I have about 5 other lenses including the 70-200 which focuses really good - either live view or normal shooting. The camera can do with some cleaning - its a 5D Mk 3 thats was bought in 2013 i think when it just came out and have never been serviced. But the 24-105 had been my main lens until i sent it to canon to repair and it came back with this problem. See the photo below - not a good photo but it gives shows the problem - the haze tends to be bad as you move away from the center and the focus appears to be somewhat off. And this is an outdoor photo.
@wilmark wrote:Yes i have a Hoya polarizing filter that remains on - and the hood never comes off.
Hoya makes some six or seven different qualities of polarizing filters, ranging from very good to utter crap. It is probably the filter is causing the problem you are seeing and I'm guessing it's not one of their better, multi-coated ones (such as their "HD3" or "NXT Plus").
While a quality circular polarizer is one of the most useful filters with digital photography, there is no way one should "remain on". There are many situations where the filter can help... but there are also many where it will be more of a problem.
A C-Pol cuts 1.5 to 2.25 stops of light, forcing you to use higher ISO and/or slower shutter speeds. When shooting in marginal lighting conditions, the filter is just hampering you unnecessarily.
There also are times when a C-Pol is effective and times when it's not. The polarization effect is greatest at 90 degrees from the light source, tapering off to nothing at 0 or 180 degrees. So shooting a scene midday with the sun right above your head might give a fairly strong filter effect. But pointed directly at a sunrise or sunset, or pointed directly away from a sunrise or sunset, the filter does nothing but potentially cause flare.Here is an example where the sun was high and a bit behind me, so the effects of the filter deepening the blue of the sky and the green of the water was fairly strong (in fact I dialed it back a bit, so the reflections of the boats in the water wouldn't completely disappear)
:
In addition, because of the variation in the polarization effect, you can get uneven look in broad, plain expanses, such as the blue sky in the image below:
Here's an example where clouds in the sky tend to "hide" a similar uneven effect from a C-Pol... this time with the sun low and to the right:
C-Pol filters reduce reflections... but sometimes the reflection IS the image! The last thing I wanted for the shot below was to reduce the reflection of the sunset off the water or the wet sand and rocks (not to mention, directly shooting a sunset would mean no polarizing effect in the middle of the image), so I didn't use any filter at all:
A C-Pol can be helpful for portraits, too... if a subject wears eyeglasses or has "shiney" skin.
But a C-Pol should not be left on all the time. If you try to photograph a rainbow, a C-Pol will make it disappear! As you can tell, I don't hesitate to use a C-Pol... It's by far my most used filter, ever since I switch from film to digital 20 years ago. HOWEVER, I probably only use one 10 or 15% of the time. I would never let one "remain on" my lens all the time!
Try some shots without the filter (and with the lens hood properly installed) to see if you have less flare issues.
There is another possibility... a dirty sensor in your camera. That also can cause problems like you're seeing. And, yes, it can be problems with the lens itself. But both of these are far less likely than the filter.
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Alan Myers
San Jose, Calif., USA
"Walk softly and carry a big lens."
GEAR: 5DII, 7DII (x2), 7D(x2), EOS M5, some other cameras, various lenses & accessories
FLICKR
Hi - i did some trial shots - with the filter/hood on and off and with the same filter on my 70-200 for reference, both Wide and Zoomed.
First i made a mistake about the filter - its a simple UV filter like this one https://www.amazon.com/Hoya-Digital-Frame-Multi-Coated-Filter/dp/B002L60TTI?th=1
The photos were generated using Print from Lightroom because i can figure out no other way to put either the file name or other keywords on the photo - amazing that this cant be done in 2023. I ill appreciate any feedback - the Hooded + no Filter seems just slightly better. (Forgive the quality - trying to make the image small and i suspect that using "Print" also has issues)
I see
