kevindar wrote:
User222, thanks for the battery trick. NO I have not tried it, and it is an option. Lens is already on the UPS truck back. Given that I generally dont have focusing issues with my other lenses (about 10 of them). If the second copy has the same issue, I will do that.
I also do not believe on sending a copy of brand new lens to canon for calibration. been there, done that. Sometimes, they can fix it, sometimes, they cant. in all cases they send it back saying its fixed. Meantime it will be weeks that I am out of equipment, have to play repeated shipping back (some times) and may end up with a crappy lens that I can no longer return. Then I will have the terrible ethical dilemma of should I unload this on a non suspecting poor guy on FM, POTN, or Craigslist, which I just find morally objectionable. If it does not work right for me out of the box, I have paid premium price for it, and test it thoroughly enough that I am confident its not user error, its going back .
Bobby, the cream of wheat shot, I did 2 in a row at that distance, and they were both out of focus by this much. this is sandwitched between 2 shots (different distances, one closer, on further) of spot on focus, and one of acceptable focus. ...Show more →
yeah i have learned that it is always infinitely better to exchange with store rather than rely on manufacturer's warranties, that all too often leads to utter nightmare and much wasted time and expense.
Something is wrong here, and hopefully just a bad lens copy. The 2nd shot of the girl and bear, in that shot she is in focus and the puffin in the background is out of focus, and then the next shot the puffin in the background is in focus with the girl out of focus. Good luck man, hopefully you'll get a good copy.
From my personal experience, the 24L is a moody beast. I've tried 8 copies of this lens. The first one was terrible, front focusing by a mile in 50% of cases. The 3rd one seemed to be the best and that's the one I kept in the end. Still not perfect though, that's why I tried 5 more copies, which at most performed the same as the 3rd one. I've also had this selected copy adjusted to the body (5DII) by a Canon service in Germany... 3 times... Now it's spot on like in 7-8 out of 10 times on average. But you'll never know when it isn't so I usually take 2 pictures just to be sure.
What really amazes me is that it can focus amazingly well in almost impossible scenarios (bad lighting, small targets) only to fail in some easy ones a minute later. There's really no pattern behind it.
All in all, I gave up the search for perfection and started enjoying the images this lens delivers. But I tend to chose my old trusty 35L for everything that calls for superior AF performance.
There are guys who swear that their 24LIIs are stellar AF performers and I have no reason not to believe them. But I've also noticed that almost every user who starts playing the 24LII lottery eventually gives up (I once read a post by a guy who had tried 14 copies). That has made me come up with a theory that fast wide angle primes expose every flaw of a particular camera's AF path - like the physical ray distances, angles and so on and these flaws are difficult to correct in software. That could explain why some people are happy right from the first copy and the others keep returning and readjusting their lenses up until they've had enough.
Tom, if thats the case, I may be sorry that I returned the copy I did. we shall see. It is disheartening that it has more difficulty than the 35L. also my 16-35 2.8, has no problem with nailing the focus every time. granted at 2.8 dof is larger. however the 24 mm had miss focuses at f 2. I will report back when I have the next copy.
Tom, got the replacement on Wednesday. have been shooting with it. Initial impression, yes, a lot better. It required an MFA of 3, but the focus consistency is a lot better. I still occasionally get a "not even in the ball park" focus, but its usually objects which are small and around 15 feet away, so it may be focusing on something surrounding it. a lot better over all. I also have to say, better on my 5d2 than 7d.
