Tamron 150-600mm g2 focusing issues

D7100-79

Senior Member
I’m on my way to Yellowstone to take some wild life and landscapes pics. I rented tamron 150-600mm g2. I’m having issues with focusing. Seems like lens does not want to focus. I’ve also had same issue with Nikon 55-200mm. Nikon lens seems to be well behaved now though. Is it the lens or camera ?
 

Bikerbrent

Senior Member
Have you performed any firmware updates on your D7100? If so, Nikon loves to cripple non-Nikon lenses along with their updates. Since your are renting, I would return the lens and try another one. You might also try a Sigma 150-600 to see if it would work. Otherwise you might have to rent a Nikon 200-500 or forget the big lens for this trip.
 

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
Does not want to focus is a bit vague, does it not focus at all does it move the focusing but not achieve focus, is it way of or just a bit soft.

It could need AF fine tuning on the D7100, easy to do.
 

D7100-79

Senior Member
Does not want to focus is a bit vague, does it not focus at all does it move the focusing but not achieve focus, is it way of or just a bit soft.

It could need AF fine tuning on the D7100, easy to do.

it focuses when I’m focusing on near objects like leaves but when I try it at far it’s out of focus. It doesn’t do anything. How do you do AF fine tuning.

Im already on the road to Yellowstone and cannot send back the lens. By end of the day I won’t have any cell coverage so hopefully I get ur inputs on AF tuning.

Thank you.
 

D7100-79

Senior Member
Have you performed any firmware updates on your D7100? If so, Nikon loves to cripple non-Nikon lenses along with their updates. Since your are renting, I would return the lens and try another one. You might also try a Sigma 150-600 to see if it would work. Otherwise you might have to rent a Nikon 200-500 or forget the big lens for this trip.

no I’ve not performed any updates. I’m already on the road and cannot exchange. Is sigma better than Tamron ? If so I’ll try that on my next trip. I might just have to do manual focus for now. Thank you.
 

nickt

Senior Member
Are you using single point focus mode? If not, try it. My Sigma does not like the dynamic modes on some scenes. A bird in fight or on the water, it works fine in say d9. But for a bird in a tree, it gets all confused and sometimes does nothing. This is actually good behavior because I know right away, otherwise if might grab focus on something else. So maybe the Tamron is similar, try single point.
 

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
Right in your situation i will give you the rough and ready fix, put something small say fag packet size on some short grass,take a picture of it at 600mm about 30ft away, if its not sharp look at the grass and see if its sharp in front or behind the target,
If its sharp behind you need minus adjustment if its sharp in front you need plus,i cant remember where in the menu it is but AF fine tune should be easy to find,the adjustments you make with the 150-600 on will only be for that lens so dont worry about your other lenses.
Good luck and as nickt said use single point and do you checks with the lens wide open
 
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Bikerbrent

Senior Member
no I’ve not performed any updates. I’m already on the road and cannot exchange. Is sigma better than Tamron ? If so I’ll try that on my next trip. I might just have to do manual focus for now. Thank you.

For what it is worth (which ain't much) it seems that are many more issues with Tamron 150-200mm reported on this site vs Sigma 150-200mm C. I have the Sigma and do not have any issues on my D7200. Also, in my long photography history (since the 1960's) I have had only one lens failure and it was a Tamron 28-200mm lens. Yes, Tamron did fix it under warrantee, but I was without the use of the lens and camera (it was my first film Nikon camera, and at that time, my only Nikon compatible lens) for most of a trip, a real Pita.
 

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
For what it is worth (which ain't much) it seems that are many more issues with Tamron 150-200mm reported on this site vs Sigma 150-200mm C. I have the Sigma and do not have any issues on my D7200. Also, in my long photography history (since the 1960's) I have had only one lens failure and it was a Tamron 28-200mm lens. Yes, Tamron did fix it under warrantee, but I was without the use of the lens and camera (it was my first film Nikon camera, and at that time, my only Nikon compatible lens) for most of a trip, a real Pita.

I may be wrong but i have not seen any mention of problems with this version of the 150-600, i along with others had problems with the first version.
 

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
Isn't there a switch on that lens to limit focusing distance (to limit focus hunting)? This could be your only (user) problem. I hope so. If not, just use manual focus, that seems to always work.
 

Woodyg3

Senior Member
Contributor
If you haven't already, check the contacts on the lens and camera to make sure they are clean. I have heard of no autofocusing problems with the G2 version of this lens, and even the first version, which I own, focuses very well and only very occasionally refuses to focus.

You said that your 55-200 was not focusing properly, but now is. It's possible that there is an in camera issue. Try a rocket blower with the mirror down to clean dust out. The autofocus sensor can get goofy if there is a dust bunny on it. :)

Focus at longer distances can be tricky, too. Heat shimmer, humidity, and haze can all affect focus sharpness. Also, trying to achieve focus on a small object at a long distance is pretty tricky. Finally, remember that camera shake can greatly affect sharpness, especially when you've got the long, heavy lens all the way out to 600.

BTW, I don't think Nikon is specifically trying to handicap third party lenses. Tamron, Sigma, etc. are reverse engineering lenses, and so problems can naturally occur as a result. Since there have been no reports that I am aware of about the G2 150-600 failing to autofocus on Nikons, I don't think that is a concern at all. Tamron is making some great lenses these days, I hope you can get this sorted out!
 

wev

Senior Member
Contributor
It is worth remembering that the G2 focus can be tweaked using the Tap-in Consul for near/middle/far distance. I have had to fiddle mine at 600mm, setting it to +15 at both middle and far. At 500mm and below, it is fine at factory settings.
 

RocketCowboy

Senior Member
BTW, I don't think Nikon is specifically trying to handicap third party lenses. Tamron, Sigma, etc. are reverse engineering lenses, and so problems can naturally occur as a result. Since there have been no reports that I am aware of about the G2 150-600 failing to autofocus on Nikons, I don't think that is a concern at all. Tamron is making some great lenses these days, I hope you can get this sorted out!

My understanding is that Tamron actually licenses the mount info, where Sigma does more of the reverse engineering on the communications. I hear more reports about Sigma lenses not working after a firmware update, but i haven’t heard the same with Tamron. Could just be a coincidence, or smaller sample sizes...who knows.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Woodyg3

Senior Member
Contributor
My understanding is that Tamron actually licenses the mount info, where Sigma does more of the reverse engineering on the communications. I hear more reports about Sigma lenses not working after a firmware update, but i haven’t heard the same with Tamron. Could just be a coincidence, or smaller sample sizes...who knows.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Interesting. Yes, I do hear about quite a number of Sigma problems with firmware updates and new camera models.
 

D7100-79

Senior Member
Thank you everyone for ur inputs. I’m not sure why Lens was acting up when I first got it. Out in the field at Yellowstone I did not have any issues with lens and everything was good. There were no issues with focusing. So finally it worked out fine.

Thank you
 

Bikerbrent

Senior Member
Reminds me of a Far Side cartoon where some scientists in white lab coats are in front of a chalk board filled with mathematical formulas and down in the bottom right corner is written, "and then a miracle occurs!"
 
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