Worried about Tamron quality control!

[Sikario]

I'm in the process of purchasing a Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for my 20D, but I'm constantly reading about this lens being sent back because they're back focusing or they're too soft etc. I'm off on holiday in a fortnight and I worried that the lens I get (knowing my luck) will be a bad example, and I won't have time to order a new one.

I'd like to go into a store and have a look at an actual copy and buy it there, but the cheapest prices for this lens are from online stores so I'd simply have to hope I receive a good one.

Is it really that bad, or am I being paranoid?

Cheers :)

[Dante King]

Paranoid. No your not.....yes you are.....no your not....stop that!....Who me?....

Worse case is that you have to send it in. I have owned 3 tamron lenses and all 3 were crackers! I would not esitate to by a tamron again. In fact the lens in question is why I have not spent on the EF 24-70.

[Tsmith]

I'd say paranoid ... mines been a stellar performer since day one.

[tim]

You never hear about the good ones, only the bad ones. Mine's perfect.

[kram]

I was in the same boat as you when I bought the lens - absolutely paranoid. I did buy it at a B&M shop here (advantage of being in HK), and asked the guy three times if he will exchange it if there was a problem :) He promised to, but I didnt have to return it. Was absolutely perfect.

There's an x% chance you might have to - but its not high and anyway, cant be found out from this forum :confused:

[SSquared2000]

My impression seems to be most people are extremely happy with theirs. That's one of the reasons I bought mine. condyk did a poll in which essentially everyone said they have no regrets with their Tamron 28-75. I'm one of the few who seems to have gotten a bum lens and I will most likely be sending it in.

I'm thinking it's a very rare case, and I don't want my experience to sour other people's expectations. I'm not really worried about it because I've seen what this lens is capable of producing. I just wish mine was more consistent in the wider open apertures.

[m3incorp]

If you look closely, you will find the same type comments on most lenses. Mine is great as is probably the majority of others. Yep there is bound to be some bad copies, but hey that is with any product. If at first it doesn't please; RETURN and get another.

[Tsmith]

Even the Canon L's have been known to need factory recalibration ... its not a perfect world we live in.

[Sonsey]

Jessops are pretty good at matching UK websites, or at least getting quite close... might be worth a try. A few pounds extra for piece of mind is no bad thing.

(assuming your in London, England of course :D )

[condyk]

condyk did a poll in which essentially everyone said they have no regrets with their Tamron 28-75.

Did I ... that was very clever :lol: Not sure it was me, but who knows. I've lost track of what I may or may not have said here!!

I think it was someone else who did a poll at the height of the Tamron fuss ... turns out it was all a storm in a tea cup anyway.

I HAD ONE AND IT WAS FINE. Some may complain about it being a tad softer at f2.8, but is there really a zoom that isn't? I think it's a very safe buy and capable of lovely colours and contrast.

[SSquared2000]

Whoops. Sorry about that. Perhaps it was someone else.

In any case, I do agree any piece of equipment can have its problems. I had to return my first Palm Tungsten E (had some pixels out) and my first Rebel XT (had some bad pixels).

[KaplanMultimedia]

I was one of the unfortunate few who got a bad 1st copy of this lens. I bought it at B&H and they exchanged it immediately with no problems at all. The 2nd one is much, much better. It's on my camera 90% of the time.

If you're concerned about getting one of the few bad copies, just make sure to buy at a reputable dealer that will make a swap for you if needed.

[Sikario]

Phew, thanks for that. it's made me feel much more confident in Tamron. :)

Sonsey, unfortunately Jessops no longer price-match websites, only local stores. I bought my 20D from Jessops (infact I bought in directly from my Mum's friend, a regional manager of Jessops in London so I was guaranteed a good deal) but their lenses are still really overpriced.

If I order now, and the lens is not perfect I should have enough time to replace it before I go on holiday.

Nice one.

[Tsmith]

Sikario ... just so you know, Norman Camera has a 30 return policy.

[Sikario]

Do they have British stores?

[Tsmith]

Do they have British stores? ... I apolize as I didn't notice your location. Norman Camera is a family owned two store location in Michigan, US.

[CyberPet]

I had mine replaced two times, more or less had the guys at the store test ALL their lenses in stock before they sent me their best one, and that wasn't the best copy either, but all they could offer me. I think they were sent a really bad batch and most of them were sent off for calibration. Anyway, I needed the lens for a while and it wasn't until 5 months later I sent mine off for calibration. No problem whatsoever about that. The store (online store) knew it was not a pristine copy and told me to use it wisely and told me that they'll send it to calibration - no charge - when I had the time to be without the lens. According to the latest news the lens is being sent from Germany this week and should arrive here in northern Sweden in time for my trip to Canada.

[Gerdav43]

I've bought two cars over the past year. One has had no issues and I have driven mile after mile with a smile on my face. The other, in the beginning, had it's battles and I complained and moaned to anybody who would listen. My friends think my truck stinks. In actuality I love it now that it's fixed. Quality control, the way life goes, or both. Such is the dilemma here. Boos are louder than cheers. When you struggle to decide, because there is so much information at hand, you hear the negative loudest. It's what makes you look harder. It promotes research. Problem is........there are the countless thousands of us who have not spoken about our success. You look for our voice to help you but......"My lense is crap" or "Tamron Sucks" is what you hear most.

If the majority spoke I think you would find overwhelming success with the Tamron 28-75.

I have found that the lens takes some practice. I had the Canon 28-135 and it was as easy as point and shoot all the time. However, the Tamron was here and there in the beginning. What I needed were better skills and more practice. I found the Tamron pictures sharper, clearer and much more pleasing to look at when successful. I have learned to use this lens and I love it. Be patient and don't rush to send back for calibration if you struggle at first.

Good Luck

[CyberPet]

Well, since it's a bit offending to say it takes "practice" to use a Tamron 28-75/2.8 I have to reply.... it's not just that. It's also quality control. Trust me!

I LOVE my lens and the reason why I took the plunge and sent it in for calibration is that I *know* what this lens can perform and it's an amazing lens that should be priced a lot higher than it is. What I didn't like was that I had BLURRY pictures (no, not soft, right-out blurry) when shooting in the wide range of the lens, anything from 28 mm up to about 45 mm was front focus problems.

I would never say Tamron stinks just because I was unlucky and have had to wait 10 weeks for my lens to come back from calibration. Tamron makes great lenses and that's the reason why I try to have the patience and wait for it to come back. I use it 90% of the time and I did use it 90% of the time even if I had to sort to other ideas when shooting in wider angles. Now I have my 20-35/2.8 L that covers that, but I didn't when I sent my Tamron off.

[Gerdav43]

Well, since it's a bit offending to say it takes "practice" to use a Tamron 28-75/2.8 I have to reply.... it's not just that. It's also quality control. Trust me!


I'm sorry if I offended, it was not my intent, but I did allow for quality control to be an issue. I have no doubt that you have run into quality control issues with your lenses. You have documented it very well over the past several months. I have read them. I was not referring to you (Cyberpet).



Quality control, the way life goes, or both.

My first post in this thread was directed to Sikario, suggesting that paranoia was not necessary, and to not worry about the negative because it often speaks louder than all the positive.

I believe I also recognized my limitations in the field of photography by admitting that I needed a little practice. SLR photography is not point and shoot. It is sometimes very frustrating for people that are switching over from point and shoot.

I was referring to my own experience and what others may also experience. When I first received my lens I too had difficulty with DOF issues. But it was my knowledge, or lack there of (the more likely suspect), that prevented me from achieving the success that I have now. I have since learned to utizlize the lense better. But at first (during my frustrated period) I read about the quality issues, here on this forum, and thought that maybe it was the lense and not me. It's hard for me to admit that I am not perfect.:D :D I gave it a little time and practiced. It worked for me. I'm sure that there are other people that think like me. I'm an average JOE or Gerry in this case. We make a $300 plus purchase and expect results. At the time of my purchase I was still heavy on the learning curve. I'm better now than I was. I get the results I was looking for now.

Obviously, the experience photog knows when it is equipment and when it is user failure. I do not attempt to speak for those people. I was offering an insight for the new photogs of the world, we know who we are, that can become overwhelmed with information and the results that many people here achieve.

[CyberPet]

No problems. I've just heard so many "odd" remarks about those with faulty lenses, that them being either not knowledgeful enough, or imagine things, etc. So I was a bit touchy. Sorry right back at you. :)

[Andy_T]

I have found that the lens takes some practice. I had the Canon 28-135 and it was as easy as point and shoot all the time. However, the Tamron was here and there in the beginning. What I needed were better skills and more practice.

Gerd,

you might explain a bit why you think the Tamron needs more practice than other lenses ???

I have an ok copy (I'll sent it in for calibration soon to see if this can turn it into a good copy) that is very sharp at f/3.5, but not so sharp at f/2.8 (mind you ... still a lot better than most 'consumer' lenses wide open, but just not on par with my 80-200/2.8L), but I didn't find it any harder to use than any other f/2.8 lens.

Best regards,
Andy

[Gerdav43]

I only compared the lense to the Canon 28-135. The obvious difference is the zoom. The aperatures are also different with Tamron being 2.8 and the Canon being 3.5-5.6 if I remember correctly. The major difference here is the Tamron is capable of being 2.8 throughout the zoom range where the Canon lense fluctuates from 3.5 upwards to 5.6 as you zoom. The lense would not allow you to have an aperature of 3.5 when zoomed to 135mm (if I remember correctly, except under very certain and limited lighting conditions). You could of coure set the aperature higher (smaller aperature). Did I say that right?

This is where the practice comes in (especially for newer converts). If you plop the Tamron lense on, put the camera on green (automatic) or even P mode the camera will generally default to 2.8 in low light and 4.0 or close to with good lighting. Now, your taking a candid of a bunch of your three children playing in the play room (medium light). One is five feet away and the other two are 7 feet away. The camera has defaulted to 2.8. What is going to happen to the children 7 feet away. They will be out of focus, assuming you focused on the child in the forefront. With the Canon lense, the lense defaulted to 4.5 or 5.6 and and crisp clear picture was created without much effort or thought. Hence my point and shoot comparison with the Canon 28-135.

Now take the Tamron lense, duplicate the settings used by the Canon lense using manual mode and take the same picture. I have found it to be a crisper and clearer picture. That is what I believe is the advantage of the Tamron Lense. This is why I like the lense.

I do not deny there may be calibration issues with some or many of the Tamron lenses. I'm just suggesting to newer folks, who try like me to work our way through this art form, that it's not as easy as 1,2,3 to get great pictures all the time. It's easy to blame the equipment for our failures. (I want to re-iterate, I DO NOT SPEAK FOR THE EXPERIENCED PHOTOGRAPHER, who would be more inclined to know that it is definitely their equipment.) There is a lot of information to learn and a lot of practice to be done. One cannot disagree that some equipment is easier or even less finicky than other equipment. The Tamron is an excellent walk around lens that requires a little more skill than the Canon 28-135 did to achieve quality pictures. When successful, IMO, the Tamron produces better quality results (than the Canon 28-135)

[Dragos Jianu]

Quality control ? What quality control ? Canon, Tamron ? It's cheaper to sell the lemons then to dump them. check this out http://www.ephotozine.com/articles/viewarticle.cfm?id=68

[Sikario]

Thanks for all the replies, luckily I had the chance to test the Tamron out in a camera store on Friday, I used my camera and my memory card, and after reviewing the photos on the PC they're very sharp. The lens itself was great, so light and compact... perfect for a walk-about lens!