So spotted a lonely, single Canon lens way in the back of the locked cabinet when I was perusing the remains of the local Circuit City over the weekend. Asked the employee to get it for me, and sure enough, it was a Canon 100mm F2, one of the 2 lenses that I've been looking at and dreaming about picking up for at least the past year or so (the other is the 85mm 1.8). I want something that I can use indoors, with enough reach to get headshots from across the room and this definitely fits the bill. Ask the salesman how much, and it's $299, or about $115 less than you can find it for anywhere else online. Sweet! Grab it and head home, with the understanding that even if there is something wrong with it Canon will take care of me and it's way too good of a score to pass up.
Hmmm, first shots with it seem soft. I chalk it up to trying to hand-hold something that's quite a bit more of a telephoto than I'm used to (currently only have a 17-50mm 2.8). Then start running some tests:
Crap. I'd focused on the center battery, but it's obvious that the camera is focusing behind it, or backfocusing. I haven't had any issues with this camera or my previous lens (or the 50mm 1.8 I used to have), so it has to be with the new lens. Fill out the warranty form and am getting ready to send the lens to Canon.
Until I do the same test with my current 17-50mm 2.8 at 50mm...
It might be the poor testing setup that I'd used (planning on doing a more extensive test tonight) but it definitely looks like that is focusing somewhat behind the subject as well, it's just nowhere near as noticeable in normal shooting as it has a much wider depth of field. The 100mm f2 has such a razor thin DoF that it's just more noticeable now. So.... I'll be doing more tests tonight, but does this mean I'm looking at having the camera fixed (out of warranty) so it'll work with my (possibly correctly focusing) new lens? Any thoughts from the other photo monkeys here?
Edit: This would have shown up with my 50mm 1.8, but I haven't used that in at least the past year.
Hmmm, first shots with it seem soft. I chalk it up to trying to hand-hold something that's quite a bit more of a telephoto than I'm used to (currently only have a 17-50mm 2.8). Then start running some tests:
Crap. I'd focused on the center battery, but it's obvious that the camera is focusing behind it, or backfocusing. I haven't had any issues with this camera or my previous lens (or the 50mm 1.8 I used to have), so it has to be with the new lens. Fill out the warranty form and am getting ready to send the lens to Canon.
Until I do the same test with my current 17-50mm 2.8 at 50mm...
It might be the poor testing setup that I'd used (planning on doing a more extensive test tonight) but it definitely looks like that is focusing somewhat behind the subject as well, it's just nowhere near as noticeable in normal shooting as it has a much wider depth of field. The 100mm f2 has such a razor thin DoF that it's just more noticeable now. So.... I'll be doing more tests tonight, but does this mean I'm looking at having the camera fixed (out of warranty) so it'll work with my (possibly correctly focusing) new lens? Any thoughts from the other photo monkeys here?
Edit: This would have shown up with my 50mm 1.8, but I haven't used that in at least the past year.