New Tamron 150-600 G2

Poor light, but nice bird!

I will try and get some photos up with the new lens. I can say I now really understand how heat waves can affect things. At 500mm it is hard to get a sharp pic of the neighbors sheep at 300yards, and it's only mid 50's with the sun shining. That is via tripod and live view.

But get with in 100' and it is no longer an issue.

Really going to have to get used to how this lens shoots and environmental conditions having a big impact on photo quality.

Here are a couple quick first test shots.

Lizard was autofocus, moon was manual focus using live view and 10x and I used a wireless shutter once the shake was gone from the display.

I wish the moon was cleaner. This was the best shot off the 5Dmkiii tonight. When comparing sharpness via moon shots taken with my 7Dmkii moments before at similar FOV 309mm (I goofed some how and did not have it at 375mm) the 7Dmkii was noticeably sharper and I am guessing that is due to the 5dmkiii being at 600mm vs 309mm on the 7dmkii.

I will be sure to do some side by side 500mm against 600mm.

I really enjoy my G2... I have found that the longest reliably sharp point for me is 550mm... after that it loses just a bit of sharpness.
However, after using Focal to MFA at 550, it is really good at that length. Just a thought - you might want to try it at 550 and see if yours acts like mine.

Enjoy your new lens!

Some from today. I think the lens is very capable, I just need to figure out how to best use it. I have a LOT of misses at various focal lengths no matter how I shoot. Again I think it's me, not the lens.

I do however think I need to do some MFA via the dock as I can see some clear front focus in many shots.


Otter was tripod mounted but the ball head was loose enough to where I could move with slight resistance, the seagull was hand held. Both with the settings below. Of the 200 shots I took today these are the best 2. Honestly only kept 4 in total.
I am in IS mode 1
On the 7dmkii I have it in AF case 2
Limiter is set to 10m to infinity


I also fear that I continue to have an issue when cropping/resizing via LR, images consistently come out less sharp when I post them here than what I actually see on my screen when editing. I wish I could figure out why.

European robin. 2.3.18.

Great spotted woodpecker. 25.2.18.

Been testing a new copy of the Tamron 150-600mm SP G2. Here is what I am finding. The lens does need some serious calibration in order to focus accurately at all focal lengths. That said...in my opinion, if you are not willing to send your camera in to Tamron so they can adjust the lens for you to match your camera, you have to get the Tap-In Console to go with it. It is a lot of work and takes time to really dial down the right numbers. I almost sent the lens back when I first got it. I am including some samples after a week of tweaking and adjusting the lens. No.....the earlier images weren't even close to that and wish I had kept the first set of pictures I took with the lens so I could show the before and after effects of calibration.

I believe the lens is good and when you take into account some of the other features offerred, it is easy to justify going through all the trouble to make the lens work .....

Weight is not an issue compared to the Canon 500 or 600 f4 IS II series, or even the Sigma 150-600mm Sport... Dont forget that In order to get this much reach you would have to spend how much more...?
And.... What about the quality of the images?

*Yep....the quality of the images coming from this lens is good.

I own some quality Canon lenses and no I am not getting rid of them, but considering all the above, this lens at this price point....is a keeper.

astronotus_2000 wrote in post #18577154
Been testing a new copy of the Tamron 150-600mm SP G2. Here is what I am finding. The lens does need some serious calibration in order to focus accurately at all focal lengths. That said...in my opinion, if you are not willing to send your camera in to Tamron so they can adjust the lens for you to match your camera, you have to get the Tap-In Console to go with it. It is a lot of work and takes time to really dial down the right numbers. I almost sent the lens back when I first got it. I am including some samples after a week of tweaking and adjusting the lens. No.....the earlier images weren't even close to that and which I had kept the first set of pictures I took with the lens so I could show the before and after effects of calibration.

I believe the lens is good and when you take into account some of the other features offerred, it is easy to justify going through all the trouble to make the lens work .....

Weight is not an issue compared to the Canon 500 or 600 f4 IS II series, or even the Sigma 150-600mm Sport... Dont forget that In order to get this much reach you would have to spend how much more...?
And.... What about the quality of the images?

*Yep....the quality of the images coming from this lens is good.

I own some quality Canon lenses and no I am not getting rid of them, but considering all the above, this lens at this price point....is a keeper.

Hosted photo: posted by astronotus_2000 in
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forum: Lens Sample Photo Archive

Hosted photo: posted by astronotus_2000 in
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forum: Lens Sample Photo Archive

Thank you for that informative and very helpful post. And the images look very good indeed!

I have had this lens for a while, and I finally did send it to Tamron for calibration. I was without my camera and lens for about a week, but the calibration is excellent. I have the Tap-in console, but with a lens this long it really is tricky to get right, and sending it in was much less work and frustration.

I think I will be sending mine in too. I have been trying to get it to a better place and certain ranges I am there, but others not so much. Also It seems there is a bit of a difference between my 5d3 and 7d2. Think I will just send them both bodies and the 24-70G2 while I am at it.

These two are at 500mm. The fence I was focused on the post between the two gates and aprox 100' away.

One thing to know is that after you send a lens to Tamron for calibration, the console will show all the settings at "0." At first I thought that nothing had been done, but it turns out that the new calibration becomes the "factory default." This would make it easy to return to the calibration they did if one felt the need to mess around with the settings via the console.

Curious, how did you go about sending your lens in?
Did you call them?
What do they need from someone to send it in?
Did they give to a work order number!

Thanks in advance.

A couple more samples from this past weekend.
The lens is performing well at 600mm so far. I am trying to include some birds in flight as well, since it has been the biggest challenge. I was used to the simplicity of the prime Canon 400mm f5.6 for BIF photography.....and must say it is a little different now. It is necessary to make some adjustments when doing BIF with the 150-600mm. However, it is possible to get some excellent shots with great detail.

Eurasian blue tit. Great lens!!