** edit 11/17/09 ** - Sent lens to Midstate last week, it is currently apart on their bench and they are looking for loose elements. Will call me back tomorrow with an estimate.
** edit 11/22/09 ** - Discovered my problem -
** edit 12/07/09 ** - Received the lens back from Midstate again, Mark found and fixed the problem :-) Updated focus pics tonight..
I'm semi-regretting getting this lens, it's a Mark 1, works perfectly, minor cosmetic issues, but after I did some shots in the field I took it home and it doesn't appear to be sharp. I spoke with MidState Camera repair and they said they'd look at it, should I send it in? It seems as though there is a haze on the photos. The optics are clean, they look fantastic for a lens that's over a decade old.
All shot with the center point focus, ones of the tape measure and paper are done with MF.
Two of the duck (one a 100% crop), then a 100% crop of a van.
M Vers wrote:
Wow, that's pretty poor performance from a lens of this caliber. Did you have a deal with the seller before you bought it...i.e. return policy?
Nope.. not gonna even worry about that. I'm just making sure I'm right in saying I should send it in, possibly to midstate camera repair. I can't find that list I saw on here lately of camera repair centers that work on Canon SLR equipment.
That's too bad....what you seem to be getting is a $500 Vivitar or Opteka telephoto image quality, perhaps not even that.
What's the situation when you stop her down ?
meechahel wrote:
Will, if this is the same lens that I had, I suggest getting it looked at. The 100% crops from my photos were much sharper (for the most part).
Yea it's the same lens And I've tried a variety of shots, but even on the lame 1D2n's rear LCD I can tell none are sharp no matter what I do.
So I need to send it in somewhere. Can someone recommend a particular repair center? I've spoken on the phone with someone at midstate camera in Rhode Island who said he would look at it, but it sounded like a very small operation (he and his brother ARE mid-state camera repair).
Midstate was very highly recommended by everyone I polled when I needed to send a 300/2.8 in for service. They were very professional about the job, as well, and they have had my business ever since.
Will, no offense, but I'm gonna go out on a limb here and question your testing procedure. Your shutter speeds on many of these are super slow for such a long lens. Even if you were on a tripod...1/10, 1/25, 1/60...man, those are some slow shutter speeds.
Anyway, I had a Mk1 and it was a sharp lens. I sent mine into CRIS Camera in Arizona before I sold it and they gave it a clean bill of health. Great to deal with and very prompt service.
Definitely get out and try some fast shutter speeds. Still, it looks hazy and just weird. Does that bokeh in number one look normal? Looks funky to me.
I was shooting between 1/800th and 1/3200th shutter speed when I was outside, and they all look like this. Most were actually shot from a monopod, some were shot while I was in my car shooting out my window. There were even some at 1/8000th when I accidentally had the ISO set a little high and they also look blurry/bad.
And hahaha NO, that wasn't my lens. I've seen that video before, cracks me up. The lens actually arrived VERY well packed inside a 400 2.8 IS case, then packed very well inside a large box. Overall the package weighed 35 lbs!
Yeah this lens looks really bad, maybe it was dropped or bashed around earlier and the glass got misaligned? Even my cheap sigma 70-300 APO gave me sharper shots wide open. Send it in.
