TAMRON AF17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di II LD - PROBLEM

[poker]

I've had a love/hate relationship with this lens. I love it because of the f2.8 and it is my walk around lens due to the focal length on a 1.6 crop sensor. I hate the lens because of the tremendous barrel distortion and it doesn't have the build or look of a Sigma EX or Canon L but the price was up there.

Anyway, it was sitting on my desk attached to my DRebel and I picked it up. I heard a wobble. I inspected it and the front ring holding the front lens element was loose. The front lens moved depending on the angle of the camera. Terrible....I'm not sure what caused it.

I'm dropping off the lens at a local shop who will take care of it for me since my the lens has a 6 year warranty. I bought it about a year ago. This comes at a bad time since I need the lens by June 3rd for a little trip. I do not want to use the kit lens.

*sigh*

[JSPhoto]

Thats one of the reasons to buy Canon lenses, cheaper lenses are just that, cheaper built. It sounds like the assembly that holds the front element in place broke or came loose.

I do find it odd you have a "Powered by Canon" logo when you are using a non-Canon lens.

JS

[poker]

Thats one of the reasons to buy Canon lenses, cheaper lenses are just that, cheaper built. It sounds like the assembly that holds the front element in place broke or came loose.

Yeah, it sucks when stuff like this happens. The lens is a little pricey and it did win an award to my suprise:

Tamron SP AF17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II Wins Award - Press Release

It happens I guess.

I do find it odd you have a "Powered by Canon" logo when you are using a non-Canon lens.

No, I have that logo because I use Canon BP-511A Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Batteries. Hehehehehe....I'm not big on the green clover for the Clan O'Canon logo around here so I made my own

[Jerryjohn]

So do you still recommened that lens for my concert photography? Haha.

[Jerryjohn]

The one bad thing about the Canon lenses, is that the ones that could be closly compared to the Tamron 17-50, is that they're so much money. There's the 16-35 2.8L, and the 17-55 2.8. Keeping the 2.8 ap. Both are 1k+ It suuucks.

[poker]

The one bad thing about the Canon lenses, is that the ones that could be closly compared to the Tamron 17-50, is that they're so much money. There's the 16-35 2.8L, and the 17-55 2.8. Keeping the 2.8 ap. Both are 1k+ It suuucks.

Yeah...that's why third party exist.

The pro review on this lens are still favorable. They say the resolution is very good. There aren't alot of f2.8 lenses in this price range so it is either this or a $1k lens....the Sigma EX has a nice lookng build but they say the distortion is terrible.

Barrel distortion should not matter too much for concert photos (guessing). It matters alot to me since I like architectural photography.

I dropped off the lens. Let's see how good Tamron customer service is.

[poker]

FYI.

I got my lens back today. Took about three weeks to get it back. The notes mentioned changing the front element, testing, and cleaning. I haven't tested it myself yet but it should be fine.

Not having this lens was a pain last week. We went to Hoover dam and the widest shot I had was a 24mm (plus x1.6), not wide at all.

[TimTyler]

I'm not a lens repair tech, but I had the same problem, and here's how I fixed it.

On the front of the lens is a ring that seals in the first element. There's a small notch on the that ring which can be used to gently pry it off with a small screwdriver or toothpick.

Once removed you'll see the loose ring held in by three screws. If rotated (I used two small nails in two of the holes, but there's probably a specific tool available) you'll see it get's looser in one direction and tighter in the other direction.

I assumed the three screws were set properly and that the ring just became loose, so I left the screws alone. I then rotated the ring using the nails until the ring was very tight. Snapped the cap ring back on and considered it done.

[wallygva]

Thanks TimTyler for the tip. I had the same problem, performed the operation as you suggest (bit sticky getting the ring to pop loose but it does happen eventually) and fixed the loose ring.

It is a great lens and this "repair" has me smiling again.