# Lady Tamron is a cruel mistress



## axtstern (Nov 16, 2017)

I have tried so hard to fall in love with the Tamron 18-200 for the EOS M
When I bought it hit the market at the same time like the 55-200 from Canon.
The Canon was plastic all down to the bayonet, the Tamron a steely tank.
The Canon zoomed smooth the Tamron had to be worked like squeezing the last drip of water out of a wet towel when wrenching the zoom ring.
So I gave back the Tamron.

Later I sold it for halfprice and I bought it again. It weight was more than the 55-200 + the Kit lense but real estate is scarce in my bag so I thought it is a fair tradeoff. But... b*** of a lens did not work with my new M3.

So I returned it and than they said they had fixed that problem and I bought this lens for the third time.

Guess what... yesterday my EOS M5 arrived. Guess what happens... Camera says faulty lens and shuts down.
Well 8 years of cursing Sigma's sparkle coated old lenses with more compatibility flaws than bennefits should have teached me.

For the moment: hands away from Tamron for M


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## neuroanatomist (Nov 17, 2017)

I'd recommend the Canon EF-M 18-150mm. I'm quite happy with mine.


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## slclick (Nov 17, 2017)

neuroanatomist said:


> I'd recommend the Canon EF-M 18-150mm. I'm quite happy with mine.



Same with mine however focus lock at longer focal lengths is a challenge, I'd love to use the MF magnify with this lens while it's at 150 but unfortunately it only works if you have the green box first.


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## axtstern (Nov 18, 2017)

To be honest I'm a Tamron Fan in Not for the M
Tampon always seems to have the Lens I warnt to upgrade to.
My old 17-35 L got. replaced with their 2.8 stabilized wide angle and my Version I 24-70 L as well with their new Lens. Hurts the pride to loose the red Ring.... but replacing my old L lenses with Canons successor lenses Horts my Bank Account much more than my pride Can be hurt


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## Fleetie (Nov 18, 2017)

axtstern said:


> To be honest I'm a Tamron Fan in Not for the M
> *Tampon* always seems to have the Lens I warnt to upgrade to.




"Tampon"! Hilarious!


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## Act444 (Nov 18, 2017)

I actually thought about the Tamron 18-200 shortly after it came out, but the size and weight made me reconsider and I wanted to see if Canon had an equivalent lens in the pipeline. I didn't even think much about the compatibility issue (for some reason I thought it would be a bigger factor with DSLRs)...but reading this is reminding me why I have ultimately backed away from third-party lenses. Seems like you just never know what could happen.

I have since picked up the EF-M 18-150 and it is an okay lens optically...impressive range though and I would second the recommendation if you must have a one-lens solution for the M...nice and compact too, easy to travel with...


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## stevelee (Nov 18, 2017)

Fleetie said:


> axtstern said:
> 
> 
> > To be honest I'm a Tamron Fan in Not for the M
> ...



Autocorrect sometimes makes you say things you didn’t Nintendo.


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## axtstern (Nov 18, 2017)

Yes... The spell checker... I use an Oppo R11+. That is a Chinese Operating system with a forced on German keyboard layout doing German auto correct while typing English. Because of the Chinese input engine spell check "coorrects" words after I have typed two or more words ahead already.


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## andrei1989 (May 22, 2018)

reviving an old topic with a somewhat related question: has anyone tried the tamron 60mm macro on the M system (specifically M5)?
i'm considering it as an alternative to the EF-S 60 macro, which is similarly priced SH but a stop slower...
somehow i couldn't find anything related to that combination...


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## Ian_of_glos (May 22, 2018)

Fleetie said:


> axtstern said:
> 
> 
> > To be honest I'm a Tamron Fan in Not for the M
> ...


Adds a whole new dimension to the "squeezing the last drip of water out of a wet towel" comment in the original post.


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## alan sh (Jun 10, 2018)

There were rumours that the 16-300 didn't work at all with the M series, so I'd try the 18-400. Once I'd got a decent copy (my first one was front focussing badly at 18mm) the quality is superb. Easily a match for my 18-150 and, of course, goes out to 400 (x 1.6, so 640mm by EF standards). I'm running am M5.

I can recommend you try one out

Alan


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Jun 10, 2018)

I've generally been happier with Tamron than Sigma, but have never had one on a "M". Of the 3rd party lenses, I've liked Tokina best, but they seem to be slowly dying out, they have few new lenses and my 17mm f/3.5 prime is pretty old now. 

I did break down and buy a used Sigma 18-35 f/1.8 for my SL2 to use in very low light. AF is poor, and, adjusting the lens to be accurate on my SL2 is a onerous process that I have never found time to do. It is just OK when using live AF, but nothing special. I much prefer my Canon 15-85 so the Sigma just sits. If the SL2 had AFMA, then I could use the Sigma Dock based on the AFMA values and adjust it at the 4 distances. If I can find the time, I'll adjust it, but it is not a easy process getting it right. I was hoping to use FoCal to analyze a group of images taken at various settings of the dock, I may try that.


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## canonmike (Jan 4, 2019)

Just saw this post, Mt Spokane and am sorry to hear your Sigma 18-35 is not all you wanted it to be where auto focus is concerned. Personally, I have had no focus issues with my 18-35 Sig, using it on my Canon M50. When I bought mine, it came with a free doc but I have never needed it as auto-focus has worked great right out of the box. Here's a link to a recent photo album using this lens. https://photos.app.goo.gl/jeTJb5o5iU7gRXp18 While every photo is not perfect, I'm satisfied overall, with the lens performance.


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## 3kramd5 (Jan 7, 2019)

stevelee said:


> Autocorrect sometimes makes you say things you didn’t Nintendo.


I sega what you did there.


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## syder (Jan 7, 2019)

We have six (!?) of the mk i Tamron 70-200 f2.8 is at work. They are great on the 70Ds we have - 85% of the performance of the Canon equivalent at 50% of the cost, but DPAF doesn't work on the C100/C200. I would imagine its the same thing with other M and RF cameras.

Has been a bit of a burned by 3rd party future compatability issue. Same thing happened with the Sigma Art 35mm, but fortunately the Sigma Art lenses can be upgraded via dock. I think the same goes for the G2 Tamrons but that doesn't help us with the G1 lenses we have.


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## dcm (Jan 7, 2019)

Tamron upgraded the firmware on my G1 150-600. Now works on my M5 and 1DX2. Had it back in a week. Assume the same can be done here. A nuisance for sure, but they handled it under warranty.


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## Avenger 2.0 (May 8, 2019)

After updated firmware (from tamron), the EF-M 18-200mm does somewhat work on the M50. 
Face/Eye AF will give you random focusing errors. Single point/box AF works the best.


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