Photos Completely Out of Focus

[arceneaux811]

I have a 7D Mark ii mounted with a Tamron 70-200 f2.8 VC DI USD (That I just purchased). I took about 50-75 test shots yesterday and EVERY shot (except the one I manual focused on) were out of focus! I was shooting out doors so my ISO was at 100 Shutter speeds varied between 625+ and aperture was wide open at f2.8 (although I did shoot some at f4 and same result). The camera and lens seem to autofocusing fine however when I zoom at 100% after I take the photo, the whole shot is out of focus. I mounted my Canon 24-105 f4L to the 7D Mark ii and tested it and the shots were tack sharp. I then set my Tamron 70-200 f2.8 to the exact same settings and shot the same subject and the entire photo was out of focus...Not sure whats going on but ANY HELP WOULD BE HUGE!!!!! Thanks in Advance

[arceneaux811]

Thanks so much for your input. Ive attached a few sample shots. The photo of my daughter was shot at: f2.8/, 1/4000, ISO 100, 200mm. The second photo of my son was shot at: f2.8, 1/640, ISO 100, 117mm. You can see that in both photos its as if the AF wasnt working at all however in camera it shows that its focused, the lens is working properly and foucsing but the images are terrible. When I manual focused they were much more inline with what I expected...

[ebiggs1]

arceneaux811,

That is the same Tamron that I have.  I have two of them one for Canon and one for Nikon.  Both are great.  The Nikon version being better than the Nikkor which is three times more expensive.

" f2.8/, 1/4000, ISO 100, 200mm."  Try turning VC off. At 1/4000 you don't need it and it might be hurting.  You also don't need it with the light you had.

Before returning it you need to find out if it is the lens or something else.  You will need a good tripod. Stop it down to f4.  The Tamron is at its best at f4.  Take some shots at a more reasonable SS of 1/500.  ISO at 200.  See if they improve.

Now another question.  Did you do a lens correction in PS?  You can open a jpg with ACR 9 and perform this. I did it to you photo and the result is here:

You can see with just a simple lens correction profile it is very much better?  Do the test I suggested first.  You may be surprised. I do lens correction on all my shots upon import into LR.   She is a doll, BTW !  

[arceneaux811]

Thank you for your suggestions. Ill test them out and let you know. I usually do a lens correction profile in LR before Post however I did not on any of the photos I shot with the Tamron 70-200 as the image out of camera looked so terrible (and they never made it to post).

[ebiggs1]

Great, remember turn VC off.

[RobertTheFat]

---

@ebiggs1 wrote:

You can see with just a simple lens correction profile it is very much better?  Do the test I suggested first.  You may be surprised. I do lens correction on all my shots upon import into LR.   She is a doll, BTW !  

---

Really? "Very much better"? Maybe a bit more contrast in the girl's face, but I don't see any improvement in overall sharpness. Oh well, it's time for a visit to my optometrist anyway, I guess.

[ebiggs1]

Robert it doesn't take too much to make what he was getting, "very much better".  Simple click on lens correction.  Don't you think it is worth it?  He may have a true problem with that lens.  Testing is the only way to tell.  Not simple snap shots with lens correction. It may not be the lens at all and trying to fix what isn't broken is useless.

[arceneaux811]

I also tried to do AFMA however the Calibration sheet i was using was totally out of focus and couldnt get a reading that would indicate that it was front or back focusing...Just not sure what to do as ive heard nothing but great things about the lens and then its been complete opposite...

[diverhank]

One quick thing you can do before sending it in is to turn off VC and shoot the same thing again to see if the images improve.  I had similar experiences with my Tamron 150-600mm - everything was a blurry mess until I turned off VC.  It ended up getting sent in and fixed by Tamron (broken VC mechanism) and it is now working just fine.

[ScottyP]

Looks like it needs a considerable amount ofAFMA.  There is nothing in focus because there is nothing in the shots that is like 2 feet behind or in front of your subjects where the lens is focusing. I'd guess a shot of an inclined ruler next to a target would show back or front focus.  I'd send it back for another copy while you can.  No need to live with a lens that needs + or -20 or something.   Maybe grab that super nice brand new Tammy 70-200 if this is not it. 

 If it is the image stabilization ruining the shot, then the advice to send it back is still good but for a different reason. 

I can't see anything else. Your shutter is nice and fast and ISO is nice and low. 

[arceneaux811]

Thanks guys for all the suggestions and help! I decided to send the lens back to Tamron as it has a 6year limited warranty to have them check it out. Once I get it back from them ill update as to what they thought the issue was and if they were able to fix it so that if anyone else runs into the same problems this thread may help them out. Thanks again!