its as if the actual bit you turn has come unclipped from something because it turns freely without actually zooming in or out, pretty miffed cos its not a cheap lens, well not cheap in my terms
Some lenses are internal focusing/internal zoom, meaning that the lens doesn't extend when zooming. The Tamron 70-200/2.8 is like this, for example. But this is usually with more expensive lenses.
my lens is a Tamron A17E and its really annoying me as to how this happened because it worked fine one minute and just didnt the next, it didnt get wet and it hasnt been dropped
My Nikkor 18-200mm had an autofocus malfunction (it wouldn't focus anymore and the camera refused to take a picture). It just stopped working, didn't get wet, i didn't drop it, etc.
if i shake it you can hear something rattling inside so i'm gonna take it to our local camera specialist and see if they can do anything with it to save me having to send it to Tamron who dont actually have a UK hq for repairs
I'm going to risk insulting your intelligence here and check that you're actually turning the zoom ring, not the focus ring.
It seems an A17E is a 70-300, not a bad lens for the price, but most definitely not an internal zoomer. Sounds broken to me. Intro2020 are the UK agents and distributors for Tamron, but as always your first port of call should be the place you bought it from, it's up to them to replace or repair.
(EDIT) Fantastic pics DWB - I went to a bike race last year and discovered how bloody hard it is to pan and focus on little things moving that fast! Looks like you've done a great job. But I still hate you for the glorious light that seems permanently present in your part of the world. Grrrrr....
The light is indeed glorious, though it can lead to a rather nasty sunburn if you're not careful.
I really need to work on my panning skills, since most of the shots from this outing look like freeze-frames. Really pleased with the performance of the D700 / Sigma 100-300 f/4 combo, though.