Having tested all the methods of focus and remembering how I abused my trusty 16-35 FE, where I just about only used auto and clicked for all shots. That lens is my best friend! I got very lazy ! The 24-105 FE is a very different beast and i am not sure why. I had lots of soft or not in focus, foreground soft etc. I Spent ages trying all the focus variables.
I came to the conclusion that just for me, using wide field focus with aperture priority, as my main technique ( apart from my trusty auto) worked in just about every shot. Good edges etc. if I started getting fancy ( i don't do fancy as I am a rank amateur ) then my shots looked exactly as what many people are complaining of and blaming the lens for. eg focus shift, soft edges and a factory friday pm lens build syndrome ( they may be correct) etc.
But I found all my bad shots were just me and a poor technique. I even did the Jim Kasson lens check to make sure my lens is 'ok'. At one point I thought my lens had all the faults that I had read about and I hunted them down as a 'lens disease'. I now have a better vocabulary and can even talk pseudo photography without knowing very much.
So, if you think you have a dud 24-105, you may just have a touch of my bad technique. I can send it to any person free ! My 24-105 is healthy!
I did read lens rentals blog etc to help me and of course some very knowledgeable members of this excellent forum. I sometimes just stare at what is uploaded and then get very humble.
jamato8 wrote:
I still get mixed results. I can do eye focus and get really sharp results and sometimes not. Outside, doing some work and it will be spot on and then not. I hope it is in the focussing of the FW somehow and they can come up with a total fix. In general I am getting good results but, I don't trust the lens, and that isn't good. I do love the focal length and from a shot the other day, around f8, I see very good sharpness edge to edge at 105 and center is right on. Go figure. Come on Sony. I would like to get the 12-24 in place of my Canon L I use but am a little spooked. Some love the Sony but I also see QC problems. . . . . . ...Show more →
I am having a similar experience....in general the lens is sharp as s--t, but there are some anomolies...just shot a long headshot set and use it for some shots....will post results...but just looking at the lcd...my 85 1.8 killed in totally in sharpness and CONSISTENCY!
I shot a sitting today with studio lights in a fairly well lit room...shooting a f5.6 to 6.3 the 24-105 at 105 and my trusty 85 mm as my main lens. Tried using effect off and on...also afs and afc, also eye af and small spot af. I use just back button focus, af button for eye af and ael button for small spot af....the subjects are still and sitting. So far, in initial inspection...the eyes with the zoom are slightly soft and it looks like it might be focus shift...the 85 is so sharp it almost hurts your eyes. Yet...outside with the 24-105 at both wide and tele....stopped to f5.6...it also shows incredible sharpness. Oh...BTW...I also turned off steady shot as I was shooting at 160th. Again...will edit these and provide examples later.
Bought another copy locally. Ran quick test that yielded focus shift every time across a couple hundred shots on previous copy (at all focal lengths but most obvious at 105mm. This one shows none across four or five test sequences (sets of f4,5.6,8) at 105mm.
Will test further and at other focal lengths and distances but this sample clearly doesn’t have the obvious and repeatable focus shift of the first copy at 105mm.
I received my 24-105 from B&H and tried a quick test based on what I've read here. AF-S at 105mm shows significant focus shift stopped down. It is consistently off on every single shot. AF-C does not have the same issue. The issue is obvious enough to see from the back of the camera. After focus is locked in AF-S I can switch over to manual to correct the focus error.
ok, you switch to manual what?
if the focus is done at max aperture there is no way to correct.
the only way I see is to manual focus thinking to a theoretical point.
darrellc wrote:
Bought another copy locally. Ran quick test that yielded focus shift every time across a couple hundred shots on previous copy (at all focal lengths but most obvious at 105mm. This one shows none across four or five test sequences (sets of f4,5.6,8) at 105mm.
Will test further and at other focal lengths and distances but this sample clearly doesn’t have the obvious and repeatable focus shift of the first copy at 105mm.
I am very interested in what you have found. Does this mean that the your previous lens was manufactured within/ out of specification, but those lens assembled, are variable due to the complexity of such a lens, hence issues of focus shift as an example. Or that it is a software issue for the lens. I believe that lens that exhibit such behavior with some other manufacturers, have an adjustment factor applied to the lens and this compensates for the focus shift etc with the movement between focus wide open and then stopping down for the shot. I read how this happens and how to compensate at lens rentals. Is this a common factor with modern lens and using different methods of focus. The more I read the more questions about why a lens behaves as it does crop up.
darrellc wrote:
Bought another copy locally. Ran quick test that yielded focus shift every time across a couple hundred shots on previous copy (at all focal lengths but most obvious at 105mm. This one shows none across four or five test sequences (sets of f4,5.6,8) at 105mm.
Will test further and at other focal lengths and distances but this sample clearly doesn’t have the obvious and repeatable focus shift of the first copy at 105mm.
Check at other focal lenghts. My 2nd copy of the lens was almost perfect @24 mm and 105mm.
JVJL wrote:
I received my 24-105 from B&H and tried a quick test based on what I've read here. AF-S at 105mm shows significant focus shift stopped down. It is consistently off on every single shot. AF-C does not have the same issue. The issue is obvious enough to see from the back of the camera. After focus is locked in AF-S I can switch over to manual to correct the focus error.
Thanks. That makes 6 copies reported with this problem so far by FM members.
JVJL wrote:
I received my 24-105 from B&H and tried a quick test based on what I've read here. AF-S at 105mm shows significant focus shift stopped down. It is consistently off on every single shot. AF-C does not have the same issue. The issue is obvious enough to see from the back of the camera. After focus is locked in AF-S I can switch over to manual to correct the focus error.
I got mine from B&H and sent it back and had another one sent. The 1st one did exactly what you are stating.
Not sure if anyone had this issue, but when I'm in AF-S, shots are in focus at 24 but gradually get worse at longer focal lengths until at 105 it's out of focus. In AF-C I have no problem. Time to return.
jawjr1957 wrote:
Not sure if anyone had this issue, but when I'm in AF-S, shots are in focus at 24 but gradually get worse at longer focal lengths until at 105 it's out of focus. In AF-C I have no problem. Time to return.
Same issue. Because of the wide angle it shows up less until you get to the longer end of the lens. With the number that have been reported, I am surprised Sony didn't catch this. Very frustrating. Since my second one doesn't do this, where is the issue? Hardware in the lens, chips, programming that can correct this? Sony needs to step up!
So...judging by these posts...I think I have a good copy...just did a ruler test. The focus point is outlined by the red box. First 8 are all at 105mm...F4,5.6,8,11 respectively. I shot each set first in continuous small spot and then in single shot small spot. Camera was on a tripod, steady shot off.
Last 6 were at 70mm and did the same continuous vs. single but only 4, 5.6, 8. My observation...the continuous shots are pretty much right one, the single af shots seem to be slightly front focused consistently. Now I am still struggling in the studio with shots at 105 F6.3 that are not really sharp...so I still have to iron that out. From now on...using only continuous focus, which is not a problem as I use backbutton focus, so you just let go when its in focus.. BTW..lens settings are in the title of the image. Hope this helps someone.
Image title not showing so here goes. 105 cf f4, 105 cf f5.6 105 cf f8 105 cf f11 105 sf f4 105 sf f5.6
105 sf f8 105 sf f11 70 cf f4 70 cf f5.6 70 cf f8 70 sf f4 70 sf f5.6 70 sf f8
jawjr1957 wrote:
Not sure if anyone had this issue, but when I'm in AF-S, shots are in focus at 24 but gradually get worse at longer focal lengths until at 105 it's out of focus. In AF-C I have no problem. Time to return.
You can also count me in. My 24-105 also exhibited severe focus shift at 105. I already send it back and will stay with my primes (also partly since it was too heavy to carry it with the Peak Design Cuff for a whole day).
I'll add another observation to the 24-105 AF-S inconsistencies... At my first event with the 24-105, with the lens zoomed out to 105m and using AF-S - on some shots the point of focus was about 2-3m in front of the focus target which was about 10-12m distant (lower half of the frame). Didn't think too much about it since there were only a few shots that showed this. I wasn't really paying attention. Different day, tried some 105mm AF-S shots of a bird feeder through a double glazed door. First shot was okay but not crisp. Subsequent shots all had the point of focus about 1m in front of the feeder (lower third of the frame). Switched to AF-C and focus was consistently spot on with excellent sharpness. This doesn't feel like traditional focus-shift issue but more like a consistent miss-focus. (Camera is an a7ii with original firmware. Have not played with the menu settings.)
