Using Tamaron Lenses with Canon

[kacy_hughes]

I recently bought a lens from another photographer. It is a tamaron 38-80

lens. I have the canon XTi. Anyway, I recently took engagement photos with it

and some of them came out a little blurry/fuzzy. Luckily, I took so many

pictures it was no big deal to delete the bad ones. My question is, I was

using the lens in auto focus mode. I am wondering if it will work if I use it

in manual mode or if it just won't work with my canon. I'd love to be able to

get some use out of it even if it means doing the focus manually.

[SCL]

If it's an auto zoom it should work fine in the auto mode, if it isn't AF, then you have to focus manually. If you didn't get instructions with it, then mount it on a tripod and experiment for 5 minutes. You've got a digital camera, so you've got nothing to lose.

[bdp]

Sounds like an older lens, just by the range. I hve the 28-75 f/2.8 and it's and AF lens with no problems to date.

 

All lenses should work in Manual mode, if you flip the swith on teh barrel to M from AF.

[tim_schultz1]

I use Nikon for the Nikkor lenses and would use Canon for the Canon lenses. I once bought a Sigma but for the most part, I don't compromise on the glass. I have talked to numerous photogs and they all pay a little more for the Nikon or Canon glass as the aftermarket glass isn't as good. My two cents

[william-porter]

<p>Kacy Hughes writes:</p>

<blockquote><em>I recently bought a lens from another photographer. It is a tamaron 38-80 lens. I have the canon XTi. Anyway, I recently took engagement photos with it and some of them came out a little blurry/fuzzy. Luckily, I took so many pictures it was no big deal to delete the bad ones. My question is, I was using the lens in auto focus mode. I am wondering if it will work if I use it in manual mode or if it just won't work with my canon. I'd love to be able to get some use out of it even if it means doing the focus manually.</em></blockquote>

<p>Kacy, it sounds as if it does work with your camera. After all, you say you took photos with it, no?</p>

<p>I'm not aware of any lenses that can auto-focus that can't also be focused manually. Perhaps there are some, but I've not run into 'em. When a lens can only do one thing but not the other, the one thing it can do is manual focus.</p>

<p>But I want to suggest something else. You didn't show any of the blurry photos and you didn't say anything about the settings for those photos. I would suggest that you consider the possibility of camera shake. If you were shooting at the 80mm end of that lens, and your shutter speed was less than 1/80th sec (or even if it was slightly over that!), you very well may have moved the camera slightly when you clicked the shutter. You might have locked the focus perfectly, but if you move the camera when you are shooting, well, the focus doesn't matter -- the shot may be blurred.</p>

<p>I urge you to take Stephen Lewis's excellent advice: Put the camera on a tripod and do some quick tests. If you don't have a tripod, set the camera down on a book or a wall or something. To do a basic test of a lens, you should test with good lighting. Take the lens outside, point it at something with some decent contrast, so the auto-focus mechanism won't have any trouble focusing. Try to get the iso as low as possible and the shutter speed as fast as possible, for example, iso 100, f/8 (for reasonable depth of field) @ 1/400th sec. IF you want to be really careful, use the camera's timer to take your test shots, so that you completely eliminate the possibility that you yourself are pushing the camera and thus moving it when you press the shutter button. Take a few photos with auto-focus, and a few with manual focus. If you're changing the test from one shot to another, it's a very good idea to take notes while you test.</p>

 

<p>When you've taken ten quick photos like this, move the photos to your computer and take a look at them. (Reviewing them on the camera's LCD is not going to tell you what you want to know.) If you can't take a reasonably sharp photo with a lens under these conditions, then there's a problem somewhere -- with the lens, or your camera, or possibly your testing setup.</p>

[kacy_hughes]

Ok I checked the settings on my camera and I wasn't shooting very many pictures on the 80mm side of the lens but more around 50mm. The shutter speed was 1/60 and the aperture was f/5. ISO 200. My guess is that is was indeed camera shake. It almost makes me want to not use it though if I have to worry so much about what the shutter speed is at.<div></div>

[wedding-photography-denver]

with a 1.6 factor 50mm would need about 1/80th sec. or better SS for a decent hand-held shot with good technique.

 

If you don't want to worry about your SS's you will be having difficulties getting creative....

[SCL]

Generally the Tamron lenses I have used have been pretty sharp. If you're getting camera shake, as you indicated, you need to either use some means of additional support (tripod, monopod, etc.) or increase your shutter speed. Generally you shouldn't try hand holding shots at less then the reciprocal of the lens focal length (in your case 50mm x 1.6 = 80mm, so your shutter speed, as indicated by a previous respondee, should be no slower than 1/80 sec. Most people like a margin of error of at least 2, so that would be 1/160 sec. Now if you're shooting in low light, the only way you might be able to accommodate this is to increase your ISO (assuming you have your aperture on the lens already wide open). The alternative is to use fill flash, but that's another topic.

[rainer_t]

Kacy, ist this ...

 

http://www.tamron.de/index.php?id=417&kc_prid=7&L=2

 

... your lens? (I assume the 38-80 is a typo).

[kari douma]

"The shutter speed was 1/60 and the aperture was f/5. ISO 200. My guess is that is was indeed camera shake. It almost makes me want to not use it though if I have to worry so much about what the shutter speed is at."

 

I always have to worry what the shutter speed is at... that is part of being a photograper. I do not shoot at 1/60 too often, because I can't hand hold that. I get too many blury images if I use 1/60, unless I am on a tripod. Learn how to shoot im manual, and keep it faster than 1/60.

[wedding-photography-denver]

One note on the shot you took.

 

It may be something you could practice on (handholding technique that is) for the purpose of gaining a certain look.

 

I use an image stabilized lens for just that purpose as at about 1/3 sec. you can blurr (somewhat) the flow of water. Since IS lenses at the shorter focal ranges became available, I have used this to gain what would otherwise be pretty much impossible to achieve with my shaky hands.

 

Although the lighting here is not the best, here is an example of what I mean...<div></div>