# Canon Officially Acknowledges Lens ID Issue



## Canon Rumors Guy (Feb 24, 2011)

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<p>We’ve <a title="Tamron Lens Phenomenon Update" href="http://www.canonrumors.com/2010/11/tamron-lens-phenomenon-update/" target="_blank">reported previously</a> that certain Tamron lenses do not work fully with the Canon EOS 7D. The outer crosstype AF points do not work properly. It was discovered that Tamron used Lens ID’s that Canon no longer supported.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.canon.de/Support/Consumer_Products/products/cameras/Digital_SLR/EOS_7D.aspx?faqtcmuri=tcm:83-822402&page=1&type=faq" target="_blank">Canon made official</a> what we already knew.</p>
<p><!--more--><strong>The following cameras are affected.</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>EOS 7D</li>
<li>EOS 60D</li>
<li>EOS 50D</li>
<li>EOS 40D</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>The following Canon lenses are affected</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>EF 35-80 mm 1:4-5,6</li>
<li>EF 35-80 mm 1:4-5,6 II</li>
<li>EF 35-80 mm 1:4-5,6 III</li>
<li>EF 35-80 mm 1:4-5,6 USM</li>
<li>EF 35-105 mm 1:4-5,6</li>
<li>EF 35-105 mm 1:4-5,6 USM</li>
<li>EF 80-200 mm 1:4,5-5,6 II</li>
<li>EF 80-200 mm 1:4,5-5,6 USM</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>The following Tamron lenses are affected</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>17-50 f/2.8 VC</li>
<li>60 f/2 Macro</li>
<li>70-200 f/2.8</li>
<li>10-24 f/3.5-4.5</li>
</ul>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">c</span>r</strong></p>
```


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## unruled (Feb 24, 2011)

damn, I own a 40D and 17-50mm 2.8 tamron, (not VC version)... I guess Im safe?


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## Admin US West (Feb 24, 2011)

Yes, third party lenses can bite you, now, or in the future. I've four sigma lenses that worked on my film DSLR's and just give error 99 on my Canon DSLR's. I keep them around to remind me as to what can happen.

Tokina, so far has not caused me a problem.


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## Wahoowa (Feb 24, 2011)

This is one of the reasons that I stick to Canon lenses.


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## stoneysnapper (Feb 25, 2011)

Where in the Canon page does it mention the issue with Tamron lenses? I have the 17-50 F2.8 VC which was faulty in the first place however this just compounds the issue.


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## Admin US West (Feb 25, 2011)

stoneysnapper said:


> Where in the Canon page does it mention the issue with Tamron lenses? I have the 17-50 F2.8 VC which was faulty in the first place however this just compounds the issue.



Its a issue previously mentioned.

See http://www.canonrumors.com/2010/11/tamron-lens-phenomenon/


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## ssbuchanan (Feb 25, 2011)

Very strange. I have a 40D, and thought that the 70-200 focused BETTER on the 40D than the 1DMkIV, yet the 40D is listed as effected, and the 1D is not?
Looks like I might need to test a bit more, and I guess the long term solution is to upgrade the Tamron to one of those ugly white lenses... :/


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## Admin US West (Feb 25, 2011)

ssbuchanan said:


> Very strange. I have a 40D, and thought that the 70-200 focused BETTER on the 40D than the 1DMkIV, yet the 40D is listed as effected, and the 1D is not?
> Looks like I might need to test a bit more, and I guess the long term solution is to upgrade the Tamron to one of those ugly white lenses... :/



The issue only happens with the listed lenses, its not a issue with the 70-200mm lenses.

http://www.microsofttranslator.com/bv.aspx?ref=Internal&from=&to=en&a=http://cweb.canon.jp/e-support/products/eos-d/110224eosd.html


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## EYEONE (Feb 25, 2011)

Is this why my 60mm f2.0 doesn't focus worth a crap on my 7D?
Esp, when it is very out of focus to begin with.

Ah, I was gonna sell it anyway.


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## ssbuchanan (Feb 25, 2011)

scalesusa said:


> The issue only happens with the listed lenses, its not a issue with the 70-200mm lenses.
> 
> http://www.microsofttranslator.com/bv.aspx?ref=Internal&from=&to=en&a=http://cweb.canon.jp/e-support/products/eos-d/110224eosd.html



Funny, I could've sworn:


> The following Tamron lenses are affected
> 
> * 17-50 f/2.8 VC
> * 60 f/2 Macro
> ...



the 70-200 was listed there. The translated site won't load for me


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## torger (Feb 25, 2011)

Sigh... Canon (and all other camera manufacturers) really like to treat customers like crap. They keep their RAW formats secret so they have to be reverse engineered (with potential risk to get sued), or even worse encrypt them (Nikon). And they more or less deliberately mess up camera-lens communication to make things hard for third-party lens manufacturers. Oh, camera-computer communication is a secret too. In all, it's a scandal (the RAW format thing is the worst part though if you ask me), they act like coward companies that gives a damn in their customers' interests as long as they sell.

Still, there are lots of more or less fanatic fans out there... I don't understand it, Canon and Nikon certainly don't deserve it.


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## Canonista (Feb 25, 2011)

It has now been reported that Tamron hired a group of electricians from the local Teamsters to do a complete lab test in their immaculately patinated garage space to put to rest the age-old conundrum: Is it the lens or the camera? The electricians first located and repurchased from disgruntled lens owners of non-working Tamron lenses using IOUs and coupons for future home repairs. A sample Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 VC lens was then bench tested in the following fastidious manner: To secure the lens, it was mounted to a precision Craftsman vice; the demonstration 7D camera body was strategically hung from the rafters, positioned within 6 inches of the lens using non-conductive quality plastic coat hangers and the ubiquitous silver duct tape. Two 12 gauge copper grounding wires of equal length were then wave soldered between the electrical terminals on the camera body and lens. The experiment commenced when the camera was activated, and the shutter release half depressed. At this point, a jolt of energy ripped through the wires, and an electrical arc was instantly formed between the steel lens flange and the metal lens mount. This phenomenon caused the built-in flash of the camera to reflexively spring open, and to spontaneously fire off a burst of light for an indeterminably long duration. At this point, an acrid odor directed the electricians attention to the pentaprism, which was quickly reduced to a lump of melted plastic and glass before their eyes. Throughout this episode, the lens remained pristine and unmolested by this violent occurrence. From this extraordinary experiment, the electricians deduced that the camera body was incompatible with the lens, calling into question the design integrity of the Canon 7D. Tamron publishes the lab results on a well-known camera web site, setting off all manner of consternation and hand-wringing among owners of Canon cameras. Some owners threaten violent reprisals against Canon products, while others vow to uphold and defend Canon's honor to the bitter, bloody end.


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## J-Man (Feb 25, 2011)

The problem as I see it is, the lenses listed when mounted on the bodies listed lose the faster than 5.6 outer AF points.
Looks like Canons decision to cut back on AF system quality is yet again biting them in the rear.


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## Cornell (Feb 25, 2011)

Wahoowa said:


> This is one of the reasons that I stick to Canon lenses.



Certain Canon lenses also have the same issue.


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## Cornell (Feb 25, 2011)

scalesusa said:


> stoneysnapper said:
> 
> 
> > Where in the Canon page does it mention the issue with Tamron lenses? I have the 17-50 F2.8 VC which was faulty in the first place however this just compounds the issue.
> ...



Previously mentioning an issue is not the same as Canon acknowledging. Canon acknowledged the issue for certain Canon lenses, only.


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## Admin US West (Feb 25, 2011)

J-Man said:


> The problem as I see it is, the lenses listed when mounted on the bodies listed lose the faster than 5.6 outer AF points.
> Looks like Canons decision to cut back on AF system quality is yet again biting them in the rear.



Its hurting Canon because Tamron screwed up?? The Canon lenses that do not work were among the very first EF lenses and did not have capabilities that were added later. They never have had them. 

However, Tamron chose to put the Canon ID number for those lenses in their lenses so there lenses pretend to be one of the old ones, and your camera sees them as one of the obsolete models.


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## traveller (Feb 26, 2011)

Can anyone explain how these lens ID codes work? Why must Tamron choose an ID code from an obsolete EF lens? There's nothing that I can see in the EXIF information that would indicate the lens code, so I'm guessing that this is unrelated.


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## Admin US West (Feb 26, 2011)

traveller said:


> Can anyone explain how these lens ID codes work? Why must Tamron choose an ID code from an obsolete EF lens? There's nothing that I can see in the EXIF information that would indicate the lens code, so I'm guessing that this is unrelated.



Here is a simplified version as I understand it.

1. Each different Canon lens has a ID code which is sent to the camera body when a image is captured.

2. The firmware in the camera body has a lookup table of lens codes versus description.

4. The camera inserts the lens description into the EXIF.

5. If you have a Canon extender, it modifies the code so that the extender information is included in the exif as well. (If you have two extenders, only the one nearest the camera is recorded)

6. Many photo editors allow viewing of EXIF information, and may have their own way of lookiing at exif data and combining it to give better information.

So, it is possible that some lenses ID codes are left out, or new lens models and codes do not yet appear in camera firmware. They probably will never update firmware in out of production camera models.


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## traveller (Feb 26, 2011)

scalesusa said:


> Here is a simplified version as I understand it.
> 
> 1. Each different Canon lens has a ID code which is sent to the camera body when a image is captured.
> 
> ...



If that was the case, then surely a Tamron lens (for example the 70-200mm f/2.8 ), would show as whichever Canon lens it was using the lens ID code for. This is not the case, the EXIF simply shows it as the focal length ( e.g. "70-200mm").


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## Admin US West (Feb 26, 2011)

traveller said:


> scalesusa said:
> 
> 
> > Here is a simplified version as I understand it.
> ...



It is the case. You may have software that reads multiple exif fields and is able to determine or guess what the lens actually is.

Try some software like Opanda where you can view the EXIF data directly.


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## traveller (Feb 26, 2011)

scalesusa said:


> It is the case. You may have software that reads multiple exif fields and is able to determine or guess what the lens actually is.
> 
> Try some software like Opanda where you can view the EXIF data directly.



Powerful stuff is ZoomBrowser... Shame the cameras can't do the same!


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## Admin US West (Feb 26, 2011)

traveller said:


> As I said, that is the simple explanation. You can dig as deep into it as you wish.
> 
> Here is a table of Tag ID's for Canon, your Tamron lens may send 37.1. It then should be recognized.
> 
> ...


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## stoneysnapper (Feb 27, 2011)

Cornell said:


> scalesusa said:
> 
> 
> > stoneysnapper said:
> ...



Precisely my point Cornell. The Canon Page does not mention Tamron Lenses. Now I am not sure if it necessarily has to mention them however it chooses not to and only mentions their lenses. I have written to Tamron Service Dept in the UK with links to this site and await a response although I am not holding my breath. I had my lens with them over Xmas/New Year so I am not sure if they will have made the modification required at that point when they were checking the lens over.


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## Serious Sam (Feb 27, 2011)

I had two issues with the Tamron 17-50 VC on my 50D.

1) the outer AF points did not work reliably 
2) there was an intermittent Err.001 

I sent the lens to Tamron, from there it went to a subcontracted service company. 1st time it came back from 'repair', no change was visible. I complained and sent it there a 2nd time. The technician called me and said he can not find any problem. I told him that the Err.001 with this lens is according to a lot of posts on several groups an issue with the diapragm and that the AF issue is a problem with the Lens ID. 

He said he does not believe in the wisdom of users of such groups. I told him to call Tamron then. He did, got the same info, replaced the diaphragm mechanism and loaded a new firmware with changed LensID. The lens works flawless ever since. It is now a very, very good and reliable tool, best value for money in this class.

So, at least for some of the lenses with the LensID problem, there is a solution. Of course it is not provided by Canon.


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## richardnau (Mar 15, 2011)

I have the Tamron 17-50 VC on EOS7D and seem to experience this problem with outer focus sensors.

Tamron in Australia seems to have no knowledge whatever of the issue and wants to charge me for a repair.

Does anybody have any official information from Tamron (a web link would be especially useful) in which they acknowledge the issue and offer/propose a solution? It's all very well for Canon to say what they have said, but to get my issue addressed, I think Tamron also needs to come to the party.

Thanks.


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## aapril (May 7, 2011)

richardnau said:


> I have the Tamron 17-50 VC on EOS7D and seem to experience this problem with outer focus sensors.
> 
> Tamron in Australia seems to have no knowledge whatever of the issue and wants to charge me for a repair.
> 
> ...



only outer focus sensor affected?
mostly I only use the center one
I want to buy a Tarmron A001 70-200/2.8, but dpreview said there are alway miss focus on canon body
Is this a good deal?
or should I have to buy canon 70-200 which is more expensive..


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