70-200 focus?

So...I had an e-session and am wondering if some of you may be able to help me figure this out. This is my first time using the 70-200 2.8 IS and the attached image is at 200mm f2.8 and it seems OOF to me, especially in lightroom. Not looking for critiques on the image as I dont really like this shot, just trying to figure out why a lot of them at 200mm are OOF. Is 2.8 too shallow at this distance? Shots taken at 70mm look tack sharp. Thanks for any ideas! Im going to try and take some more images today and see what happens.

looks good here, what happens if you crop what you were focusing on?

Are you using the mk I or mk II version of this lens? My old mk I was soft at 2.8. My mk II is quite sharp wide open.

Can I ask did av point at that subject cos it seems to me that the focal length has just took the whole image rather than just the subject in question I have never had this issue at 200 so I am a bit bemused t why it wouldnt b super sharp....on ur subject...

Crop makes it look pretty bad. I can post a cropped image if you like?

MK II

Not sure I follow your question, but I changed the AV point to hit the subject instead of focusing and recomposing.

Thanks everyone!

Looks like the AF point might have been on her arm and the softness is a result of the shallow DOF. Her arm and leg look in focus to me. Just my $.02

2.8 should be fine at that distance. However, where are you placing your focus point? At 2.8 is you focus with the center point and then recompose to move your subjects to the right, your focus will move with the focus point used, meaning you will loose focus. Just use the right focus point.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong :P

pyro1 wrote in post #14874993
Looks like the AF point might have been on her arm and the softness is a result of the shallow DOF. Her arm and leg look in focus to me. Just my $.02

Yeah I agree buddy this is why i said about av point

erikfig wrote in post #14875014
2.8 should be fine at that distance. However, where are you placing your focus point? At 2.8 is you focus with the center point and then recompose to move your subjects to the right, your focus will move with the focus point used, meaning you will loose focus. Just use the right focus point.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong :P

Nope correct sometimes u can get away with it other times u dont like above

jameswillett wrote in post #14874984
Crop makes it look pretty bad. I can post a cropped image if you like?

MK II

Not sure I follow your question, but I changed the AV point to hit the subject instead of focusing and recomposing.

Thanks everyone!

Just watch where u hit the subject like this situation I would of made sure it would of hit her/his face the lens is just grabbing the nearest point imo which is the body which is closest to you

Her legs look in focus, like someone else said. It looks like they're angling backwards which is pushing their heads out of focus. You could easily stop down on the 70-200 at 200 and get plenty of bokeh.

I agree the focus look s as if it was on her arm. Where did you focus?

Thanks everyone. I did switch my focus point to hit their faces prior to running out in the street but its possible I recomposed or something in a hurry since traffic was busy. Going to toss this up to poor skills on my part since shots I took yesterday seem fine....sigh

What we seem to forget is the DoFocus is half in front and half in back of the focus point.
An on-line DoF calculator says that DoF at 20 ft for a 200mm F2.8 on 5DII is .5ft and at 30Ft its 1.14ft. If half is in front and we are focused on the front of the subject that effectively halves the DoF. Which in this case won't get their faces in focus.

I'm with dmward on this one, I have the 70-200 II IS 2.8 and while the 2.8 seems great in theory, you really have to have a DoF calculator or look at one prior to your shoot with basic values you think you might encounter, I too ran into this same issue where I couldn't figure out why this "holy grail" of a lens was producing these soft pics, and especially when you have people side by side, it would get the first person but if the other person was slightly behind them, soft. I recently went to a surfing event and was using the lens at 3.2/4 and my keeper % was probably double what I get when I'm shooting 2.8, it really takes experience to use this lens at 2.8 and 200mm. Keep shooting!