tryed to test 70-200 IS lens

magicpic

It was kinda late when I did this test..I am going to do again this week...do I leave the camera in manuel or AV mode?with ISO 100-200. Fore some reason my new 70-200 lens does not seem as sharp as what it should be so I am trying to test it...go to my page so you can see the setting that I have it on...thanks janis...any comments welcome


http://widgetr.smugmug.com/gallery/4009157#233321840

Manfr3d

When I bought the non-IS version of this lens last week,
the shop owner knowingly put two lenses on the counter.
He said that that it is the course of all canon owners - they
have to test a couple of lenses on their camera body
before they find the sharp one. I dont know if thats true,
but he further explained that it's because of the tolerances
and that this issue is almost non existent with other brands
(Pentax, Nikon, Sony, ...). I tested 3 lenses before I found
the sharp one. I suggest you try more than one lens.
Also pay close attention to your shooting trechnique.
Handholding such a beast at slow shutterspeeds is still
not easy, even with IS.

claudermilk

It may be true that he has to deal with Canon owners demanding to cherry-pick lenses, but IMHO it's a phantom "problem." I have not pulled that stunt with any of my lenses--I've just grabbed the first one to hand. I have yet to encounter a soft lens.

My last--the non-IS 70-200/2.8--was purchased in a hurry at Samy's. I literally had to call ahead to make sure one was set aside for me as I was going on a long-distance shoot that weekend & the lens I was supposed to use did not show up. I simply opened the box to verify everything was there
& was not used. First use was at the event & this lens has turned out to be so great, I don't think I'll ever let it go.

Perhaps other brands' owners have more reasonable expectations & have not read the frequently-repeated, overblown reports of imaginary issues.

Now before lighting up the flame throwers, I am sure that there are indeed some bad copies out there, just not in the numbers you would think by reading the various photo fora.

Manfr3d

I guess I wasn't too lucky then, three of the 4 lenses
I bought this year were visibly soft compared to
another copy of the same lens on my camera.

The 4th lens was sent to Tamron for repair after a
drop. It came back very soft. Turned out that they
adjusted and calibrated it on their standard optical
bench. They were kind enough to readjust it to my
camera which I send in - now it's super sharp again.

Maybe the problem is not the lens but much more
the camera? Who knows. Now I'm just a bit nervous
how my lenses will perform when I upgrade to a
new camera body.

kini62

Manfr3d wrote:

I dont know if thats true,
but he further explained that it's because of the tolerances
and that this issue is almost non existent with other brands
(Pentax, Nikon, Sony, ...). .

It exist just as much with all others, except apparently for Oly.

You have to realize that there are likely as many Canon lenses in circulation (AF lenses) as all the others combined. So even with the same "error" rate the number of reported "errors" will be higher.

Gene

Rhuarc

kini62 wrote:

It exist just as much with all others, except apparently for Oly.

You have to realize that there are likely as many Canon lenses in circulation (AF lenses) as all the others combined. So even with the same "error" rate the number of reported "errors" will be higher.

Gene

The other thing you have to remember is that not all photographers post online. It's like any other bad experience that people have with a product. Most of the time the only reports you really hear about are the bad ones. How many photographers out there ahve gotten a good copy of a lens the first time around and just never say anything online about it? But then if they do get a bad copy they cry foul everywhere. It makes you thinkt here it is an epidemic when reality it may be a very small pecentage.

Just my 2 cents

claudermilk

^^ Which is why I pipe up so often--gotta have some balance to the postings. To be honest, I'm kind of surprised that I haven't run across a questionable lens yet considering the number I've used.