Focus is soft after servicing 70-200 f/2.8

[vistakril]

I sent two lenses and my R5 camera body to Canon for basic cleaning and maintenance while I was on vacation last month. When I used the 70-200 lens for a headshot job last week, I found that all of the images were soft all over (no area of sharpness), where prior to servicing, they’d been tack sharp using the same settings and lighting. I got on the phone with Canon, and they will look at it again free of charge, but were not able to offer a reason for the softness. Any ideas? I thought about condensation, but the lens only went from my house into my padded camera bag to my warm car to an office, and then I tested the lens again at home, so the lens never got cold.

[SignifDigits]

Thanks for asking.  Let us know how things progress.  First, though, which of the half dozen or so versions of the EF or RF 70-200s do you have?   Second, I'm assuming you are correct in the "same settings".  You should double check that, of course.  For us to better help you, you should share your settings, especially AF.  You could also put a sample RAW file in a shared spot for us to look at.

It is possible to narrow this down to the camera vs lens.  Do you have other lenses which you can confirm that are working properly with your R5?  Is so then you can just suspect and/or send in the the lens.

A camera is more complicated and has far more settings an possibilities than any lens, so my first guess would be to suspect the camera and not the lens.  Is there some way to test the lens on compatible camera via a camera shop or a friend perhaps?  You could also use this approach to test another lens if you don't have one so that you can confirm whether the issue is the lens or the camera.

[ebiggs1]

OOF or image 'softness' is almost always user error. Perhaps higher than 90% of the time. Do make sure you are not the cause. Reset the camera and try some outdoor shots on a nice sunny day. P mode, One shot, normal AF, ISO 200 you know basic settings. Shoot various subjects with good contrast. How do they look?

Sending your gear back to Canon with nothing wrong only wastes yours and Canon's time.

[moyali6976]

Hello,

uniform softness across the entire frame after servicing usually points to a calibration or alignment issue rather than condensation or technique, especially since the lens never experienced temperature shock and previously performed perfectly. It’s possible the lens elements were slightly decentered during cleaning, the autofocus calibration was altered, or the lens-body AF microadjustment data was reset or corrupted when Canon serviced the gear. Another possibility is that the lens is front- or back-focusing consistently and missing focus entirely, which can look like overall softness, especially at wider apertures. To rule out vervecard user-side factors, make sure image stabilization is set correctly for your shooting conditions, test on a tripod with IS off, use single-point AF, and confirm the issue appears across multiple distances and apertures. If the softness persists under controlled testing.

[ebiggs1]

Although certainly possible to be an alignment issue. However, that usually is softness in the corners or uneven sharpness and perhaps ghosting. Not "uniform softness across the entire frame".

[vantage]

@vistakril 

You're story doesn't surprise me. I had two EF 25-105 F4Ls. One was sharp and the other was not. I called Canon and told them one was sharp, the other wasn't and I wanted to send the soft one in so I did. When I got the soft one back it was still soft, they said the AF/MF switch was broken, they replaced it and charged me for it.  The switch was not broken when I sent it in.  From my experience Canon US service center doesn't pay attention to focus before or after service.