pictures not sharp

[ron moore]

hello everyone

i wrote in an earlier thread about my tamron 18-270 lens not being sharp, and you all
advised me to try different settings,. I have tried what you all advised, but I am still not happy with the results, I am getting sharper pictures with my 18-55 kit lens. I have decided
to sell my tamron lense and I would like advice on what lense to buy to take its place, i would like a lense that i could leave on all of the time.
Can anyone give me their honest opinion on the sigma 18-250 lense, or the canon 18- 200 lense


regards ron moore

[KeithT]

Hi Ron. One of the biggest mistakes those fairly new to photography make, is putting lenses in second place to camera bodies. Lenses are probably the main consideration in a photographer's arsenal. What you should understand is that the more pulling power a lens has, the more complicated it becomes to make, so going for a mega zoom may leave you in the same position you are in now unless you are willing to pay heaps of money for it. I would advise you pay as much as you can afford; keep the zoom as short as you can, and spread the range over two lenses. That way you may get something you will be 100% pleased with. Your shout of course.

[GeoffWessex]

A pro photographer based in my city (lives around the corner) swears by that Tamron 18-270mm. However, if it's truly not as good as a kit lens (which are notoriously unsatisfactory) then perhaps your Tamron really is a duffer. But Keith's advice is sound and maybe the Sigma or Canon lenses may be better. It may be worth spending a little money on getting the Tamron checked before you spend more money, though, and there are ways to do a DIY focus test (if your camera has the ability to 'fine-tune' its focusing).

[rbarry]

Hi Ron,

I believe you are using a Canon 500D body with your Tamron 18-270mm. Unfortunately there is no back focus adjustment to be made with your camera body. I have found the 18-270mm and my 550D to be much sharper than I expected, beyond 230mm it gets a bit soft and at 270mm it's quite noticeable when "pixel peeping".

Between 50-200mm it's very reasonable, and great around 70-130mm. I use this lens when out and about travelling light. I have better lenses, but I still have a use for the Tamron for it's flexibility. Have you tried testing it for back focus issues? It's worth spending the time if only to prove where the fault lies. If the lens is flawed then you may have good reason for Tamron to fix it for you. If the issue lies with your camera body then you need to know whether investing in another lens will show up the same problem.

[ron moore]

hello everyone

thanks for all your advice.
I have been looking back on some of my earlier pics and i must admit the sharpness
is much better than it is now, so could their be a flaw in the lense, and if their is,
what is the best way to go about it , i have no facility on my camera for any focus adjustments.


ron moore

[rbarry]

Hi Ron,

Go here: http://focustestchart.com/chart.html

You will find the instructions and a chart that you can print out at the bottom of the page to check your set up for back/front focus issues. This is not a cure, it is just a means of finding out how badly affected a camera body is with a given lens for focus issues.

Try it with all your lenses: some may be better "tuned" than others to your specific body.