Focus Micro Adjustment of Tamron Lenses - the Easy Way

I had not been satisfied with the focus accuracy of the Tamron lenses on my D750. When I first got the lenses, they looked good. Then, as I became more accustomed to the lenses and digital versus film, I began to see where they were a bit “soft”. None of the images were bad; I felt they could be better. (Yes, there were some bad images, but they were my fault not the camera or the lenses.)

Two of my lenses, the 24-70 f/2.8 G2 and the 90mm f/2.8 Macro, are user adjustable with the Tap-in console that came with the 24-70; the 70-200 f/2.8 is an “older” lens and is not user adjustable. I tried making the micro focus adjustment and had some success at close range, but infinity focus eluded me. I took several days and took over 200 exposures trying to properly adjust the focus but I was not satisfied with the results. (Part of the problem might be my 77-year old eyes. <GRIN>)

Last May, one of the camera stores in Sacramento had vendor demonstration day. I spoke to the Tamron representative and asked her how she adjusted her lenses. She replied she didn’t. She sent the lenses and her camera to Tamron Service; they adjusted them. They have “software”. They also have a proper lab – studio; I do not. The adjustment is covered under the Tamron 6-year warranty. Because I had to send my 70-200 lens off for adjustment, I gave up trying to adjust the other two lenses and sent all three lenses and my D750 off to Tamron. Since I had to pay for the shipping to Tamron, I sent them FedEx ground – six days from Sacramento, California to Long Island, New York. Tamron adjusted the lenses in 2 days, and shipped them back to me, FedEx 3-day air, at their expense.

There is a marked improvement in the images taken with the newly adjusted lenses. It was well worth the cost of packing and shipping.

Thank you Tamron.

improvement in the images taken with the newly adjusted lenses

Err, so where exactly are these changes made? Firmware?

Maybe, it won't work with a different body?

Err, so where exactly are these changes made? Firmware?

 

Maybe, it won't work with a different body?

The adjustments are made to the lens, probably parameters the firmware uses. They are like the adjustments the user can make using the Tap-in console, but are stored in a different part of memory not accessible to the user. The Tap-in parameters are zeroed out, but still available.

The lens will function on another body, but the adjustments will probably not be optimal for the other body. The lens is now optimized for the body I sent.

There are two different way to make micro focus adjustments to lenses. You can make the adjustment in camera, but you are restricted to one adjustment at only one focal length and one range. This is not an optimal solution, especially for zoom lenses. Or, if the lens permits it, you can make multiple adjustment in the lens at different focal lengths (for zoom lenses) and different ranges. However any such adjustments are probably optimal only for the camera body on which the adjustment were preformed. Since I have but one camera body, this is not a problem for me.