24-70L seems soft.

Im having issues with this lens i purchased 12 days ago.

I took it out last night and when looking at the images it just was not sharp at all. Im pretty sure my kit lens on my 550D seemes sharper at the time.

Ive been using live view just now, magnified x10 focused manually on a lens sitting on the desk, looking at live view im seeing it clear enough it looks fine. Once the image is taken and zoomed in fully with the play button on the camera it looks a bit blurry. Im also using mirror lock up and on the tripod.

Im wondering if i should just bite the bullet and take it back and get it exchanged for another one.

Yes, you should without a doubt.
You spent over $1200 on it, you must recieve a 100% satisfactory from the lens.

The lens may be defected or it may just that it doesn't calibrate to your body perfectly.
Anyways, send it in and exchange it.

yup exchange it

dexy101 wrote in post #13688370
Ive been using live view just now, magnified x10 focused manually on a lens sitting on the desk, looking at live view im seeing it clear enough it looks fine. Once the image is taken and zoomed in fully with the play button on the camera it looks a bit blurry..

Stop. You cannot assess sharpness of a lens when reviewing a playback image at 10X. The Live View image is direct off the sensor. The playback image is actually a tiny little thumnail.

Playback images always look unsharp, and less sharp than live view.

Please take images with the lens as you were doing, then transfer them to your computer and view them on a monitor at the least.

JeffreyG wrote in post #13688492
Stop. You cannot assess sharpness of a lens when reviewing a playback image at 10X. The Live View image is direct off the sensor. The playback image is actually a tiny little thumnail.

Playback images always look unsharp, and less sharp than live view.

Please take images with the lens as you were doing, then transfer them to your computer and view them on a monitor at the least.

My experience is this, usually when it appear to be sharp on camera LCD, it could end up being soft at 100% view on computer, when it looked soft on camera LCD, 12 times out of 10 the image is guaranteed to be blurry mess on computer.

might just have to play around with it a bit more, especially using it on manual focus rather than auto focus. sometimes it's just a matter of getting used to how the lens works.

ben805 wrote in post #13688590
My experience is this, usually when it appear to be sharp on camera LCD, it could end up being soft at 100% view on computer, when it looked soft on camera LCD, 12 times out of 10 the image is guaranteed to be blurry mess on computer.

^^ This.

return it and get a replacement.

If you are doubting the AF, do the lens test first, do center focus. The 24-70 I got years ago had some issues, I sent it to Canon and they fixed it. Periodically, this lens needs recalibrating, either at Canon or with micro adjustments. It's a large lens, lots of parts. Must be exact so it needs attention sometimes. Don't discount it as a flaw, just as what happens sometimes and send it in or try another one.

Care to share some pics ...so we can base our advice on something?

If you can take it back to a store, I'd bring a laptop and test both current and new lens. If you have to ship it for exchange, take the same pictures before and after the exchange.

If the new lens looks better, you're done. If it doesn't, you have to decide whether you are willing to adjust your expectations. The 24-70 is a nice lens. It's just not super sharp...not as sharp as a prime or a 70-200. Sharpness isn't everything though. It does have good overall IQ for a zoom (sharpness, contract, color, background blur) and it is a zoom with 2.8. I like my 24-70mm but have to admit I had to adjust my initial expectations, which were quite high given all the accolades this lens receives.

Maybe try to wipe down the lens with ShamWow?

Many people critiques Sigma's quality control, but meanwhile I've seen more complaints about 24-70L than I do for Sigma lenses.

Maybe the number of 24-70L users is vastly greater than that of Sigma prime users. However, softness complaints of the 24-70L is so common and I see them more often than anything else.

This is my just personal experience.

BTW, nobody asked, you're not shooting with a $10 filter in front, are you?

I'm experiencing softness wide open with my 24-70 too.

I'm going to try and microadjust it when I have my focus genie or whatever thingy that someone sells on this forum.

If I can't get it to an acceptable level of sharpness (I know it's not going to be *AS* sharp as a prime)... but I'd like it to be quite a bit sharper than it currently is. I bought mine used, so I didn't get an implied or any sort of warranty... Figures that the AF/MF switch would stop working too... leaving me in full autofocus.

Do you have expereince with other lenses? If so, is it primes that are setting your expectations pretty high? If not, is it just a learning experience that the 24-70mm, while quite capable, isn't prime-sharp like the 70-200?

I'd advise to stick with it. If it is used and you want to address your doubts, send it to Canon for the $100 clean and calibrate. I did. It came back with less wobble when extended and a smoother zoom ring. Worse case it helps your resale.

It took time, but my appreciation for the lens has grown significantly. Mine has competition with 24 and 35mm L primes, a 50 1.4 prime and the 16-35II but it still makes it into my bag very often. Look through the 24-70mm lens archive and the wedding forum for examples. The lens has great potential.