Did I Forget to Mention.......?

Olympus E-M1 with the Olympus 50-200 f/2.8-3.5 lens @ 283mm (566mm ~e) plus Olympus 1.4X tele-converter;
1/2000th second @ f/4.9, ISO 200; handheld

...That I "tossed" the Olympus E-M1 and the Olympus 50-200mm f/2.8-3.5 lens with the Olympus 1.4X tele-converter in the back of the car as a backup in case of any malfunctions with my digital SLR or in the case the Tamron lens malfunctioning or being really, really unhappy with that lens?  I thought I might have forgotten to mention that.  Always prepared...

Now that I have reduced my gear volume to only one digital SLR, I took the M4/3 camera and one lens with me "just in case."  Since I was immediately somewhat disappointed in the copy of the Tamron 150-600mm lens that I had rented, I took the Olympus out at one point to see if that system focused accurately and gave me the crisp, micro-details that I was not seeing in the Tamron.  I wanted to reassure myself that the problem wasn't my technique.

I didn't make many images with the Olympus, as I said, just took it out for less than an hour to provide a comparison for me to analyze later between the two lenses. I needed to eliminate my technique as a variable in my quest to maximize the quality of my images with the Tamron lens.

The image at the top of the post is one of them.  Here are a few more.  What do you think?  Tamron lens issue?

Olympus E-M1 with the Olympus 50-200 f/2.8-3.5 lens @ 283mm (566mm ~e) plus Olympus 1.4X tele-converter;
1/2000th second @ f/4.9, ISO 200; handheld

1/400th @ f/4.9; 566mm ~e

1/640th @ f/4.9; 566mm ~e

1/3200th @ f/5.6; 566mm ~e

I'm beginning to think that maybe there is a loose element in the Tamron lens.  Why?  Well, it focused accurately some of the time and looked sharp.  At other times it focused accurately but did not record fine details.  Additionally, it didn't focus accurately.  Since the lens was locked down on a rather substantial tripod and image stabilization was turned off, I'm eliminating items that could cause these types of conditions.  I'm down to poor copy of lens and a loose element.  If it were only an off centered element, there would be consistency, but consistency is lacking.  I'll keep trying to figure it out.

Thanks for looking.  Enjoy!

Dennis Mook

Many of my images can be found at www.dennismook.com.  Please pay it a visit.  I add new images regularly.  Thank you.


All content on this blog is © 2014 Dennis A. Mook.  All Rights Reserved.  Feel free to point to this blog from your website with full attribution.  Permission may be granted for commercial use.  Please contact Mr. Mook to discuss permission to reproduce the blog posts and/or image.