Canon ef 28-135 3.5-5.6 IS Lens sharpness/focus issues on 30D

This is the only lens I got with my 30D so I don't have any other lenses for reference. No matter what I do(settings), i can't really get the pics to come out "sharp". Most seem really soft. I take lot of pics at night under artificial lightning..buildings, etc and at 28 the sharpness is just average..at 135 it gets even more blurry. Maybe this isn't a good lens for night shots? It takes excellent day shots and night time shots with flash come out good too but I'm a non-flash user. I'm headed to Vegas in 3 weeks and was considering another lens maybe?? I want to get the casinos and hotels as sharp as possible.

Most of my pics also seem like the focus is centered no matter what metering mode I put it in.. with my Nikon D50, the pics come out clear and sharp on a 18-55 Nikkor lens all over even at night.. edges come out soft on the 30D. Any help/suggestions are much appreciated.. Thanks in advance!!

Bobby

What type of shutter speeds are you using? Maybe you are compensating for the lack of light with slow shutter speeds resulting in image blur?

naaaa it's not the shutter speed either.. I dunno..maybe thats the way the lens is. i was reading up on the lens and many have said their pics come out soft. Some say its a average lens and others say its a awesome lens. Here are some samples I took.. edges look blurry no mater what metering mode the camera is set at:

On this one the right side of the building is much "sharper"... 30D

Your samples with the 28-135 are certainly softer than those taken with the Nikon. Having said that, I have been using the 28-135 as my walk-around lens for months, including thousands of shots at WDW, and I have not had any problems with focus or softness, relative to other lenses that I own. Perhaps I lucked out, or perhaps you have had bad luck with yours, but I am very happy with the one I have.

The lens under warranty? Send it back to Canon. It obviously needs calibration. Although, to be 100% sure, try another lens on the 30D first, but I doubt it's the camera.

I know my 28-135 isn't good for low light, or atleast i'm not good with it in low light. I'm suspecting that first shot you posted, unless it was on a tripod is soft because you had a shutter speed of 1/8 at 90mm, even if IS is on, that's pretty slow

The 28-135 isn't the most praised about lens. I know this is probably not what you want to hear, but I'de look for a lens more ideal to your shooting style and overall sharper. The Canon 24-105L although pricey is one hell of a lens.

what I'll do is try my co-coworkers 28-135 lens (same lens) and see if there is any difference. I'm then going to shoot a few subjects with the Nikon D50 and then the Canon 30D with the same settings. I'll post them up and you guys can probably shed some light on sharpness. I've had the camera for a couple months and I bought the lens off my cousin because he wanted to go bigger and badder so i dont think its under warranty. I honestly don't think anything is wrong with the camera or lens but ya, it could be anything. I'll keep you guys posted.. thanks!! I'll post up the comparisons in the crtique corner

I used the same lens on my friends rebel Xt. It was great in the daylight but at low light situation, it performed poorly. All the pictures came out very soft. I think its normal for this lens even with IS. For the same price range I think you should get the sigm 17-70. Its a lot sharper in low light situation. GOOD LUCK!!!!

My copy seems to be somewhere in the middle. It's not so much soft as not tack sharp. I have used it a lot, but I now use my Sigma 105 Macro lens in a lot of the situations I would normally use the 28-135, because the Sig, for whatever reasons, is just that much sharper. I will be sending mine in for calibration soon though, cause I do like it as a walkaround.

Well I tried my co-workers lens and it did the exact same thing. He has a 30D as well and his pics lok exactly like mine. Mines me feel much better!! He does have the 18-55 kit lens too that I will try later. I got on Photoshop CS2 and turned up the sharpness and the pics look crisp

All the sample shots with the 28-135 were shot at f/5.6 or wider. My 28-135 does not perform that well wide open, but is much better if I stop down to f/8 smaller.

The Nikon shots were taken with an 18-55 lens that is made for APS sized digital sensors only. The image circle is not large enough to cover a full frame sensor. The Canon 28-135 is a good consumer grade lens for full frame cameras. Unfortunately when you design a reasonably priced lens to cover a full frame you have to compromise more than if you design a similarly priced lens that only has to cover a smaller sensor. This is especially noticeable at wide open apertures that make more use of the outer portions of the glass. If you stop down a stop or two you are using less of the outer portions of the glass and image quality tends to be better.

ScottE wrote in post #2241162
All the sample shots with the 28-135 were shot at f/5.6 or wider. My 28-135 does not perform that well wide open, but is much better if I stop down to f/8 smaller.

The Nikon shots were taken with an 18-55 lens that is made for APS sized digital sensors only. The image circle is not large enough to cover a full frame sensor. The Canon 28-135 is a good consumer grade lens for full frame cameras. Unfortunately when you design a reasonably priced lens to cover a full frame you have to compromise more than if you design a similarly priced lens that only has to cover a smaller sensor. This is especially noticeable at wide open apertures that make more use of the outer portions of the glass. If you stop down a stop or two you are using less of the outer portions of the glass and image quality tends to be better.

well said!! I love my lens and people love it too just by looking at it LOL.. but I am going to shop around for a "smaller" lens..maybe a 18-55 or the likes. That way I can start building my collection of lenses like you guys

BTW..How "good" is the 18-55 kit lens that comes with the 30d.. is it comparable to the 18-55 nikon nikkor lens in sharpness??

I would forgo the 18-55 Canon for it is a "Kit Lens" and shoots soft images through out most of it's range. A 17-85 IS lens would be a good start.