Image Sharpness with Canon 24-70L

[jimchapin468]

I am shooting a Canon 20D with my Canon 24-70L and when I use the autofocus many times it will focus to the left or right of where I want it to. Another words If I have the center square in the view finder point at a persons eye the square to the right will light up on his ear. So I have to keeping moving the camera around until it aligns correctly.

Any ideas on what I might do to fix this?

Thanks Jimmy

[wilflee]

Push the right hand side button by the thumb and turn the wheel until the focus point is the center one (or which ever one you prefer). Place that focus point over the subject that you want to focus on and press the shutter half way to lock focus (assuming the subject has enough contrast for the AF to work). Turn the focus ring (assuming you have a Canon lens) to make any fine adjustments if necessary. And press the shutter.

The AF system of any AF camera is not smart enough to know what the user is thinking. So, while it's nice to have, it is not a replacement for the user. I'd always double check the focus.

[Tom W]

Wilflee is correct - you can (and sometimes have to) manually select a specific focus point. In the case you're describing, it is probably necessary.