Help with focus: Canon EOS R with EF 70-200mm f/2.8 IS II and adapter ring

[cdisimone]

I had been using the EOS 5D Mark II for quite sometime until I recently bought the Canon EOS R. Today I tried my EF 70-200mm f/2.8 IS II for the first time with the EOS R. Admittedly, this is my most underutilized lens so I don't have a lot of shots to compare to, but I got some seriously disappointing results today when just shooting objects in my yard. I had a lot of trouble focusing using the center focus point on the smallest setting. Maybe I am doing something wrong... looking for some guidance.

I have had tack sharp images with the other EF lenses I have tried with the EOS R so I'm hoping it is something I am doing... and that there is nothing wrong with the lens. My test shots were all handheld but on a pretty fast shutter speed, wide open and zoomed in at 200mm, and I was sitting and leaning my back against a wall so I should have been pretty still as well. I used single shot focus in the center and just snapped the photo.. no recomposing, no al servo, no choosing alternate focus points. Just center the subject and shoot. 

Can anyone tell me what is going wrong here? I didn't get one clear shot of the squirrel, or the bird.

Photo 1 (squirrel): https://flic.kr/p/2iNDbwc

Photo 1 Focus Point: https://flic.kr/p/2iNEVdP

Photo 2 (bird): https://flic.kr/p/2iNEUEV

Photo 2 Focus Point: https://flic.kr/p/2iNEVdo

If there's a better way to share photos here or if it's better to load right into this window, please let me know. I'm new here!

Thanks!

[ebiggs1]

"...what does it matter if an ISO is an "odd" ISO number..."

It doesn't.  Just 1000 is not a natural stop. 800 and 1600 are. Also the fact something is in focus tells you there isn't anything wrong with the lens.  It may need micro adjustment but it is focusing. The only other thing is you missed focus.

" I had the focus point right over the squirrel."

I think the problem here is the squirrel is so small.  Let's set up a test.  Do the very same settings and distance only put a larger subject in the shot.  A teddy bear for example. Try to keep everything the same except for the subject.  Also try different apertures to see which work best. I prefer to fix ISO. I don't use or like auto ISO.  I also prefer Av over Tv almost all the time.

Use One shot and just the center focus point for this test.  You can use jpg for this too.  Most of the time a jpg will be sharper right out of the camera than Raw.

"These were just practice shots to see how the lens performed on the mirrorless camera ..."

And that is exactly what we are going to do!  Don't be using any of the advanced stuff until this is done. Keep it simple and constant. You may find you like f4 or f5.6 better than f2.8.

[Waddizzle]

"It may need micro adjustment but it is focusing. The only other thing is you missed focus.".  

Mirrorless cameras do not have or even need AFMA.  AFMA corrects the AF Sensor to match the Image Sensor.  In.a mirrorless body, the AF Sensor and Image Sensor are one and the same.

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I think using Spot AF is and avenue for potential AF problems, too.  I am not familiar with exactly how it works on a mirrorless camera.  But, it is most likely an improvement over DSLRs.

Most DSLRs can only Spot AF with the center AF point, and is not uncommon for the "center" AF point on the AF sensor to not be in perfect alignment with the "center" AF point in the viewfinder.  The actual AF point may be on the edge of the AF display point in the viewfinder. 

In other words, the Spot AF point is not always centered in the AF point displayed in the viewfinder, or even in the display you may see in post.  The critters are centered inside of the AF point display, but that does not mean they are aligned with the "spot" of the AF point.  These subjects are too small for Spot AF..

Using the confventional AF mode does mean a bigger AF point, but you do have better odds of focusing on more distant objects, most especially when the distant object does not ciomplete fill the AF point display. 

[Waddizzle]

Check the lens switches.  They can throw off focus, too.  You do not want to use the full range if you are focusing on something more than 10 feet away. 

[cdisimone]

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@Waddizzle wrote:

Using the confventional AF mode does mean a bigger AF point, but you do have better odds of focusing on more distant objects, most especially when the distant object does not ciomplete fill the AF point display. 

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Can you explain what you mean by "conventional AF mode"? 

[Waddizzle]

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@cdisimone wrote:

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@Waddizzle wrote:

Using the confventional AF mode does mean a bigger AF point, but you do have better odds of focusing on more distant objects, most especially when the distant object does not ciomplete fill the AF point display. 

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Can you explain what you mean by "conventional AF mode"? 

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"I had a lot of trouble focusing using the center focus point on the smallest setting."

I have no idea what "smallest setting" means, either.  Doesn't your 5D have Spot AF in the center AF point?  I am saying do not use whatever equivalent to Spot AF in a DSLR that the EOS R uses.  

Spot AF does not work well with small or distant subjects, mainly because the focus spot is not always where you might think it is.  The AF point display in the viewfinder should be regarded as an approximation of where the AF points are located.

[cdisimone]

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@Waddizzle wrote:

I have no idea what "smallest setting" means, either.  Doesn't your 5D have Spot AF in the center AF point?  I am saying do not use whatever equivalent to Spot AF in a DSLR that the EOS R uses.  

Spot AF does not work well with small or distant subjects, mainly because the focus spot is not always where you might think it is.  The AF point display in the viewfinder should be regarded as an approximation of where the AF points are located.

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Yes, both of those cameras have Spot AF and it mainly works the same way. On the EOS R it's called 1-point AF, and unlike the 5D where you can see the black outline of all the available AF points in the viewfinder, and the one you want turns red, on the EOS R, you don't see those black outlines, and you can move the focus point anywhere on the entire screen rather than being limited to those set number of focus points like on the 5D.

What I meant by "smallest setting" is that you can change the size of the focus point square in the 1-point AF mode on the EOS from "normal" to "small" and I had it on small. The size of the box is smaller allowing for a more precise focus point. Whether or not it's more accurate on a mirrorless compared with a DLSR, I do not know... But it would be good to know how accurate it really is!

Thinking of the spot AF as an approximation helps me understand what might be happening but I always thought the whole purpose of spot AF was so that you could pinpoint exactly where you want to focus. So in my situation, (not that I am always taking pictures of faraway squirrels in the backyard but... for learning purposes...) if you wouldn't use spot AF, would you just use manual focus instead? I don't know that I'd be able to see in the viewfinder if something is in focus that small and far away. 

[ebiggs1]

" Let's set up a test."

What happened with the test?  I would not try to over think this, it isn't that complicated.  You need only simple settings to do what you want if the "test" came out good, there was/is nothing wrong with your gear.  You just missed that first shot.

How about resetting your cameras back to factory default.  Clear all settings.  The set it to P mode, ISO 200, average WB and large jpg.  Go out on a nice day and try some normal average shots of several differing subjects. A tree a house a car a dog some good contrast stuff.  If the pictures look good, than there isn't for sure anything wrong with your gear and you did just miss that first squirrel.

Don't over think it and don't let others cause you to over think it.  Do the test for piece of mind if nothing else.

[cdisimone]

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

" Let's set up a test."

What happened with the test?  

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My test shots were mostly fine. In focus but maybe a tad soft.

Test shot on Manual at 1/1250 sec, f2.8, ISO 400 resting on a table with 2 second timer.

https://flic.kr/p/2iPdHx1

It looks plenty sharp in the Flickr preview size but when viewing at 100% in Lightroom it doesn't look quite as sharp. I did the same shot at f4 and f5.6 and they're all about the same sharpness at 100% but all were in focus.

I am glad nothing seems to be wrong with the lens, and yes, the problem with the real squirrel is definitely that I missed focus due to the subject being so small in the frame.. but I still don't really understand how it focused where it did. I guess that is why I initially sought opinions from others. To me, if I had missed the mark, it would have focused on the pot or further back on the grass, and it didn't make sense tao me what had happened.

I will continue to test it out in some more real life examples instead of shooting a stuffed animal in a pot with the camera resting on a table with a 2 second timer 🙂 

Thanks to all of you who took the time to comment. Appreciate it.

[cdisimone]

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

" Let's set up a test."

What happened with the test? 

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My replies to this keep disappearing after I post. I was able to go back and copy and paste before but I lost the text now and don't feel like rewriting everything. Not sure what's happening. Did anyone see my reply with test results?

[Waddizzle]

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@cdisimone wrote:

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

" Let's set up a test."

What happened with the test? 

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My replies to this keep disappearing after I post. I was able to go back and copy and paste before but I lost the text now and don't feel like rewriting everything. Not sure what's happening. Did anyone see my reply with test results?

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There is an automated filter that detects bad links.  Your links to Flicker might be the reason.  It is easy to upload photos to the forum.