17-55...soft?

I just got a 17-55 f/2.8. Wide open it seems pretty soft and I seem to be having a lot of focus misses. At 5.6 it seems to be a lot sharper. Is that normal for this lens? For being "the best" EF-S lens I am wondering if mine has a problem or if it just isn't quite as great wide open as I thought it would be.

Keyan,

Post us some examples to look at, please.

I Don't have the 17-55 but understand it should be pretty sharp wide open at all focal lengths. The 17-55IS is a well known good performer.

David

Mine is tack-sharp from 2.8 stopping down only improves sharpness ever so slightly. Please post some examples.

Do you use an UV-filter?

Keyan wrote in post #13865406
I just got a 17-55 f/2.8. Wide open it seems pretty soft and I seem to be having a lot of focus misses. At 5.6 it seems to be a lot sharper. Is that normal for this lens? For being "the best" EF-S lens I am wondering if mine has a problem or if it just isn't quite as great wide open as I thought it would be.

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i have had the same problem as well, im guessing its because of the AF points it selects?

I use center point only, no filter. It might just be either honest focus misses or me not being used to shooting moving objects with a shallow DOF. I feel like it might be front focusing,...but a shot I took of some static objects using both the phase detect focus and the live view contrast focus seem to look identical with the same area in focus. I'll try to get some 100% crop examples tomorrow.

Same issues here, I've never been 100% happy with my 17-55 on 50D body wide open or stopped down, also have a 70-200 F4 IS that I love and is always tack sharp in comparison, I shoot only in manual mode, raw etc. and I find that 80% of my shots with the 17-55 are soft no matter the conditions. I am considering sending in for calibration but not sure where I can send it since I live in Dubai and the mail service here is less than desirable. Interested to follow this thread and see what the professional opinions here have to say about it... Perhaps an upgrade to a 24-70 is in order...

I think f/5.6 is the sweet spot for this lens, but your shots should still be sharp at f/2.8

All of these are f/2.8

Keyan wrote in post #13865406
I just got a 17-55 f/2.8. Wide open it seems pretty soft and I seem to be having a lot of focus misses. At 5.6 it seems to be a lot sharper. Is that normal for this lens? For being "the best" EF-S lens I am wondering if mine has a problem or if it just isn't quite as great wide open as I thought it would be.

Mine is tack sharp @ f/2.8 thoroughout the focal length range, but it took a +5 micro adjustment to get there. That is great on my 50D but the backup 40D doesn't have MA capability.

robndubai wrote in post #13866731
Same issues here, I've never been 100% happy with my 17-55 on 50D body wide open or stopped down, also have a 70-200 F4 IS that I love and is always tack sharp in comparison, I shoot only in manual mode, raw etc. and I find that 80% of my shots with the 17-55 are soft no matter the conditions. I am considering sending in for calibration but not sure where I can send it since I live in Dubai and the mail service here is less than desirable. Interested to follow this thread and see what the professional opinions here have to say about it... Perhaps an upgrade to a 24-70 is in order...

After a minor MA tweak, my 17-55 is in the league with my 70-200f/4L IS. Do you use a single focus point?

I am debating sending them in to Canon for calibration, does anyone have any experience with that? Was it successful and how long did it take?

My 17-55 is bang on sharp at f2.8 on both my 50D and XTi. No issues at all.

Try live view, focus with AF, then grab the ring and try to improve the focus manually. If you can improve on the sharpness, then it's an AF issue, if not, then there's something else at play. As always, do these tests on a tripod and faster shutter speeds.

It seems to be front focusing when wide open pretty badly...

Are you saying to use quick mode focus so it uses the phase array and not contrast detection?

You can use either mode, phase of course being better. However, once the camera thinks it has locked focus, note what the distance scale reads on the lens. For example, let's say it's 2m.

Then, using the live view zoom feature to view your subject, grab the focus ring on the lens and attempt to focus it yourself. Once you think it's as sharp as you can get it, let go, go and read the distance scale and see if it says 2m still. If it has moved, then that means the AF is not working properly.

Repeat this test multiple times to ensure it's a repeatable failure and not just a one off. Make sure it's on a steady tripod and there's sufficient light for the AF to work.

My old 17-55 was terrifyingly sharp wide-open, but judging from your latest post, the issue isn't sharpness but rather front-focusing. FYI, this means it front-focuses at all apertures, not just wide-open. The reason why it's much sharper at f/5.6 for you is because the DoF has increased to the extent as to blanket over the problem of having missed focus. If you're convinced it's a front-focusing issue, send it into Canon for calibration.