The New EF 50mm f/1.8 STM is here!

05Xrunner wrote in post #17580224
just double checked to make sure its maybe not the body. tried same thing with my 85 1.8, 24-105, and 70-200 and taking multiple shots with them every shot was dead on focus. the 50 is the only one that is all over the place with accuracy. So it seems like it has the same inconsistent AF as the old MKII

That's disappointing - wonder how mine will behave.

Ok! The nifty's AF is not so... nifty, but it's not as bad as people think. I rattled of 12 photos of a mechanical pencil's tip at high FPS/AIServo on the 5DIII which is the most taxing situation for the nifty's AF (near MFD too...).

Here's the general view:

forget AI Servo of a non moving pen...what do 12 shots in one shot look like...nobody would use servo in that situation

By the way several people are getting results like this in AI servo on continuous motor drive on stationary objects. This has happened to me with my 5Dmk3 and 7Dmk2 in AI on stationary objects. Not so much on one shot

use it at a distance. 10feet caused more issues then shooting something like 4feet away
try to shoot photos 1 at a time and after each shot turn the focus ring and refocus and shoot the image. thats how I did it and it was all over

People are bit_ching that the AF is horrible. AIServo is the worst possible choice, it has to refocus from scratch every time. Even then, the results 10/12 in focus and the other two not that far off... In my book is pretty good.

AIFocus and One Shot at high FPS are fine. That's because the AF starts from where the previous shot left off.

By the way, the 60D's less sophisticated AF system nails the focus ALL the time, in AIServo/AIFocus/One Shot.

05Xrunner wrote in post #17581051
use it at a distance. 10feet caused more issues then shooting something like 4feet away
try to shoot photos 1 at a time and after each shot turn the focus ring and refocus and shoot the image. thats how I did it and it was all over

Once you get away from the MFD, things become easier, not harder. I've done all these tests trying to help with the 70D focusing issues by providing placebo type results.

The only situation I haven't tried is fast moving subjects, but I don't normally shoot fast moving subjects at high FPS at f1.8...

By the way, you have to learn the quirks of the nifty's AF. That's why I prefer AIServo. I can listen (and feel) what the AF is trying to do. If it is hunting, you need to help it settle by nodding forward or back, until the hunting is minimized ot gone. You don't point and shoot with 28 year old technology lens on a 2 year old technology body.

I attribute this to the step logic the AF is using. I was hoping that the STM would reduce the step size and hunt less. It may be that the motor is not responding fast enough to the step logic and hence it's hunting.

well maybe you can tell my lens that. it acts much better closer. and its junk further away.
if it cant keep proper focus on a target that is flat on a wall not moving with easy high contrast to focus on then its not reliable in anyway.

I ran out of room to back off... Approximately 10 ft...

just go shoot real stuff.... figure out your lens nouf' said.

MakisM1 wrote in post #17581055
People are bit_ching that the AF is horrible. AIServo is the worst possible choice, it has to refocus from scratch every time. Even then, the results 10/12 in focus and the other two not that far off... In my book is pretty good.

AIFocus and One Shot at high FPS are fine. That's because the AF starts from where the previous shot left off.

By the way, the 60D's less sophisticated AF system nails the focus ALL the time, in AIServo/AIFocus/One Shot.

i'd say out of your first 6 shots, 4 are out of focus(i think 1,3,5,6)...which is a bit troublesome... especially if you're not a person that shoots machine gun style shots...

i'm not sure if my MKI would do any better as i've never really tried...but seeing this makes me wonder if making the jump is really worth it

tried that. Its just as inconsistent with regular shooting. I am bummed I was hoping to have a nice 50mm that was cheap for my little bit of use with it. I thought atleast focus would be accurate

DreDaze wrote in post #17581155
i'd say out of your first 6 shots, 4 are out of focus(i think 1,3,5,6)...which is a bit troublesome... especially if you're not a person that shoots machine gun style shots...

i'm not sure if my MKI would do any better as i've never really tried...but seeing this makes me wonder if making the jump is really worth it

I am not sure you understand.

I am not a person that shoots machine gun style.

I set it to AIServo at high FPS which is the worst possible case for the nifty as an experiment. So you are seeing 12 shots at 100% crop shot consecutively at high FPS. 2 (3,5) are OOF and 2 are softer. Don't forget you are looking at 100% crops.

This by the way is the MkII nifty. Not the STM which I don't have.

When I first got the nifty, 50% of my shots were OOF. I tried to figure it out and for non-moving targets, I can have 99% on-the-spot focus. Occasionally it will miss one.
The 60D does even better (go figure).

05Xrunner wrote in post #17581171
tried that. Its just as inconsistent with regular shooting. I am bummed I was hoping to have a nice 50mm that was cheap for my little bit of use with it. I thought atleast focus would be accurate

You might have a bad copy. Most people seem to say the AF is better than the old version.

I am very happy with mine. I have only done some 5D3 testing at f/1.8 and it seems to nail the focus every time.

Mike, good to know! Thank you. I'll put it in for the next order from B&H...