Hi all. I am having a weird issue with my lens and wanted to see if anyone else was experiencing the same thing.
I have a subject at minimum focus distance but when I try to focus on it, the lens "stops" for lack of a better word. I can then manually focus the subject with just a little twist of the focus ring and everything is fine. I twist the lens back out of focus and then try to auto focus and it stops short again.
I recently spent a few weeks in Lanzarote eyeing up a Sigma 135mm Art lens, but then discovered this thread. I must say I was blown away with the imagery and quickly forgot about the Sigma... Although I'll probably get that soon.
I've joined the site as I realise I'm just a photographic geek...
Thanks for having me and here are a few images from the last few weeks with this stellar lens which has already been paid for...
This lens is starting to drive me crazy. About 20% of the time it focuses on peoples ears when the focus point is directly on their eye. I don't get it. It seems like it does it even more in studio. I will focus on the closest eye to me and it will nail the focus on the farthest eye. And I do not think it's actually a back focusing issue that fine tune adjust can fix. Because 70 to 80 percent of the time it focuses fine. I'm guessing it does it more in studio because it's darker in there and struggles more when it's darker. It does this like 50% of the time in studio, about 20% outdoors. I think the fact that it focuses correctly 80% of the time outside it's not a back focusing issue that would help with fine tune adjust. I'm thinking since it's dark in our studio and we just use flashes maybe I should get a light to light them up while it focuses, or a strobe. We shot some dark shots in a gym and it was the same thing, it struggled to get accurate focus. It was night and day in good lighting vs dark. I mean I know any lens struggles in low light but this one seemed especially bad.
It's definitely a strobe/flash issue. Do you use a modeling light? That might help in AF acquisition if it's too dark. If that doesn't work then try LiveView.
I recently spent a few weeks in Lanzarote eyeing up a Sigma 135mm Art lens, but then discovered this thread. I must say I was blown away with the imagery and quickly forgot about the Sigma... Although I'll probably get that soon.
I've joined the site as I realise I'm just a photographic geek...
Thanks for having me and here are a few images from the last few weeks with this stellar lens which has already been paid for...
agelessphotog wrote:
This lens is starting to drive me crazy. About 20% of the time it focuses on peoples ears when the focus point is directly on their eye. ...
I don't recall your current camera, but even the previous generation Multi-CAM 3500 can be stymied in the studio. With shallow DOF, critical focus can be thrown off by eyebrows and noses. You also want to use Focus Priority to avoid OOF moments. Any movement between you and the subject after locking focus can shift the object plane, so AF-C might also be an improvement. Finally, ensure bright ambient lighting (EV 7) so AF can work better: at ISO 100 and f/5.6, that ambient will be fully suppressed at shutter speeds used by flash.
I find the D500, with its new-generation Multi-CAM 20K and 180Kpixel exposure metering, to be far more effective at finding the subject and quickly. Makes the D7100 and D3X feel outdated, which is saying a lot. Of course, D5/D500 are a further financial commitment.
Great work there!
