A Tale of Two Lenses

[Tronhard]

And two levels of service!

Back in December I gave up the idea of saving for one of the trips on my bucket list, with COVID still rampant and while NZ was close to normal, we were shut to the rest of the world unless we were returning Kiwis, permanent residents or essential workers. If I DID choose to go overseas on one of the few flights, then I would have to pay for two weeks' isolation in a hotel at a cost of over $3,000 (now at $5,000 I believe).

I decided to console myself with the new Canon R6 and managed to get a great deal involving two discounts from Canon and a further deal from the vendor, who was about 200km away. I had ordered an R6, plus a 24-105 f/4 and the 100-500 lenses from them. Everything but the 24-105mm came through promptly, and family members who lived near them were able to bring the body plus the 100-500 to me when they came to visit for Christmas. Due to logistics issues the 24-105 was on back order and remained so until about 2 weeks ago. In the meantime, I had got the RF24-240 lens as a stop-gap and was extremely impressed by the quality of the images. I had checked out multiple reviews of it, for example this comprehensive one by Camera Labs:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OrKHO0rBNY and a comparison with both versions of the RF 24-105 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nnxwzRYVPY.

The vendor dispatched my long-awaited 24-105 via a courier, and when I realized which company it was I was concerned - they had changed their name from one that had a very bad reputation for poor service. I realized that the package would likely be delivered on one of two consecutive days when I would be away, so the day before (when the tracking showed it had not reached their local depot) I went to their website and filled out a request to have it held at their depot until I could be at home. I followed up with a phone call to their service desk, and was assured that my request had been received and I could be confident that the lens would be held.

On the second of the two days when I returned, I checked the site to discover the package had been delivered and it was left on the doorstep. Of course, there was no such package and neighbours didn't have it. I contacted the couriers and was basically told: "We delivered it to the doorstep and you've mistaken us for someone who cares". I know they didn't even ring the bell as I have a unit that alerts me by an app if the bell is pressed. I contacted the vendor and they were great: they immediately said that this was an issue for them and they have sent me a replacement via another company with tracking and signature.

So, four months after ordering I have my lens and I took it out for a trial run against the 24-240. I was amazed at the performance of both, but particularly how well the 24-240 did. It's an excellent lens for its purpose and the images look great as long as you don't look at the images before lens correction is applied!

This was taken by the 24-240 through glass, hand-held.


I hope to see the Canon RF 10-24 come out and then I will have a 'holy trinity' to cover the range 10-500mm.

[lunaticitizen]

Apparently superzooms nowadays like your 24-240 lens have a much better reputation than they used to be.

I'm thinking of getting the Tamron 28-200 for travel, and this particular lens is very light (575g / 20.3 oz) but doesn't have optical stabilization and the range is not as good as the RF 24-240. Can't have everything I guess.

I also have a 24-105 lens which is optically wonderful but a bit heavy so it mostly stays in my storage...

[Tronhard]

Apparently superzooms nowadays like your 24-240 lens have a much better reputation than they used to be.

I'm thinking of getting the Tamron 28-200 for travel, and this particular lens is very light (575g / 20.3 oz) but doesn't have optical stabilization and the range is not as good as the RF 24-240. Can't have everything I guess.

I also have a 24-105 lens which is optically wonderful but a bit heavy so it mostly stays in my storage...

The 24-240 has crazy image issues at its widest until one applies lens correction - which the camera does for JPGs and PS or LR will do as they import the RAW files. So technology has made some serious leaps forward thanks to code!

I have two other super-zooms: the Nikon 28-300 ED VR that I got to go with my Nikon DF bodies, along with the 24-120. They are the only digital ILCs that I have from Nikon (although I respect the brand greatly). For me, they do what I want.

On the subject of monster lenses, I have the Canon EF 28-300 L IS USM. A super-heavy push-pull lens from 2004, with excellent optics, but weighing in at 1.67kg (3.7lb). Awesome unit but not something to take unless one really needs it!
https://www.dpreview.com/products/ca...p6_is/overview

The 24-240 gives a great range at a fraction of the weight 750g (1.67lb) so under half the weight.

[Marwus]

I am glad that you manage to solve your problem with delivery. I used old Canon 75-300 DCIII which i get when i bought camera in kit, it suffers from heavy chromatic aberration(i think you even in some thread was pointing this out). But for learning purposes it works well for 3 years for me.

Now(3 months ago) i bought second handed Tamron SP 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di VC USD. When i was buying it and testing it worked nicely. I test few various distances, apertures and make some test photos. Everything worked so i bought it, prize was 50% less than for new one. When i came home and proudly present it to my wife and make first picture with it, suddenly it stop properly sharp. It makes me very sad. I bought it for faster auto focus and for image stabilization for bird photos and photos of wild animals. Yesterday it came home fixed and we are still on lockdown, i cant leave our village but more importantly even home because tooth surgery few days ago. Luckily prize of repair was low so final prize is still below normal bazaar prices. After 3 months of manual focusing i was still satisfied with results.

[Tronhard]

Hi David:

So nice to 'meet' you on this site. I feel for you all in the EU, and for that matter other people around the world still enduring waves of infection and restriction.

I have had Tamron lenses when I was shooting film and respect them as a good alternative to the camera brand makers. I am also relieved for you that you got your lens fixed without too much pain, and I sincerely hope it serves you well for a long time. I hope you will be able to share some of your shots on the site, or you can send me some by personal message if you prefer.

Certainly, I am not averse to 3rd party lenses, after all they specialize in making the optics! For my super zoom lenses I went for Sigma and got the 150-600 and 60-600, and am very happy with the results.

[Marwus]

So i have my lens fixed but result is that thanks to it i found my camera is badly focusing so have to send it to be fixed either. It refuse to focus from approx 160mm with Tamron. I contacted service center again after few minutes of discussion they provide me idea how to check my camera. I tested all 3 of my lenses and found that only one which works so-so is Canon 75-300 DCIII.

So its like never ending story for me to get to proper results. And i was thinking for last year when i actually start more actively photograph again something else than static elements or just family meetings that i just do something really wrong and now it looks it was focus of my camera.