EF 70-200 L IS II USM Focus Falloff

[rschleyer907]

Focus Trails off toward bottom

Hey all! This has been going on for a while but it seems to be getting worse.  Is this something that can be adjusted or is it time for a new lens?  Thanks!

[jrhoffman75]

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@rschleyer907 wrote:

Focus Trails off toward bottom

Hey all! This has been going on for a while but it seems to be getting worse.  Is this something that can be adjusted or is it time for a new lens?  Thanks!

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Has the lens been dropped? If so, the lens elements could have been knocked out of alignment. You could contact canon support at 1-800-OK-CANON and see if they still service that lens.

[shadowsports]

Greetings ,

I still own this lens and unfortunately it went out of support 6/30/2025.  It remains one of Canon's. best.  Mine was retired when I upgraded to mirrorless.  

You might be able to find repair locally if you search for camera repair and insert your ZIP code.

To be thorough we should probably ask the following:

Have you performed customary investigation/ troubleshooting?  Are you shooting in RAW?  What body are you shooting with?  Do you have picture styles or in body corrections enabled?   Have you used DPP to confirm your focus points?  Is this the f4 or f2.8 variant?  Assuming DSLR, have you made any changes in body to front or back focus?

[ebiggs1]

A more simple question, are you shooting down at the subject? Its best to keep the lens perpendicular to your subject especially if you are using a large (low number) aperture. Perhaps you are shooting from the bleacher seats?

[rschleyer907]

It has been jostled but never dropped.  Thanks for your input!

[rschleyer907]

Thank you for the thorough input! Sorry that I didn't include 2.8 in the description... Shooting in RAW with Mirrorless R6 and R6 MII.  I will double check the other things before giving up completely.  The test comparison I did was with two different bodies... R6 + RF 70-200 2.8 vs R6MII + EF 70-200 2.8.  I will test the lens on all three of my bodies when I can.

[rschleyer907]

Good question! In this instance as in almost all of my other shoots, I was shooting from the player's box.  I also shoot finish line photos for local runs which are at ground level so I don't feel that is a factor this time.

[rschleyer907]

I used the same body this time, one of my Canon R6s.  Both photos were shot in RAW, taken at 1/200, f/2.8, ISO 400 at 70mm. I also took one photo with the EF lens on my R6 MII and had the same issue.  I'm pretty sure it's the lens and not a camera setting.  I found a local camera guy that is eager to take a look at it so we'll see how that goes!  Thanks all for your help on this.  If you have anything to add, please do!

[ebiggs1]

Lens internals rotate. If it is a lens issue does it move when different FL are used? Does it change size when FL is increased or decreased?

[shadowsports]

Greetings,

Also of equal importance, are you using a Canon brand adapter with the adapted EF lens?  Third-party adapters have not proven to be reliable.