50mm 1.8 focus problem

[JacoMedia0113]

Whenever I focus automatically with the viewfinder, it doesnt actually focus where it says it will. For example, I tested this out with a roof and focused on the chimney and saw the red flashes indicating where the camera is focusing. It also looked perfectly in focus in the veiwfinder. When I took the shot and saw where the focus point was, it was about 10 feet closer to me than the chimney. Then I went to the lcd screen and focused the same way on the chimney and it focused perfectly. I tried this on other lenses and its only the canon 50 1.8. Its really not that expensive so I might get a new one or if you recommend a better 50mm lens. I use a canon 6d btw if that helps. Thanks.

[kvbarkley]

Generally you are much further than 20 ft away from a chimney!

[Waddizzle]

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@kvbarkley wrote:

Generally you are much further than 20 ft away from a chimney!

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Exactly, and look at what happens to the DOF.  It can get pretty deep, fairly quickly.  Af f/8, the hyperfocal distance is 54 feet.  Making AFMA adjustments when DOF is that wide can move it several feet.  So, perhaps 10 feet isn't as far fetched, after all.

Without knowing the distance to the chimney, aperture setting, or sample photos, most of the discussion is conjecture.

[ebiggs1]

"So, perhaps 10 feet isn't as far fetched, after all."

Yes it is.  Please be my guest and give it a go.

[JacoMedia0113]

This may sound weird but Im actually in Boston right now visiting. Im hoping to go to the leica store. Do you have any recommendation as to where to go with family and for photography. Id like to take unique photos not just the ones you see on google images. Im thinking acorn street or the outdoor library but idk. Thanks

[RobertTheFat]

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@JacoMedia0113 wrote:

This may sound weird but Im actually in Boston right now visiting. Im hoping to go to the leica store. Do you have any recommendation as to where to go with family and for photography. Id like to take unique photos not just the ones you see on google images. Im thinking acorn street or the outdoor library but idk. Thanks

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If you have school-age kids, I suppose you might want to visit Concord Bridge, "Old Ironsides", the Bunker Hill monument, the Freedom Trail, etc. But of course everybody has photographed those. Cambridge has a lot of interesting and photogenic locations: Harvard, MIT, sailboats on the Charles River, etc. It can be difficult to park in Cambridge, but it's easy to get around by foot, bus, and subway. North Point Park (accessible from the Science Park and Lechmere Square subway stations, is the only place I've found to photograph the cable-stayed Zakim Bridge, an architectural icon since it was built 15 or 20 years ago. There are footpaths along the river on both the Boston and Cambridge sides, with a lot of good scenery, depending on the time of day and the angle of the light. One of the best pictures I ever took was of the skyline of Kendall Square in Cambridge from the footpath on the Boston side, a bit upstream of the Longfellow Bridge.

Out in the suburbs where I am, it's a bit hazy and overcast today, but maybe you'll have better luck downtown. Boston weather is very fickle, but my feeling is that you have to play the cards you're dealt. And often a white shy can be a good background if you don't let it get out of control.

Good luck and enjoy your visit.

[ebiggs1]

AFMA is a correction of the marginal errors found in an auto focus system so that it functions closer to perfect.  I am not as sure that 10 feet qualifies!  Having never owned a 6D I can not say exactly how much AFMA it has but the lenses I ever corrected were less than 10 inches, not 10 feet.

[JacoMedia0113]

The subject I was testing was far away so that may have had a difference. it goes up 20 and -20. I did fix it and it works now.

[JacoMedia0113]

Thank you so much robert for your advice on where to go, im going tomorrow kind of last minute and you helped fill in some time. Ill be sure to check those places out. Thanks so much again.

[JacoMedia0113]

Yes kvbarkley, I was about 100-150 ft away

[Waddizzle]

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@JacoMedia0113 wrote:
Yes kvbarkley, I was about 100-150 ft away

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I figured as much.  The DOF at that distance is quite deep at most f/stops.  But, you should get your camera checked.  At f/4 and above, you're at the hyperfocal distance, and everything at that distance should be in focus.