Canon 24-70mm focus problems?

I am not a professional, just a part-time photographer. I've been doing this for 20 years, so I do have some knowledge. I have a Canon 7d mark ii camera. I recently bought a 24-70 mm lens. I have been having focusing issues with this, especially with large groups. I am still learning my 7d settings, so it's possible that it is my error. However, I have never once had issues with my 70-200mm lens. Photos from that lens are almost always in focus. It always works perfectly. The 24-70 lens seems to be really soft on the focus and it wants to focus on the background, rather than the people. This is really disappointing! I am not sure if I have a lens problem or if I need to adjust some settings on my camera? I would appreciate any advice you can give. Here is an example of what I am talking about during a recent photo shoot I did of a large group. I took about 25 of the same group. I only had about 2 that were in focus enough to even use.Thanks!

 

Just a question, is AF turned on?

looks like the top of the hill is in focus, so focus to infinity..

Try with just the central focussing point active. So you know where the focus should be.

Does manual focus work?

Check AF micro adjust.

Thank you for reply. Yes, AF was on. I was using the central focusing point and focusing on the people. I will work on figuring out how to adjust the AF and see what I can do. Thank you!

Yeah, that's way off. I don't know if micro-adjustment is going to be enough. If you bought it from a retailer with good policies, I'd see about exchanging it.

What aperture did you use for the above image?

I recently bought a 24-70 mm lens.

 

Clarification would be helpful, what 24-70 lens do you have, is it a third party lens? Canon has made several and all the third party lens companies make them too.

 

So you say occasionally the lens does nail focus correctly. The lens is capable of focusing then. And you are sure you are getting focus lock confirmation on your subject when you press the shutter. Does the problem happen in certain lighting conditions more than others? I agree, try other focusing modes also to see if you can get better performance. Does your 7D MK II have the latest firmware? I have read some interesting comments/complaints on another forum about some versions of the firmware making the 7D MK II camera have soft focus, while an older version of firmware is tack sharp. I personally do not have the 7D MK II and have no experience with that model camera. Keep in mind these are comments on forums and could be unique to a particular camera and opinion of an individual. I have had some interesting compatibility issues with some third party lenses on my 5D MK IV that upgrading firmware on camera and lenses helped. I had a 6D that struggled to focus sometimes in low light with a Tamron 70-200 f/2.8, while the same lens on the 5D MK IV after lens firmware update performs great. That same lens also works great with the Sony A7RIII and Metabones adaptor. Some lenses and cameras don't play nice together. If this is a genuine Canon 24-70 f/2.8 L version I or II lens, it should play very nice on your 7D MK II. Looks like it was a bright day, were you stopped down a good bit, especially for such a large group.

 

Well, I just checked your EXIF metadata from the shot you shared, after having written the above post, so some of my questions have been answered. This is what I saw doing some forensics on you image:

 

Canon Image Type Canon EOS 7D Mark II

Canon Firmware Version Firmware Version 1.0.5

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM or Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 DG OS HSM | A

Focal Length 28.0 mm

F Number 2.8

Exposure Time 1/640

Lens Model EF24-70mm f/2.8L II USM

ISO 250

Shot at 28 mm (shot wide open)

AI Servo AF, with a depth of field of from inf to 81.91 m.

AF Area Mode: Single-point AF

Focus Distance Upper inf

Focus Distance Lower 81.91 m

That is a great lens BTW.

According to the metadata in your photo you shot a large group like that wide open at f/2.8? Whoa, that is way too open. (In my opinion) Try stopping down, putting your f-stop at f/8 or f/10 for such a large group, and it looks like a very bright day, you could really stop down with no issues. I would really like to see where the focus point locked on also.

Also, the latest version firmware for the Canon 7D MK II is: EOS 7D Mark II Firmware Update, Version 1.1.2

 

Update at your own risk.:rolleyes:

Edited July 23, 2018 by Mark Keefer

That was my first thought, that it was shot wide open. It has that look. (you can see the 'in focus' line across the background hill). For a group this size, at 28mm, at that subject distance (I estimate 20-25'), you would would probably need a minimum of f5.6-6.3 to reliably get all group members in focus. I would shoot at f8ish personally in this circumstance.

 

The focusing mode was also set to AI servo (using single point). ...and focused far beyond the group. *facepalm* This often happens with AI servo in single point. if you are moving the camera, it is even handheld, or the subject moves, that single point can shift off the subject (often without me or you even noticing), and the camera automatically focuses on what is currently in front of that focus point. Keep in mind that in this mode, there is no 'locking on' - focusing is continuous as long as you have the button halfway down. - this shouldn't be a surprise, as this mode is designed for fast action subjects whose position, movement, and direction, is constantly changing rapidly relative to the camera.

For this type of shooting 'one shot' focusing is your best best. You can focus on a face, then recompose (without lifting your finger) however you want, and then take the shot. The camera has confirmed that your subject is the focal point, and you can move it around without worrying about it continuing to adjust focus (as it does in AI servo). You have been using the central focus point, which is good (for this), but using AI Servo (as focusing mode) defeated you here.

 

Don't get me wrong, it's an excellent lesson (and not necessarily an intuitive one), I learned this one some decades ago ;)

 

As to why the 70-200 doesn't do it? likely, even in the same modes, you'd have a vastly higher keeper rate because you are focused on 1 (or at most 2) subjects. Not only is that center focus point much more likely to stay on the subject, but, you'd immediately notice a shift of focus, and recompose. w/ a 24-70 (especially at the wide end), there is no way to do that reliably.

 

 

In a nutshell, this image does not directly express any fault with the camera or lens. It appears to be a result of operator error in mode/setting selection (f2.8 and AI Servo) for this type of shooting. Sorry :(