Should i send my 50L in?

Jeff, I've tested many 50 L in all kinds of subject to camera distance and I've always encountered some form of focus shift and certainly not user error. another possibility is that the 5d mark 2 isn't the best in af. I would definitely swap the lens for another copy.the 85 L delivers the shots with no question in the back of my mind. there's a lot of bad talk about the 50 L but a lot of it is very likely true. I've tested a 50 L that was freshly calibrated and it was truly a disappointment even though canon tech I assured me it was rock solid.

Charlie wrote in post #17011290
I'm convinced it's a weak outer focus point issue

and as for the reason I'm saying it's focus shift for the eye shot, is because it looks to be close to MFA, otherwise the F2.5 DOF would have covered both eyes. It's also a horrible way to test for MFA at such close distances. A shakey hand and/or slight swaying motion by user/subject can change the focus spot in a split second when DOF is that thin.

Well...I might be convinced it's the camera, you might be convinced it's focus shift and others have additional opinions. What no one (other than the OP) has is access to his camera and lenses to experiment and form an exact conclusion based on something other than conjecture and opinion. Really, I think he's at the " send it to Canon" point IMHO.

Charlie wrote in post #17011157
TS's eye shots look to be in that range, shot at 2.5. His first shot would have been the AF point. Outer 6D point, backlit = bound for trouble.

edit: either way, does not look like a good way to test MFA.

Charlie wrote in post #17011290
I'm convinced it's a weak outer focus point issue

and as for the reason I'm saying it's focus shift for the eye shot, is because it looks to be close to MFA, otherwise the F2.5 DOF would have covered both eyes. It's also a horrible way to test for MFA at such close distances. A shakey hand and/or slight swaying motion by user/subject can change the focus spot in a split second when DOF is that thin.

In the comparison Pictures i posted, I actually used the Center Focusing point, I don't know why people keep talking down on the 6D Auto Focus Points. I Owned a T3i, 70D, and now a 6D. I had so many Focus Issues on my 70D to the point i sold it and got a 6D. I have yet to receive problems with the 6D Auto Focus System. I shot a Sunset the other day using each Individual Focus point for each shot and it worked perfectly fine, They were all equally the same in terms of sharpness.

DJHaze596 wrote in post #17008462
Recently got the Canon 50mm 1.2 L and i'm loving it a lot but i had to micro adjust it -20 to get proper focus. My issue is when i take far shots, Most of them are out of focus where the close up shots are perfect. Is this an issue that should be fixed by canon or should i try to Micro Adjust again? I did two attempts using Dot Tune in Magic Lantern and Remotely using EOS utility to give a decent result.

I'm going through the exact same thing. I had to micro adjust to +8. And for some reason, when I shoot from a distance, it seems out of focus. Even when I stop down to 2.8 or even f4. I haven't had any problems with my 24-70 or my 70-200. Debating whether or not I should send it in...

Chiggs wrote in post #17012070
I'm going through the exact same thing. I had to micro adjust to +8. And for some reason, when I shoot from a distance, it seems out of focus. Even when I stop down to 2.8 or even f4. I haven't had any problems with my 24-70 or my 70-200. Debating whether or not I should send it in...

Try that with a different 50L. Dont be too suprised if you find majority like that....not bashing the lens, I'm just stating my experiences too.

DJHaze596 wrote in post #17008734
Shouldn't matter, I don't have a focus issue with the 6D whether i use the Center point or the outer points and i did exactly that with the sunset, I took a good 20 Pictures using each focus point individually, I even adjusted the shutter for shaky hands, I pretty much did everything and all the pictures are exactly the same in terms of focus. It's front focusing due to the -20 Micro Adjust, Look at the water in the foreground or the right side of the image. It's much sharper even though i focused on the Houses in the distance.

So looking at that image, To shoot Landscapes, I need to leave it at 0, but for Portrait Work, I need to do -20. I shouldn't have to do that.

Edit: Just tried my 135L and it does the exact same thing, Could it be the Camera??? Right now both lenses are set to -24 which gives perfect focus on my Girlfriend's eye Wide Open and when stopped down, its even better. Now i go to shoot the Amazon font on their Box and its soft. Doesn't matter the distance whether i'm up close or far away although far away is a lot worse. I than switched back to Default 0 and now The Amazon Font is tack sharp. But now i go to take a picture of my Girlfriend's Eye and its back Focusing. I'm taking the center focusing point and aiming it exactly in the center of her eye ball. and the eye lashes to the left of her eye ie towards the side of her face are tack sharp while her eye ball is soft. I just don't get it. So frustrating.

If you have it with both lenses, it likely is a camera body problem.

I'd suggest sending it in to Canon, with your lenses.

HTH, kind regards, Wim

AlanU wrote in post #17012328
Try that with a different 50L. Dont be too suprised if you find majority like that....not bashing the lens, I'm just stating my experiences too.

If you see this, check the focus micro-adjustment.

Running Focal with a target about 3m away gave an adjust setting of -11 (on a 5DIII). However, focus was erratic (some very sharp, a lot not), and particularly bad at longer distances (off by several meters with the outer focus points).

So I re-did the calibration by hand and got a result of +3. Suddenly the lens is completely different, and focuses accurately both near and far and with the outer focus points.

Micro-focus adjust with the 50L appears to be much harder than with any other lens I own, possibly because of the effect of spherical aberrations at relatively close shooting distances.

TransientEye wrote in post #17014051
If you see this, check the focus micro-adjustment.

Running Focal with a target about 3m away gave an adjust setting of -11 (on a 5DIII). However, focus was erratic (some very sharp, a lot not), and particularly bad at longer distances (off by several meters with the outer focus points).

So I re-did the calibration by hand and got a result of +3. Suddenly the lens is completely different, and focuses accurately both near and far and with the outer focus points.

Micro-focus adjust with the 50L appears to be much harder than with any other lens I own, possibly because of the effect of spherical aberrations at relatively close shooting distances.

Really? that sound so bizarre but I believe you.

Just an update. So, I decided to send my 50L to canon...and WOW. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! The lens is so damn sharp. I micro adjusted to -4. And it's fantastic!

Thats cool. Just out of curiosity, what did it cost you? Mine is still under warranty, and I'm MFA'd at -15. I've been debating about doing the same.

Curious in the price also.

If it's under warranty, it should be free. Otherwise, I think it's something like $200-250. If you send the camera body with lens, MFA should be 0 after you get it back. At least that's been my experience.

The 50L is not a strange beast as the internet seems to say. In addtion, there is nothing wrong with the lens that Canon needs to fix. The DOF at f1.2 is crazy thin and any shakey hands, fast breathing or whatever, will cause all kinds of OOF shots. Also DON'T focus and recompose and use ONE SHOT only to lock focus. AI SERVO and one tap on BBF will not lock focus no matter what the internet says. Finally, focus shift occurs with this lens between f2.8 and f4 and most of the time, you are not going to notice.

The 50L is designed to phtography people on the street. No kids running around chasing the dog in the backyard, no macro phtography. Lastly for the MFA jockeys, when you MFA a lens, the MFA number is registered in the body. Simply disabling or zeroing out the MFA value doesn't make it go away. To de- register a MFA value, you must trash the number while in the MFA screen and this will de-register the value. Otherwise, the camera will apply the registered MFA value everytime the lens is used regardless of disabling the MFA function.

To the OP, +/- 24 is not normal for any lens and the lens should be sent to the Canon Dr. Remember what MFA stands for.....microadjustmen​t or tweaking. BTW, the 50L is a great lens. One of my favourites

notastockpikr wrote in post #17111018
The 50L is not a strange beast as the internet seems to say. In addtion, there is nothing wrong with the lens that Canon needs to fix. The DOF at f1.2 is crazy thin and any shakey hands, fast breathing or whatever, will cause all kinds of OOF shots. Also DON'T focus and recompose and use ONE SHOT only to lock focus. AI SERVO and one tap on BBF will not lock focus no matter what the internet says. Finally, focus shift occurs with this lens between f2.8 and f4 and most of the time, you are not going to notice.

The 50L is designed to phtography people on the street. No kids running around chasing the dog in the backyard, no macro phtography. Lastly for the MFA jockeys, when you MFA a lens, the MFA number is registered in the body. Simply disabling or zeroing out the MFA value doesn't make it go away. To de- register a MFA value, you must trash the number while in the MFA screen and this will de-register the value. Otherwise, the camera will apply the registered MFA value everytime the lens is used regardless of disabling the MFA function.

To the OP, +/- 24 is not normal for any lens and the lens should be sent to the Canon Dr. Remember what MFA stands for.....microadjustmen​t or tweaking. BTW, the 50L is a great lens. One of my favourites

This is pretty spot on with how to use this lens. The problem with mine is that it's in focus at f/1.2, but the same shot at even f/4 is not, sometimes. And this is not the close distance focus shift issue, this is normal subjects that are anywhere from 3 feet to 10 feet away. I have better luck from f/1.2-1.8 than I do from f/2.8-4.

hiketheplanet wrote in post #17111103
This is pretty spot on with how to use this lens. The problem with mine is that it's in focus at f/1.2, but the same shot at even f/4 is not, sometimes. And this is not the close distance focus shift issue, this is normal subjects that are anywhere from 3 feet to 10 feet away. I have better luck from f/1.2-1.8 than I do from f/2.8-4.

As I indicated, you are experiencing focus shift and especially at those distances. You will not see focus shift at f1.2 because the lens is wide open. The 50L doesn't have a floating elemnet because the designers wanted as much bokeh as possible. Try shooting at f4.5 or f5 amd you'll probably see more in focus shots.

I shoot this lens because of the bokeh and always between f1.2 and f2.8. Another popular misconception about this lens is that the more you stop down, the sharper things get. There is no sweet spot aperture and the stop down sharper axium doesn't apply here.

Shoot subjects the way the lens was designed and avoid trying to make the 50L do things it was not designed to do and you'll enjoy it much more.