5d mark 1 focus issues

[witchell]

i am having critical focus issues with my eos 5d mark 1 in soft light without contrast.  i have the problem with all of my l series lenses.  i get a confirmation beep with the autofocus when the square i have enabled gets focus lock; however, the resluting photograph is focused at least 1-2 feet in back of where it should be.  is it possible that my mirror is out of alignment?  has anyone else had this problem?

[cicopo]

Have you tried using just the single center AF point in those conditions? That's the way most seem to get the best results on the forums I read. (any it applies to most Canon bodies up to the D3 / 1Dx.). I rarely shoot in low light so can't say how my cameras do, but I read a lot of messages asking for a better AF in the next  generation of whatever body they have.

[witchell]

THANKS for your reply.  Funny thing is that I've been shooting this way for a very long time and it's never been a problem.  The light wasn't that low, iso 800/ 1/60 @ 5.6 24-105 4.0  L series at about 60-70mm.  airport concourse with halide light mixed with subtle daylight + 580exII flash.  haven't had this issue even in extraordinary low liight shooting stage performances without flash, boosting iso to 3200, shooting at 1/20th wide open hand held.  The problem just started a few shoots ago.

I will defintely experiment with center point focus and recomposing vs. using the outside focus points.

Sending into CPS tomorrow for them to check out.  Am thinking about getting a new body as my mark 1 has served me well for 8 years, with well over 400,000 actuations (best guess).  Not sure if I'll get the mark 3 or the 1dX but it seems from your reply that even the Idx with its steep price tag might have focus issues?  

I miss shooting film with my 1vHS... focus was tighter than any digital I've ever shot.  Focus screen imaculate and easy to manually focus in the darkest conditions.  Can't quite understand why the focus screens in even the flagship cameras are not geared for the shooter who wants to rely on his eye for focus as opposed to trusting the camera!

Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

Matthew