10D Focus Problem

[michelle_peterson]

Hello, I have read all the posts on the 10D focus issues and stayed

up into the wee hours searching other sites. With my lenses the 10D

front foucuses.This is my second 10D. The first one did the same

thing. My lenses are 28-135IS and Tamron 90mm 2.8. I have been

using Canon for about 6 years and have a A2 and Elanll so I'm

familiar with Canon cameras. I have no other problems with my other

cameras and these lenses. I have tried all kinds of tests; Bob Atkins

test. I've lined up bottles etc. The Tamron is terrible. I check

in file viewer and my focus point is exactly what I selected. If I

put he focus point over the eye, that's what should be in focus, but

it's not. The 28-135IS is better than the Tamron but it's not good

at 28mm. At f8 I'm OK but I don't want to shoot at F8 all the time.

I've tried all different parameters and nothing matters. I read some

postsabout the camera having problems focusing low contrast

subjects. I shoot portraits and I shoot natural light in the shade.

If a face isconsidered low contrast than I'm in trouble. I don't know

what else to do. I can't afford to buy L lenses right now. I know

the 28-135 is not considered the best lens, but I still should be

able to have the focus on the point I selected. I have camera in M,

one shot and on a tripod. I have soft eyes on almost all my shots

unless the subject is sitting straight up,if they are sitting in a

chair and leaning back the focus will be on their clothing even

though I focused on the face.<div></div>

[yaldo op]

The Atkins test is very conclusive.

 

I have tried it with several lens all canon: 50/1.4, 70-200/4L and 28-105/3.5-4.5

 

All lenses on 2 10D bodies have shown the problem.

 

Make sure you remove filters (although since AF is TTL this should not the cause)

 

Use a tripod, use the most open aapeture you have on each lens and repeat each test 3-6 times.

 

The results I got were that with 50/1.4 @ 1.4 the problem is visiable 80%-60% of the tests. With 70-200/4 @ 4 problem is visiable at 50% but sometimes it much much worse than others (i.e. focus is off by a lot)

 

I suggest you also set the 10D to +1 contrast and +1 sharpen

 

I suspect that the CMOS part is moving from shot to shot by submilimiter which would be enough to get different results with even 3 consecutive shots (when the lens is set to manual focus that does not change)

[michelle_peterson]

On the Bob Atkins test with the 90mm lens. The focus is on the 2cm mark when I had the focus selection on the center line. I tried the 28-135 at 5.6 and it's hard to tell at 5.6. I have done 2 jobs with the camera and have gotten beautiful images but I have to soften them in Photoshop and then bring the eyes back. I don't want to have to do this all the time. I'd say 80% have soft eyes and faces even though I have set focus point over them. The bustline is in sharp focus. I don't know what to do. Can this be fixed?

[sandy.]

michelle, the 10D is known for its soft focusing, so 90% of the time you will need Unsharp Mask from PS. You will be amazed at the difference. Some people went as far as using : 180, +2, 1. I normally use 80 -120, +2, 1.

 

Give it a try.

[sandy.]

I took the liberty to sharpen the picture for you...<div></div>

[sandy.]

A little less...<div></div>

[chuck_dowling]

I think I am having a similar problem. I was out shooting birds yesterday, using only the center focusing square, and half the images are out of focus, and I was especially careful to focus right on the birds eyes. This morning I was taking flash shots of my kids, and again, things looked too soft. Out of frustration, I took off the UV filter I had on the lens, and setup shooting params 1 to max sharpness, contrast, and saturation, leaving the color temp in the center. I then took several more shots under the exact same conditions. I believe I see a huge improvement in the images. I'm still experimenting.

[chuck_dowling]

By the way, most images were shot at around F5.6, 1/250th sec.

[berg_na]

I think that the soft focus effect worked very well for the photo you posted, a sharper image would in fact be much less appealing, but apparently that was not the effect that you were looking for. Since the photo was shot at 1/30s it is possible that the blurring was caused by unintentional camera movement -- even with the camera on a tripod. A quick test would show if the slow shutter speed was the culprit.

[sandy.]

Chuck, do you want to post one of your images to see if we can do something about it?

 

Berg, the soft focus effect is a known artifact of the 10D.

[yaldo op]

The issue is not "in focus or not in focus" .

 

The issue is:

 

You focus on the center line but the -2 mark on test is sharper then the center. Sometimes even the lines at -6 are more sharp then the center.

 

This is visiable on wide apeture. 1.4 is the best to see it. 2 works also. At 4 you will not see so easily except once in while where there is a gross under focus it will be visiable at 4.

 

As for shoting birds at 5.6: I do not think this is the right test at the problem. There could be zillion other reason why bird photo are not in focus.

 

If you think you have problem: Set up a tripod and shot 20-40 frames with various lens various Apeture (at least 3-6 at each apeture)

[yaldo op]

http://www.photo.net/photo/1600270&size=lg

 

is an extreme case of the focus problem

[chuck_dowling]

For what it's worth:

 

This first image is the same shot of a playing card taken at 300mm, F8, 1/500th sec, taken within seconds of each other.

The image on the left was done with max sharpness, contrast, and saturation, the one on the right was taken with "normal" parameters.<div></div>

[chuck_dowling]

Here's a tight crop of a detail area. You tell me which one looks better. To me, the shot on the left looks much better. I think I'll leave my parameters set like that!<div></div>

[sandy.]

Chuck, I used Unsharp Mask on the right one. The left one I leave it untouched. Which one do you prefer? I used 130, 2. 1 on the right one.

[chuck_dowling]

The right one looks better, but I was demonstrating how the images come straight out of the camera, without unsharp mask in Photoshop.

[michelle_peterson]

Berg, I thought that maybe the slow shutter speed could have been the problem, even thought I shoot portraits at speeds as slow as 1/15 on a tripod, so for the next shoot I kept the shutter speeds from 1/60-1/25, camera on tripod. I was really careful about where I placed my focus box. Same problem. Sandy, I can except that the 10D images are slightly soft, but not that I have a area in focus that was not the intended area.

[cole_...]

First, the praise: The 10d is a marvelous camera. I do not own one, but I sure like holding it in the camera store (smile). It's a quality package, full-featured, and at a decent price. If I went digital, I'd think long and hard about the 10d. Second, the observation: I have never owned a AF 35mm SLR camera (entry/amateur/professional) that had/has the frequency of reported focus errors as the 10d. Third, my conclusion: There is a focus problem with the 10d in a large sample of units. Putting this in context of mass production, most will focus dead on, some will not. Canon (or any intelligent corporation) is not going to gleefully acknowledge a known product flaw unless it must (e.g. class action lawsuit), as a recall equals HUGE profit loss. Going through great lengths to compensate or excuse a flaw in the unit does not make sense to me. Again, IMHO it's a great camera, so I'd suggest you stop loosing sleep and get it fixed.

[rob de la selva]

As I understand it, focus is a function of the optics performing properly and bringing the light rays to the correct point on the film plain.

If it's out of focus, you can't fix it with photoshop or increasing the the sharpness in camera!!! (yes, you can make it look better and cover up a front focusing fault somewhat - but you can't change the focus.)

So if there really is a focusing issue with this camera/lens combination then suggestions re: unsharp mask and changing in camera settings won't help.

 

Michelle, I haven't noticed front focusing with the Tamron 90mm/10D combination.

 

Incidentally, I was discussing the 10D and focus issues with the proprietor of a pro camera store here in Perth (I think it's the only one in town, so he'd deal with most of the Canon DSLR's around here). He hadn't heard of the problem!

 

I'm not suggesting for a minute that you don't have a focusing issue if you've observed that to be the case. I too have read lot and lots on the net about this problem, it definitely seems to happen with some 10Ds. I just thought the above was interesting as it suggested to me that the problem was not actually as widespread as I'd guessed. Undoubtedly many reported 10D 'focusing' issues are actually users not understanding that the camera produces images initially that will require further sharpening.

 

Best wishes,

 

Rob

[lucas m]

I'm no expert, but i did notice some difference in the focusing of the my pictures with the IS turned off. The manual instructs the user to turn the IS off when using a tripod. For your test i'd make sure it was off. Good luck...

 

lucas

[berg_na]

Okay, you've convinced me, your camera needs to be sent back to Canon for a quick adjustment. I had a similar problem with a Nikon F4 that drove me nuts until I had it serviced. The problem was intermittent so I tried to live with it, but it caused me to lose too many potentially good shots. On your comparison test, I think that the USM filtered image looks worse than the image straight out of the camera. You can definitely see the increase in noise (muddy colors) and the sharpening artifacts if you look carefully...<div></div>

[lucas m]

I'm no expert, but i did notice some difference in the focusing of the my pictures with the IS turned off. The manual instructs the user to turn the IS off when using a tripod. For your test i'd make sure it was off. Good luck...

 

lucas