Unhappy with the EF70-200mm f/4 IS

[evangelos_koutsavdis]

Hello:

 

I recently purchased the EF70-200 f/4 IS after reading all the good things about

it. However, after doing some non-scientific subjective tests I am wondering if

it justifies its reputation. The uploaded pic is a crop from a 100% view and it

was shot at 200mm f/4 at (about) 1/640 with the IS on. I am not happy about the

ghosts that I see on the yellow letters in the street address.

 

The question to you, especially if you have used this reputable lens is the

following: is this the typical performance you see from this lens or do I have

a bad copy and I need to return it? I would appreciate any input here..

 

Thanks in advance.

Evangelos.<div></div>

[steve santikarn]

Is it center crop or edge? Looks like ther is a little vertical motion blurr. Try with IS off and use a tripod. Maybe something wrong with the IS?

[beauh44]

Hi Evangelos, Even with IS on it's not an absolute guarantee you'll get a critically sharp image when the camera and lens are hand-held.

 

You could eliminate that variable by shooting with IS off, from a tripod. If the results are satisfactory then you'd be reasonably sure there's no optical problem in that regard.

 

That would leave either the IS as a possible problem and/or hand-holding this particular shot.

 

While I don't own the f/4, I do own the 70-200 f/2.8L IS and it's excellent. From what I hear, most people consider the f/4 its equal, if not a little better, optically.

[seismiccwave]

I think it is your expectation being too high. I believe the "ghosting" you mention is motion

blur. The IS is not the end of motion blur. Were you using a tripod? You shot the street sign

at 200 mm. Under most condition you should use at least a monopod at that focal length.

[colinsouthern]

Looks to me like motion blur & poor or non-existant capture sharpening.

[christopher hartt dallas]

I also vote "motion blur." 200mm is tough to handhold for a detail shot. A tripod would help and faster Tv (1/2000 or more) and/or smaller Av (f8) will help if you have the luxury of enough light.

[alan_green4]

looks like the lens was moving downward when the exposure was made. all the ghosting is above the subject -- look at the letters in 'warwick' -- all the ghosts are on top of the letters. same with other elements.

 

try some test shots. use tripod, mirror lock, timer release. post those results

[tudor_apmadoc]

Do you have a UV / Skylight filter? If so - was it a REALLY good multi-coated filter? How much did you spend on it?

[g dan mitchell]

Looks like vertical motion blur to me. (Not bad, really, and it would be fine in a print

following normal post-processing.)

 

Were you using a tripod?

 

if you want to test the "sharpness" of your lenses in such a critical fashion, put the camera

on a tripod and use MLU and a remote release or timer.

 

Dan

[chrisjb]

Yup, ifeel its motion as well, pressing shutter tooo quick maybe? (slight jerkin)

[chrisjb]

BTW my exif viewer says shutter at 1/1328th IMO no need for IS at that :)

[robin_sibson1]

This is nothing like the normal behaviour of the 70~200/4L IS, at least, that's assuming that the one I have is normal. In order of decreasing probability, (a) operator error (more camera shake than the IS can handle), (b) IS problem, © optical problem. I think it is very unlikely indeed to be a camera body problem. If the blur is in the same direction right across the frame (can't tell that from the crop) then just about the only optical problem that could cause it is major decentring of the lens elements. Take shots on a solid tripod with no filter and IS off. The blur should either go away (no optical problem, check (a) and (b)) or follow the orientation of the camera as between portrait and landscape shots (decentred lens, repair job or replacement lens needed). I'm not quite sure how you'd test for IS actually causing the problem (by compensating where it should not be doing so). The best I can suggest is to take a number of shots with IS off at the sort of combination you were using (1/640 at 200mm) with the camera hand-held but steadied by propping your elbows on something solid. 1/640 at 200mm should give you a high percentage of sharp shots, even on a 1.6-factor body. Then try the same thing with IS on. If you have noticebaly worse results, there might well be an IS problem.

[tscheung]

see this picture

[jason_hall4]

I also vote for motion blur. Look at the highlight in the bottom right corner. Looks like part of a car. There is horizontal blur that shows that car was moveing, however there is vertical blur that matches the letters.

 

I would certainly say use a tripod and retest. Then we will know.

 

Jason

[marc_bergman1]

How much stabilization can one expect at a shutter speed of 1/640 of a second?

 

Most of the benefit can be seen with shutter speed well below this even with a 200mm lens.

[herman_w]

This was shot from the back of a pick-up on a bumpy road in the Dominican Republic. I could hardly remain in my seat with hands on camera and things were flying everywhere.

1/500sec IS F8. The truck was in moton as you can see from the motor cycle tyres.

[jack_jones3]

I also have the 70-200 f/4 L IS and I absolutely love it. It's a very high quality lens, and it's not too big and heavy to carry around.

 

Note that IS needs a little while (upto 1 second or so) to fully kick in. When you use IS, first depress the shutter button half way, wait for one or two seconds for the IS to fully engage, then press the shutter button fully down to make the photo. If you press it down immediately then the IS might not have fully engaged yet and you might get blur like this.

 

Does this problem always happen, or is it just in this one test shot you made?

[john_g10]

Razor sharp.

 

http://flickr.com/photos/dallascowboysfan/2252826872/sizes/o/

 

http://flickr.com/photos/dallascowboysfan/2239872240/sizes/o/

 

John

[alan_myers]

I think Jack finally nailed the problem here.

 

IS isn't instantaneous, although it's darned fast. You need to learn how to use the lens, to give IS a chance to catch up with movement by half-pressing the shutter button about 1/2 second (sometimes a little more) to let IS wind up and do it's job, then taking the photo by pressing the shutter button the rest of the way. This also gives auto focus a chance to do it's job, so is sort of standard operating procedure anyway, unless you separate the AF function by moving it to the * button on your camera (Custom Function 4).

 

So long as you keep the shutter button half pressed, IS will continue to run and work to stabilize your shot. It isn't perfect. You will still have some shots with a little motion blur, but it will be reduced significantly and IS will increase your "keeper" percentage tremendously. Good camera handling skills are still important.

 

IS is extremely fast in comparison to stabilization technology that's used for large motion picture cameras. Some of those gyro units take 5 to 10 minutes to wind up and become effective! By comparison, Canon's IS lenses are literally speed demons.

[eric_lawson1]

Alan & Jack, very interesting! I have never heard that before but it kind of makes logical sense. I will have to slow it down a little myself and give it a try.