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Tamron 150-600. Pulling my hair out, not sure what to do.

TimStriley
Contributor

I purchased a used Tamron 150-600 (1st gen) from my local dealer, a great place by all accounts. I am on very limited income so it took a while to save up enough to make this purchase. I havea Rebel T6 and I bougjht the lens to up my game with wildlife photography, mostly the bald eagles that frequent my area this time of year. The problem is that I just cannot get a decent shot with the T6, even supported, past about 300-400 mm. I took it to the shop and they tested the lens with my T6 and on a 70D, showing me the results and telling me that it is a compatibilty problem. We checked for firmware upgrade, etc...and still very poort results as far as photo clarity. The store is now telling me my best bet is to get a new (or used), higher-end camera. That means saving up and having an expensive paperweight until then or giving up and either returning the lens (and gimbal and tripod I also purchased) and just waiting for that day to come and starting over again. Does anyone have any insight into the T6 and the Tamron 150-600 to advise me with? Really bummed that I am spending days continuing to try to get the shots and coming up empty. 

 

600mm 1/1600, f6.3, ISO400

Eagle1.jpg

17 REPLIES 17

No tel-con, straight lens and camera. Photos are straight from camera as well, no post.


@TimStriley wrote:

No tel-con, straight lens and camera. Photos are straight from camera as well, no post.


It is possible that the T6 may not be compatible with this Tamron lens. Even though Tamron makes no mention of this camera model in its list of compatible Canon cameras, neither does it mention my Canon 7DII and it works just fine.

 

You might want to call Tamron to ask.  The Canon website post this info for you to call Tamron:

Customer Service Department at 631-858-8400 ext. 2502, or contact us via e-mail at custserv@tamron.com.

 

Tamron lenses have a lot of issues with newer Canon models...namely not being able to focus while using Live View...were you taking pictures using liveview? 

 

I only own one non-Canon lens and it happened to be this one. It taught me a lesson...I won't buy non-OEM lenses again any time soon...too much trouble...

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Diverhank's photos on Flickr

"I won't buy non-OEM lenses again any time soon...too much trouble..."

 

That is a shame since there are some fantastic lenses out there. I have looked at your Flickr account so I know for a fact you know what you are doing.   Perhaps you and the OP got faulty copies. Who knows?  But remember a single bad lens does not define the entire group. 

 

The below picture wasn't with the my Tamron but with my Siggy S.

600mm, f8, 1/60, ISO 800.  No tripod with LC done in LR.  Actually, it wasn't any more 'trouble' to mount that lens on my 1D Mk IV than any Canon lens I have.

 

_52D0487-Edit.jpg

 

EB
EOS 1DX and 1D Mk IV and less lenses then before!


@ebiggs1 wrote:

"I won't buy non-OEM lenses again any time soon...too much trouble..."

 

That is a shame since there are some fantastic lenses out there. I have looked at your Flickr account so I know for a fact you know what you are doing.   Perhaps you and the OP got faulty copies. Who knows?  But remember a single bad lens does not define the entire group. 

 

The below picture wasn't with the my Tamron but with my Siggy S.

600mm, f8, 1/60, ISO 800.  No tripod with LC done in LR.  Actually, it wasn't any more 'trouble' to mount that lens on my 1D Mk IV than any Canon lens I have.

 

_52D0487-Edit.jpg

 


Brighten up the area around his eyes a little, and that will be a great picture. Gorillas are interesting animals. All evidence suggests that they enjoy watching people as much as people enjoy watching them. That one looks like he's hoping you'll let him try the camera.

Bob
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA

Only LC was applied.  No other edits except making it small enough to u/l here.  It is silly to discount all third world lenses.  Some are pretty darn good.

 

EB
EOS 1DX and 1D Mk IV and less lenses then before!

I have one on my 6D sharp as a Tack something is amiss. You should be able to she this level of unsharpness when looking thru viewfinder does it look sharp?  are you achieving focus is the ring moving can you turn on the confirmation beep?

 

diverhank
Authority

It is possible that the VC (vibration compensation) is defective on this lens.  It's fairly common with this version.  Try taking pictures with VC turned off and if the result improves then it's the culprit.

 

The Tamron has 6-year warranty and they'd fix it for free...but not sure if the warranty applies to used gear though.  Since you bought it from a store, you might be able to return it.

 

Personally, I think the Tamron VC is lousy even when it works right and I always have it turned off on mine. I've got better results without it.  Even when VC is working right, the original Tamron v1 VC does not work with moving objects.  Tamron does have a firmware fix for this VC problem but you need to send it in (no USB port for this one).  Not sure if your copy had this done yet.

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Diverhank's photos on Flickr

The Tamron warranty does not apply here. Open box sales or used equipment is excluded.

EB
EOS 1DX and 1D Mk IV and less lenses then before!
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