topic Re: Canon 24-70 II Lens very blurry from long shots - advice needed in EF & RF Lenses

Canon 24-70 II Lens very blurry from long shots - advice needed

lewisi3 — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 12:57:31 GMT

Hi all,

When shooting from distance (not very far - around 10 meters back) the Canon 24-70 II lens seems to be very blurry and bad quality.

Can I get some advice on whether this is a common issue and if there's a resolution to solve this? I wouldn't expect it to be such bad quality from only 10 meters back considering it's a £1,000+ camera lens.

Please see photo below. If you look at the talent you can see the soft focus issue I'm having (this is after making sure the talent is in focus). I'm shooting on Canon 5d Mark II, 1080p at 23.93fps with no compression on the footage.

Re: Canon 24-70 II Lens very blurry from long shots - advice needed

kvbarkley — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 13:42:38 GMT

What was the focus point? It looks like it focused on the projector.

Re: Canon 24-70 II Lens very blurry from long shots - advice needed

lewisi3 — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 15:07:08 GMT

I focused on the face of the talent. It was as tightly focused as the lens would allow.

Re: Canon 24-70 II Lens very blurry from long shots - advice needed

kvbarkley — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 15:25:49 GMT

Does that mean you zoomed in to focus, than zoomed out for the picture? That is unlikely to work.

You need to set the center focus point, push the shutter halfway to focus where you want it, then while holding the shutter half-way, re-compose and shoot.

Re: Canon 24-70 II Lens very blurry from long shots - advice needed

lewisi3 — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 15:30:45 GMT

No, I didn't zoom in to focus, I clicked the magnify option to focus on the subject and then returned to shooting (without any zooming). I also set the center focus point on the subject's face. Any idea why this is happening?

Re: Canon 24-70 II Lens very blurry from long shots - advice needed

kvbarkley — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 15:54:55 GMT

What focus mode are you in and how are you holding focus for the re-composition?

Re: Canon 24-70 II Lens very blurry from long shots - advice needed

lewisi3 — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 15:59:04 GMT

What focus mode would you recommend? It's hard to focus from a distance and re-focus, the subject stands in the same position for the duration of shooting.

Re: Canon 24-70 II Lens very blurry from long shots - advice needed

kvbarkley — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 16:35:02 GMT

One shot if you are not in live view. Just select the focus point that covers his face.

I am not sure what would be best for live view.

Re: Canon 24-70 II Lens very blurry from long shots - advice needed

ebiggs1 — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 21:33:49 GMT

" I clicked the magnify option to focus on the subject and then returned to shooting..."

What does this mean? I am not aware of any such option on a 5D Mk II.

Re: Canon 24-70 II Lens very blurry from long shots - advice needed

Waddizzle — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 23:45:53 GMT

Do not expect the resolution of video to be equal to that of still photos.

Re: Canon 24-70 II Lens very blurry from long shots - advice needed

limvo05 — Sun, 13 May 2018 03:47:37 GMT

I am no expert on this topic here, not by a long shot! That said, I recently ran into similar issue. Mine was a little different in a sense that mine was found to be front focused. After minor correction, it is much sharper now. Have you tried micro adjustment? What camera are you using? I have 5Ds, there are time i love this camera, and there are time i hates it! Cheers,

Re: Canon 24-70 II Lens very blurry from long shots - advice needed

shadowsports — Sun, 13 May 2018 17:50:58 GMT

Greetings,

Determining if a lens is front or back focusing has become pretty easy. You can buy a in-expensive kit on Amazon and use the internet as a guide to confirm if a lens is properly calibrated. You can also take to a shop or send to Canon if this is not something you want to mess with.

Some here have made "in body" micro-adjustment changes for their lenses. I've been lucky and haven't needed this. None of my non-canon brand lenses have needed it either. I've only updated FW with my Sigma Dock. Specs for my rig are on my sig.

Re: Canon 24-70 II Lens very blurry from long shots - advice needed

limvo05 — Sun, 13 May 2018 22:19:03 GMT

I actually downloaded the chart from here https://www.google.com/search?q=microadjustment+canon+chart&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjghpfW2oPbAhWljVQKHWJnABgQ7AkImQE&biw=1430&bih=751#imgrc=FoxAMESwPQ4uAM:

Print it out and stick it to the top of my laptop cover. Raise the lid to 45 degree angel, then check out any of the video you like on youtube on this topic and you are set.

Good luck,

Re: Canon 24-70 II Lens very blurry from long shots - advice needed

lly3988 — Mon, 14 May 2018 13:35:24 GMT

For 5D2 in live view mode, it is possible to magnify to focus and to check focus.

Re: Canon 24-70 II Lens very blurry from long shots - advice needed

Waddizzle — Mon, 14 May 2018 23:20:44 GMT

@limvo05 wrote:
I actually downloaded the chart from here https://www.google.com/search?q=microadjustment+canon+chart&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjghpfW2oPbAhWljVQKHWJnABgQ7AkImQE&biw=1430&bih=751#imgrc=FoxAMESwPQ4uAM:

Print it out and stick it to the top of my laptop cover. Raise the lid to 45 degree angel, then check out any of the video you like on youtube on this topic and you are set.

Good luck,
LV

All that you really need is a yardstick, or a tape measure, and a robust tripod and head.