am I being too critical?

[jewels52]

Okay, so I admit it. These forums put a scare into me about the 30d and possible focus problems. I wanted to test out my new 30d and I made a quick pen and paper focus test. it appears that many of them are a little off. It seems to focus a couple of mm's in front of the place I originally aimed. Is this test even accurate? The less of an angle I shot on to the "focus here" text, the better the focus accuracy seemed. A few shots seemed alright, although many were slightly off. Please take a look...hope my brand new 30d is okay....I aimed right in the center of "focus Here" box.

[Billginthekeys]

looks fine to me. a difference that small could be (if there is any) could be from hand motion, or just a slight miscalculation of focus. ive never been a fan of these kind of focus tests, id rather get out and shoot and see if im happy with what i see. also, ive never heard of front/backfocusing in the body? its usually always the lens' fault.

[crn3371]

I'd worry less about pictures of batteries, rulers, etc, and just see how it works for you in a real world situation. I know there are lots of members out there that like to do these kind of tests, or 100% crops, but I'd rather just go out and use my gear and make any judgements based on how my photos turn out.

[jewels52]

Yeah...I read this thread:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=161952

I almost felt ridiculous testing. I want to have fun! Damn these forums! LOL...if you consider the variables here, angled trying to get the af to focus on white and black lettering...just seems that it leaves room for error. because doesn't the AF have trouble focusing on angles anyways? I was looking at the tests again, and its really not that bad. we are talking mm's off...

[jewels52]

no tripod used...just stablized my elbows...it was just meant to take a bunch of quick shots to make sure the AF is on....

[Billginthekeys]

yea, even a small arm movenment after locking on the AF could result in movement at that range (which i dont even see?). your camera is fine

[jewels52]

yeah...if u look really closely and draw an imaginary line in the middle of the text...the sharpest point is a little below, when i feel it should be centered. But yes, with all the variables, its prob me. (even though i took like 30 shots). Anywho, is it true that the AF finds it hard to focus on angles?

[Tee Why]

looks ok to me.
stop measurbating and go out and take some pictures.

[Wilt]

looks ok to me.
stop measurbating and go out and take some pictures.

If you keep doing that, you will go blind!

[sando]

looks ok to me.
stop measurbating and go out and take some pictures. :lol: @ measurbating! :)

[jewels52]

Yeah, i guess i should just use the camera, its probablly fine. but considering that thread i linked to, are bodies or lenses usually the problem with focusing errors? that thread the people said it was their bodies...
I am wondering if lots of these people really do have bad equipment...

[Mark_Cohran]

I am wondering if lots of these people really do have bad equipment...

No, lot's don't. It's just the ones that aren't happy complain the loudest.... You never see anyone here complaining that their camera works great, do you? Of course, not.

I'll give you my real world experience. I've never had to send a lens or body back for front or back focusing. Why? Because I don't shoot ruler, batteries or lens charts. I shoot people, landscapes, waterfalls, and other real stuff. When I need the depth of field to keep things sharp, I use it. If I want to use a shallow depth of field, I recognize the limitations of that particular camera and lens combo and deal with it.

Your mileage may vary.

Mark

[Wilt]

Yeah, i guess i should just use the camera, its probablly fine. but considering that thread i linked to, are bodies or lenses usually the problem with focusing errors? that thread the people said it was their bodies...
I am wondering if lots of these people really do have bad equipment...

I once measurebated modestly (out of curiousity rather than compusion) and learned that one lens front focused a bit, and another lens backfocused a bit, neither worth worrying about. If it was entirely the body, you would not have discrepant results from two lenses.

[jewels52]

Thanks guys...very helpful. I believe my camera is fine anyways....u guys see those shots, and most respond with "looks good to me". Who knows if it was the AF not reading correctly or I wasn't setting up the shot for it to read correctly making it not perfectly centered...I guess even if i did have a slight issue, you can always adapt to watch you got. So just out of curiosity...the lens is usually the culprit if there are issues? Thanks all...