Lens question

[Gymnast46]

I've wanted to get away from carrying two lenses when I travel or compete at ski and snowboard races so I recently purchased Tamron's 18-200 3.5 lens for my Canon EOS XSi. The versatility is great but I'm not getting the quality of shots as I was with the lens that came with the camera. It's not the lack of image stabilization. I tried a side by side comparison shooting my kitchen with a monopod (flash off) and the shot with the Tamron was decidedly out of focus (auto focus was engaged). It appears as though the camera focused on the top of a stool at the very bottom of the picture. I reshot the picture with the Tamron, zooming to the far wall and prefocusing before zooming back out. That produced a much better result but seemed like a cumbersome extra step. Am I doing something wrong or is that typical behavior for the Tamron?

[RTaylor]

Hi Pat.
I've always owned Nikon VR lenses (Vibration Reduction) for my Nikon obviously. Last month I had to replace the 18-200VR that took a swim in the river, so I replaced it with the Tamron 18-270 VC (Vibration Compensation)

The one question I have is, is your lens the 18-200VC?
If it is, whenever using the lens on a tripod or a steady monopod, you need to turn the VC off. Only use the VC when taking shots hand held.

The other question is, what did you set the focus on in the frame?
You should have a moveable focus point in your view finder that you decide to what to focus on. You also didn't say what Fstop you used. If you are looking to keep all your scene in focus, then you need to point your focus 2/3rds into the scene and usually use at least F11 to F22. I mostly shoot in Aperture Priority, so thats what I do and its been working for me as far as scenes. I'm sure others here could have more helpful tips

[Gymnast46]

Thanks for the prompt response Ruth! The lens I bought is a Tamron DiII AF18-200mm F/3/5-6.3 XR. The shots I took were with the auto "no flash" setting. I can retake the shot with aperture priority. At the very least I ought to read the owners manual!

[RTaylor]

owner's manual? what are they?