance limiter, the Vibration Compensation functions, the full-time manual-focus override settings aaaand update the lens firmware (phew!). Unfortunately *Nikon has nothing like this for any of their lenses which helps explain the diminishing amount of Nikon glass in my bag. The only drawback of the Tap-in Console, if there is one, is how it only works with a small selection of Tamron lenses. For instance the current G2 version of this lens is compatible with it, but none of its predecessors are.



(*Now sit back and wait for someone to come along and explain how Nikon lenses don't need any calibration because their QC is just so amazingly good/third party manufacturers have sloppy QC...)
(( Massive Eye Roll Goes: HERE ))
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
The G2 is on my 'I really want one' list. Originally I had thought about potentially trying to get the G1 version at a reduced price once the G2 was out and selling. However, the more I read about the G2 makes me want to wait until I can swing it. Something just tells me I would have buyer's remorse if I got the G1.
Don't compromise, get the G2.

Seriously.
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Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
I've had more time with this lens and I'm even more impressed with it. I was toying around with the OS (or VR or XYZ or whatever Tamron calls it) shooting random stuff around the office at 200mm with a shutter speed of 1/15 and getting perfectly sharp shots... Unbelievable!!

Now, a few more flower shots because it's dead here on campus and this is all I could find to shoot within easy walking distance...
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G2 Flower #1.jpg
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G2 Flower #2.jpg
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G2 Flower #3.jpg
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carguy

Senior Member
After much deliberation I upgraded my previous Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD to the new Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD G2, which arrived yesterday. By all accounts the G2 is an entirely different lens as compared to its predecessor. I've taken the lens out for a couple of shoots now and I'm starting to feel more at home with it. Every review I read/watched regarding this lens promised snappy, confident auto-focus leaps and bounds better than the G1 and I am finding this to be true. Focus confirmation is immediate and unwavering.

Tamron sells the Tap-In Console that allows for calibrating the Auto-focus on this particular lens at four focusing distances, and at three different focal lengths, for a total of up to twelve calibration adjustments. Phew! That's a little more work that I'm willing to put in right now so I ran a test at 200mm, and again at 70mm, and found the lens needed a minor adjustment (+7) that worked very well at both extremes. Close enough for government work!

I am finding I need to handle this lens a little differently while shooting because the focus-ring makes it easy to inadvertently "adjust" focus manually. The focus ring is in the same place as it is on the G1, but the G2 version seems more prone, somehow, to me rotating it by mistake. It could be that I've simply not shot this lens in some time and that I need to reacquaint myself with it.

Another minor bummer is that Correction Profiles have not yet been released for this lens. That means things like vignetting and linear distortion have to be corrected manually in Camera Raw (((( GAH!! ))) I guess didn't realize how dependent I had become on lens profiles. A profile will be out shortly I'm sure but it sucks in the mean time.

So any-hoo... Here are some test shots taken earlier this morning. Not any great art, just some quick shots taken while putzing about. The lizard was quite the little ham, though, and a nice surprise subject. He found a nice hot rock to bake his belly on after our shoot so that was nice for him. Oh, and his name is Alonzo.
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Congrats on the new glass - those pics look great!
 

Danno

Senior Member
Thanks for firming up my hold and wait till I can afford it position [MENTION=13090]Horoscope Fish[/MENTION]. Nice test shots...
 

Bikerbrent

Senior Member
I've had more time with this lens and I'm even more impressed with it. I was toying around with the OS (or VR or XYZ or whatever Tamron calls it) shooting random stuff around the office at 200mm with a shutter speed of 1/15 and getting perfectly sharp shots... Unbelievable!

Some samples of you 1/15 200mm (I'm assuming hand held) shots would be appreciated. :)
 

Camera Fun

Senior Member
These pictures are making it really, really hard to wait until I can afford this lens. :):) But at the risk of making things even more difficult for me, have you tried any people/portrait shots?
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
Okay, @Bikerbrent (and anyone else following along) as promised here's a shot taken handheld at f/4, 200mm, 1/15, ISO 100 on my desk.

The first shot was processed for exposure (about +1EV), white balanced, straightened, cropped, resized and saved as JPG. Camera Raw does a tiny bit of sharpening by default but I added nothing beyond that. No noise reduction applied. I will admit I had my elbows firmly dug into my ribs but there was no use of any kind of support other than my own body. Focus point was on the Aveeno bottle. I put a download link to the original raw files at the very bottom of this post.

Behold my hand-lotion, "fish bones" key-ring and Fidget Cube!
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G2 OS Test.jpg
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This second shot is much the same but has less processing. The exposure was adjusted about +.5EV, the default-level Sharpening by ACR was applied, the white balance was tweaked then the shot was straightened, cropped, resized and exported to JPG.

Big difference here is the shutter speed was reduced to 1/6.

Still handheld. And I mean there was NO mechanical bracing/cheating employed; the only thing bracing the camera was my body. I am a big believer in Quiet Shutter mode and I was using it for all these shots:
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G2 OS Test #2.jpg
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Dropbox Download Link
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Bikerbrent

Senior Member
Wow!

These shots sure make it difficult to stay loyal to Nikon when then want more than double the price for their current 70-200mm F2.8 lens. No wonder their bottom line is sinking fast. Only high priced pro photographers or the very wealthy can afford their top end gear!
 

NVSteve

Senior Member
After much deliberation I upgraded my previous Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD to the new Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD G2, which arrived yesterday. By all accounts the G2 is an entirely different lens as compared to its predecessor. I've taken the lens out for a couple of shoots now and I'm starting to feel more at home with it. Every review I read/watched regarding this lens promised snappy, confident auto-focus leaps and bounds better than the G1 and I am finding this to be true. Focus confirmation is immediate and unwavering.
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Since you have had both versions, I'd like to hear any more info you might have to offer as to the differences between the two. Some of the reviews I've seen have said the sides/corners are better on the G2, etc. I'm more interested in the center sharpness differences, at least your version of what they might be. Glad to hear the VC is obviously much better than the first version.
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
Since you have had both versions, I'd like to hear any more info you might have to offer as to the differences between the two. Some of the reviews I've seen have said the sides/corners are better on the G2, etc. I'm more interested in the center sharpness differences, at least your version of what they might be. Glad to hear the VC is obviously much better than the first version.
Well I'm not one to pixel-peep too much and in all honesty I don't know if the corner-sharpness, in particular, is better on the G2 or not. Overall I can tell you the lens is quite sharp when shooting wide open and stopped down to f/4 or f/5.6 it's amazingly sharp and at all focal-lengths. Compared to the G1 version there is a definite, marked increase in overall sharpness. I wouldn't want to try and put a number to "how much" sharper the G2 is by comparison, but in my experience there's NO denying the G2 is sharper and in my opinion by a fairly good margin. I'll be very curious to see how this lens rates on DxO Mark.

In its defense my G1 lens was sharp, no doubt about that, it's an excellent lens, full stop. I was having issue with a growing sense of frustration that stemmed from feeling like I was missing shots I shouldn't have been, maybe, oh... I don't know, say 10% of the time, or something like that. I don't know if this was because the lens was having a bad day, if I was having a bad bay or if it was some kind of cosmic alignment causing those missed shots but it really had me scratching my head. I have this gut feeling (take that for what it's worth!) the reason I was getting those missed shots was that the auto-focus was losing focus-lock before I grabbed my shot and without me noticing. That's just a hypothesis of mine and no one else who owns this lens seems to have this complaint, so it's also entirely possible it was simply my copy, or my technique or a combination. I dunno.

What I do know is the G2 has been 100%, 100% of the time since I've had it. Nothing but snappy, rock-solid auto-focus performance from the get-go. I think this may be a big part of the reason I'm getting such consistently sharp shots; the AF is cooperating and really letting my D750 perform to its fullest potential.

I hope that answers your question but if not, or if you have others, please feel free to post or PM.
 

RocketCowboy

Senior Member
Have you tried the G2 with a teleconverter at all? Not my ideal configuration, but trying to find a setup that would make for easier travel while getting a little more reach from the 70-200, without also having to pack the 200-500. The G1 didn't seem to like my Kenko TC at all (neither did the Tamron 150-600 either, so maybe just a compatibility issue). Otherwise, I tend to travel with the 70-300 and give up that stop of light I could have with a TC and the 70-200.
 
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