Tamron updated its Lens Utility Mobile app and Lens Utility desktop software to allow photographers to add multiple new functions to their Tamron lenses.
Tamron has made its lens Utility software for computers since 2021 and as a mobile app for Android devices since 2022. The software allows users to plug Tamron lenses into their PC or mobile device via the USB-C connection port on select lenses and personalize the settings to match shooting styles.
To this point, the features have allowed photographers to customize A-B focus letting them shift easily from one subject to another, as well as move focus to a prerecorded focal point with a button press. It also provided the ability to adjust the manual focusing between linear and non-linear, quickly switch between manual focus and autofocus with lenses that don’t have an MF/AF switch, change the ring functions on the lens as well as assign other functions of the lens to buttons on the camera, among a host of other options.
Today, Tamron updated it, improving an existing feature as well as adding entirely new ones.
Firstly, it is upgrading the feature it calls Delay Time Start, which it says delays the activation of a focus shift after the Focus Set Button has been activated. This is used to avoid shaking or button noises to be recorded when the Focus Set Button is pressed, and action starts. In addition to the Focus Set Button on the lens, this can also be used with the Remote Set Button in the Lens Utility Mobile app.
It also added a Focus Stopper, Astro Focus Lock, and Digital Follow Focus as brand-new features.
Focus Stopper promises to fix the focus range when manual focus is operated during video shooting. Tamron says that this will prevent the user from passing over the focal point. It is automatically disengaged when a photographer switches to autofocus mode.
Astro Focus Lock (Astro FC-L) is a new feature that fixes the focus of a lens on stars. Focus is shifted to infinity and operation of the focus ring is disabled which prevents the focus from accidently shifting during astrophotography.
Both of these features, similar to the Delay Time Start feature, can also be used with the Remote Set Button in Tamron Lens Utility Mobile.
Finally, Digital Follow Focus is a new dedicated feature that is only supported in the Tamron Lens Utility Mobile app. It allows photographers to fix a focus range between two points and perform focus operations from their smartphones. The direction of rotation of the aperture and focus rings, units indicated, and EV steps can also be changed except on Nikon Z-mount lenses where aperture ring control and EV step configuration are not supported.
The update to Tamron’s Lens Utility Software and Lens Utility Mobile, which takes the app from version 2.0 to version 3.0, is free and rolls out today. The new desktop version can be downloaded from Tamron’s website while the mobile app can be updated through Google Play.
Image credits: Tamron