Tamron Tap-in console brief hands on

Jun 27, 2013
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Other day Tamron had put up a demo of all their lenses in my city as some part of promotion. There I got to try their new USB dock. Unluckily it was for Nikon mount and they didnt have canon one in stock. Here are my overall impression of the dock:
Likes:
1: Its quite small almost the size of a mount cap.
2: Ability to update the firmware and control parameters of lens(ability to reconfigure Focal limiter for macro)
3: Micro USB connector which means it easier to source cables(also dislike)
4: Being light weight its easy to carry in camera bag
5: Cheap- at 3000Rs(~45$) its a definite purchase anyone getting SP lenses
6: Software very easy to use.
Dislikes:
1: Software needs internet connection to work
2: Mounting dock to lens not smooth and it feels like turning a ratchet
3: Micro USB connector fragile and USB type -C might have been a better connector choice
4: quite quirky in terms of detecting the lens and which meant reconnecting dock couple of times before it finally worked.

Overall impressions of the Tamrons USB dock and Software are very positive and anyone thinking of getting Tamron's SP lenses right now getting USB dock along with it is a no brainer.

IMG_0258 by Chaitanya Shukla, on Flickr

IMG_0257 by Chaitanya Shukla, on Flickr

IMG-20160601-WA0003 by Chaitanya Shukla, on Flickr
 
Also forgot to add those pics of dock were taken using Tamron 90mm VC and compared to Canon's 100mm L that lens felt a little better in terms of focus speed and assertiveness to lock on target in dimly lit situations.
 
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