# D7100 and Tamron 150-600



## Ted Evans (Jan 8, 2015)

The Tamron came a couple days ago but so far I am disappointed. No doubt some, perhaps most, is operator error but there may be an alignment problem also. It seems to be sharper when I manually focus as opposed to AF. After my shop warms up, I am going to attempt to fabricate a lens alignment setup and see if anything shows up. So far, my old Nikon 300 f/4.5 is sharper but then it is manual focus only. I have it and a Nikon TC-14B listed on eBay but now I am hoping they do not sell, at least until the Tamron issue is resolved. BTW, it is on a tripod with VC off and remote triggering, from 400 to 600 tried.


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## JacaRanda (Jan 8, 2015)

Can you show some pictures with exif included?


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## Ted Evans (Jan 8, 2015)

JacaRanda said:


> Can you show some pictures with exif included?



Do I just copy the EXIF and paste it in with the images?


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## jsecordphoto (Jan 8, 2015)

try doing some microfocus adjustments. On my canon 6d I had to bring my tamron to +9 at 600mm.


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## Ted Evans (Jan 8, 2015)

What an education...after constructing my lens alignment fixture, I found the Tamron needed +16 but what was even more startling was that my Nikon 200 f/4 micro needed +16 and my Nikon 18-140 needed +18.  Could this mean the D7100 is off that much and if it is, should I have Nikon check it? It is only a couple of months old with 500-600 clicks. 

The image was done hand-held and I shake so badly that I was amazed that one could come out at all. It is 600mm, f/6.3, 160 and ISO 400.


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## JacaRanda (Jan 8, 2015)

One big problem is your shutter speed.  At 600mm handheld along with you saying how shaky you are - the shutter speed should be significantly faster.  I shoot at 600mm often and my presets start at 1/2000 (anticipating my subject may move or simply takeoff and fly away).

Try again with a faster shutter speed and don't be afraid to use auto iso to compensate.


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## JacaRanda (Jan 8, 2015)

Oh - BTW that shot is not bad at all for 1/160 @ 600mm.  You are steadier than you think.


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## 480sparky (Jan 8, 2015)

JacaRanda said:


> One big problem is your shutter speed.  At 600mm handheld along with you saying how shaky you are - the shutter speed should be significantly faster.  I shoot at 600mm often and my presets start at 1/2000 (anticipating my subject may move or simply takeoff and fly away).
> 
> Try again with a faster shutter speed and don't be afraid to use auto iso to compensate.



I dunno.  Is 1/20 too slow at 430mm?


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## JacaRanda (Jan 8, 2015)

480sparky said:


> JacaRanda said:
> 
> 
> > One big problem is your shutter speed.  At 600mm handheld along with you saying how shaky you are - the shutter speed should be significantly faster.  I shoot at 600mm often and my presets start at 1/2000 (anticipating my subject may move or simply takeoff and fly away).
> ...



 as long as you can hold it still.  I'm old and wayyyy to jittery for that.  LOL


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## Ted Evans (Jan 8, 2015)

JacaRanda said:


> One big problem is your shutter speed.  At 600mm handheld along with you saying how shaky you are - the shutter speed should be significantly faster.  I shoot at 600mm often and my presets start at 1/2000 (anticipating my subject may move or simply takeoff and fly away).
> 
> Try again with a faster shutter speed and don't be afraid to use auto iso to compensate.



Thanks Jaca, I am aware of that, this was only an exercise in checking the focus. Normally, when I use anything longer than my 18-140, it is on a tripod with a remote shutter release if I am trying for anything more than a snapshot.


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## Ted Evans (Jan 8, 2015)

480sparky said:


> JacaRanda said:
> 
> 
> > One big problem is your shutter speed.  At 600mm handheld along with you saying how shaky you are - the shutter speed should be significantly faster.  I shoot at 600mm often and my presets start at 1/2000 (anticipating my subject may move or simply takeoff and fly away).
> ...



Very impressive Sparky....I would never get one that clean even with 8k speed. I just asked my doctor about my shaking and his answer was....it's old age, live with it.


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## jsecordphoto (Jan 8, 2015)

for all of your lenses to be that off, it may be something with your camera body.


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## Ted Evans (Jan 8, 2015)

jsecordphoto said:


> for all of your lenses to be that off, it may be something with your camera body.



I am wondering the same thing being that they are off very close to the same amount in the same direction. I may try to contact Nikon tomorrow and see what they say.


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## JacaRanda (Jan 8, 2015)

480sparky said:


> JacaRanda said:
> 
> 
> > One big problem is your shutter speed.  At 600mm handheld along with you saying how shaky you are - the shutter speed should be significantly faster.  I shoot at 600mm often and my presets start at 1/2000 (anticipating my subject may move or simply takeoff and fly away).
> ...




Oh bummer.  Apparently there is something you posted that I can't see.


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## 480sparky (Jan 8, 2015)

JacaRanda said:


> Oh bummer.  Apparently there is something you posted that I can't see.



Like the photo?  Click here.


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## JacaRanda (Jan 8, 2015)

480sparky said:


> JacaRanda said:
> 
> 
> > Oh bummer.  Apparently there is something you posted that I can't see.
> ...



Thank you and SWEET shot!


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## robbins.photo (Jan 8, 2015)

Ted Evans said:


> JacaRanda said:
> 
> 
> > One big problem is your shutter speed.  At 600mm handheld along with you saying how shaky you are - the shutter speed should be significantly faster.  I shoot at 600mm often and my presets start at 1/2000 (anticipating my subject may move or simply takeoff and fly away).
> ...



Well a big part of your issue here might have nothing to do with the lens at all but rather the focus point the camera ultimately selected.  Your shooting through a lot of branches here, and just from the looks of things it doesn't appear to me that the camera selected the bird as the point of focus but rather where one of the branches meets the small trunk to the right.

Try mounting the lens, upping the shutter speed a bit, and shooting at an object with a lot less clutter and see what sort of results you get.  For a shot like this switching the camera to single point AF and selecting the AF point yourself is usually your best bet, otherwise if your using multiple AF points in a cluster the camera is going to pick the point of highest contrast within that cluster as it's focal point.


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## BillM (Jan 8, 2015)

Ted Evans said:


> ...it's old age, live with it.



It's better than the alternative


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## Ted Evans (Jan 8, 2015)

BillM said:


> Ted Evans said:
> 
> 
> > ...it's old age, live with it.
> ...



But there should be option 3.


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## greybeard (Jan 9, 2015)

Reads like your D7100 is the opposite of my old d7000.  All of my lenses need -15 to -20 to snap into focus.


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## Ted Evans (Jan 9, 2015)

greybeard said:


> Reads like your D7100 is the opposite of my old d7000.  All of my lenses need -15 to -20 to snap into focus.



Good morning greybeard, is this an issue that should be discussed with Nikon, would it do any good do you think?


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## greybeard (Jan 9, 2015)

As long as you can adjust it to be sharp I think you are OK.  I doubt if Nikon will give much help with a Tamron lens.  My D7000 is notorious for having back focusing issues so I pretty much start at -20 and work my way towards 0.  Things usually settle in at around -15


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## Ted Evans (Jan 9, 2015)

greybeard said:


> As long as you can adjust it to be sharp I think you are OK.  I doubt if Nikon will give much help with a Tamron lens.  My D7000 is notorious for having back focusing issues so I pretty much start at -20 and work my way towards 0.  Things usually settle in at around -15



I would not expect Nikon to be sympathetic to the Tamron problem but two of the three were Nikon lens. I now have a back focus problem with a Nikon 80-200 f/2.8 D lens. Totally different from the three previous lens and this one I cannot correct the back focus with camera adjustments. Very frustrating.


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