Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD

Yeah.. I'm well aware of the 'Lens drive when AF impossible' should be set to on on my 5dMk3. I also change the distance limiter to 15m-infinity when shooting in the sky. It's almost like I have to point the lens at something totally different, let it refocus and then go back to what I was trying to focus on in the beginning.. It's like it just doesn't see the airplane at all.. it is annoying but not a deal breaker..

I just can't get over the sharpness of this lens.. Someone suggested that i should try FoCal to make proper adjustments to the AF but I'm rather broke right now so can't afford it..

[QUOTE=Vladdo;16834205​]I'm absolutely loving the crispness of this new Tamron 150-600 lens.. The keeper rate is quite high, and images remain sharp even at the 600mm end. Couple of caveats tho, you kinda need a high shutter speed to keep it sharp.. and at times the AF just doesn't work.. pushing/releasing the button does nothing.. doesn't even bother to try and focus.. but, maybe there's a trick to it..

Anyway, here's some from today.. Link to my flickr album if you want to see all the shots..

https://www.flickr.com …o/sets/72157643​892309795/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/47207902@N08/1​3821118253

jbrackjr wrote in post #16834418
Vladdo, very nice shots! Your shutter speed for those parked shots were perfect. The action shots have 1/1250 - 1/2000 (as you mentioned in your post) which I assume you were hand holding to get the sharpness required. Maybe a tripod would be better to ensure the aircraft doesn't look parked in the sky?

hahah thanks..

yeah.. I already have a gimble but I give up with it.. I've practiced a lot with it. I know blurred props are way better but just don't have the skill level to achieve such results.. I'm a stickler for sharpness and would rather capture sharp shots than soft shots with blurred props.. In the 10+ years that i've spent photographing planes, i still fail to achieve blurred props so I just don't bother anymore.

Heya,

I've found the easiest way for me to focus and track something in flight or moving fast in the sky, using both center focus point and all-focus-points, is to simply backup to 400mm or so, sight find, focus, then zoom in and keep tracking. I'm still a novice to things in flight, at 600mm, as it's very hard to hone in quickly and even harder to maintain focus while doing it.

Very best,

Vladdo wrote in post #16834430
hahah thanks..

yeah.. I already have a gimble but I give up with it.. I've practiced a lot with it. I know blurred props are way better but just don't have the skill level to achieve such results.. I'm a stickler for sharpness and would rather capture sharp shots than soft shots with blurred props.. In the 10+ years that i've spent photographing planes, i still fail to achieve blurred props so I just don't bother anymore.

I have always shot airshows with my 100-400 and had no problems. Now that I have the big Tamron, I am waiting patiently to do my first airshow with it.

My thought is that if shooting primarily at 600mm at prop aircraft in flight, I will use my tripod so that I can shoot at 1/250 or less. No way could I do that hand held and obtain sharp results.

yeah.. i don't doubt for a second that it's possible.. But for me, having 1 in 10 shots that are usable, is a waste of time.. I'd much rather 9 out of 10 shots that are usable..

Maybe i might try again with the tamron but either way, if the keepers are low, i'll ditch the tripod/monopod..

Another excellent series Malveaux

From the distance and heavily cropped.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/n8ah​rx

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/n8c2​ME

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/n8a7​cM

More Killdeer.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/n63L​f5

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/n623​DF

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/n624​AR

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/n61V​F4

Eastern Towhee this windy, rainy afternoon on my feeder.

Heavy, 47% crop.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/n9pz​W8

Malveaux, great shots with your Tammy... are you handholding, and if so, how do you like handling the monster?

Scrumhalf wrote in post #16836254
Malveaux, great shots with your Tammy... are you handholding, and if so, how do you like handling the monster?

Heya,

Some shots are handheld. Some are on a tripod. I feel more at home with the lens when on a tripod. Handheld, I have to use much higher shutter speeds, since VC really doesn't do much there other than help stabilize the view finder (which is a very nice thing mind). My main problem is inexperience with such a long lens for handheld and tracking something moving. I went through a flock of Ibis yesterday and it was great, but once home, I realized I missed focus on all of them, so they were not usable. I kept them in the viewfinder (which was a feat for a novice like me, at 600mm), but unfortunately I wasn't focusing right. I was using AI Servo and experimented between 9 points and center single point AF, but still haven't worked out what's best for it. It was able to track them, it just wasn't able to nail focus super sharply, but that is likely a limitation of my 650D since it's a toy in most people's eyes. I would like to have a 7D/70D to try that out with, but that may be a while away before I buy a new body since what I have works for most of what I do.

Anyhow, I like tripod/monopod a lot with the bigger lens. I go out for hours and hours and it really does take it's tole after a while of lugging it around and holding it up towards the sky a lot.

I'm not experimenting with the better beamer and flash. So far, it makes a world of difference in poor light. I get a lot of back-lighting when I go out since it's super bright here in Florida (when it's not taking a big wet poop, weather wise) and the birds here really come out in the bright sun, more than the evening when they hunker down for the night. My next run with will exclusively flash so I don't have to worry so much with spot metering and high ISO (not that I mind shooting ISO 3200, it works fine, some of those shots in this thread were ISO 1600~3200 on a 650D, and they don't look that noisy to me). But flash really helps things pop. So far, just experimenting, I can do a very well exposed flashed photo at 60 feet, at 600mm without having my flash at full power, it's really cool.

Very best,

Mike Dodd wrote in post #16835946
Do you hand hold with tc on camera?

Yes. But it takes a steady hand and concentration.

MalVeauX wrote in post #16836351
Heya,

Some shots are handheld. Some are on a tripod. I feel more at home with the lens when on a tripod. Handheld, I have to use much higher shutter speeds, since VC really doesn't do much there other than help stabilize the view finder (which is a very nice thing mind). My main problem is inexperience with such a long lens for handheld and tracking something moving. I went through a flock of Ibis yesterday and it was great, but once home, I realized I missed focus on all of them, so they were not usable. I kept them in the viewfinder (which was a feat for a novice like me, at 600mm), but unfortunately I wasn't focusing right. I was using AI Servo and experimented between 9 points and center single point AF, but still haven't worked out what's best for it. It was able to track them, it just wasn't able to nail focus super sharply, but that is likely a limitation of my 650D since it's a toy in most people's eyes. I would like to have a 7D/70D to try that out with, but that may be a while away before I buy a new body since what I have works for most of what I do.

Anyhow, I like tripod/monopod a lot with the bigger lens. I go out for hours and hours and it really does take it's tole after a while of lugging it around and holding it up towards the sky a lot.

I'm not experimenting with the better beamer and flash. So far, it makes a world of difference in poor light. I get a lot of back-lighting when I go out since it's super bright here in Florida (when it's not taking a big wet poop, weather wise) and the birds here really come out in the bright sun, more than the evening when they hunker down for the night. My next run with will exclusively flash so I don't have to worry so much with spot metering and high ISO (not that I mind shooting ISO 3200, it works fine, some of those shots in this thread were ISO 1600~3200 on a 650D, and they don't look that noisy to me). But flash really helps things pop. So far, just experimenting, I can do a very well exposed flashed photo at 60 feet, at 600mm without having my flash at full power, it's really cool.

Very best,

Cool, sounds good!! BTW, do you just ETTL with your flash? I was using flash for some of my birding shot and it helped a lot here in gloomy Oregon, but I keep getting red eye in the birds, so I've been not using it lately.