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.
