Problem? Me or the EF-S 17-55 F.2.8

I posted this reply to my original post but thought maybe I should start a new one as now topic is different.

I have been test shooting the lens now and "honestly" so far, I don't know how to react. Maybe it's because I and a newbie and because I am use to the kit lens. So far out of the 100 shots I have taken, only a handful are sharp which is worrying me. Like I said, I have much to learn and maybe it's all me (human error). I have posted 5 photos to my PBase gallery. I am adding the link below (sorry if it's not allowed but I am a tad freaking now) Maybe there is something wrong with my lens? Maybe it's me. There is a shot in there that I took of a cleaning bottle, on a tripod, using the camera timer. I did not reduce the file so be warned, its large. Please look and tell me what you think? I also have the same shot with and without IS taken at night. MEGA difference.
Anyway, sorry for the long post . . . I just need you pro's to judge.
http://www.pbase.com/t​ikikity/gallery/efs_17​55_
P.S. - I'm also not liking the lens flare . . . I take many sunrise & sunset photos. Any idea's? Would a hood help?
Thanks
Lisa

they look fine to me. the only one that looks bad is the fantastik bottle and i think it was just misfocused.

Thanks but see, that's the problem. It was dead on focused "on" the fantastic bottle, on a tripod, using the camera timer.

I'm no pro by any means, but I dont like to test my lenses on a tripod...theres just too much chance for camera shake (ie. unstable tripod, shutter slap). I rarely get the sharpest photos with long exposures. Movement was definately a problem with the car pics. The Fantastic bottle looks front focused to me. The top of the bottle seems more in focus than the logo. The cat and the first photo both look pretty sharp to me, albeit its hard to tell with a small print. I would try shooting outside with a shutter speed of 200 or better, to eliminate shake as an issue.

for the bottle shot, how close where you? with a f/2.8 if you were real close that might be the reason for the fuzzy text at the bottom if it just focused on the near top of the bottle? try doing a f-stop of 8,11,16,22 see if it is more in focus that way and step back a little bit??

Just to make sure, the IS is off when you shoot on a tripod, right?

The cat and candle/light look fine.

The car photo probably needs a faster shutter speed, and an increase in ISO if necessary, since you were using .60 seconds (about 1/2 second). That seems way too long (even IS cannot work miracles).

Fantastic bottle? Not sure where you were focusing.

Also, try shooting with some daylight (or good ambient lighting) as a starting point, and have some items with different depths (like a line of 5 batteries at a 45 degree angle). Be very deliberate on where you focus on the middle battery, then look at the results. You might be having a front or back focus problem. If so, you can mistake this for the lens being soft. If you have problems with any of the above, you can stop and get a replacement or calibration.

And I have seen the lens flare issue mentioned before as a problem with this lens. It bothers some, and not others (like me). Lens flare can even create an interesting effect.

Hi Lisa,

I also think the pictures look good. The car at 0.6 s is amazingly sharp for such a shutter speed, even with IS.

The bottle was taken from a tripod, with the timer, you mention. That is not necessarily a good test. You need to use the centre focus point for this, and auto focus shouldn't be operated by hand when using a tripod. The chances are that you can't get it right, unless you use a remote (cable) switch, because of induced shake when pressing the button for auto-focusing. Furthermore, it is best to switch of IS, as IS needs to stabilize before the picture is taken, as you may otherwise introduce IS-induced shake.

IOW, this bottle test isn't a good way to see if the lens is ok when it comes to focusing.

You do need to switch off IS and use a remote cable switch, and preferably mirror lock-up (MLU) too, unless you have an extremely heavy tripod. And as others mention, to test AF it is best to use the AF test chart, a few batteries, or something similar, rather than a single object.

HTH, kind regards, Wim

Thank you everyone for your replies. To answer the question on the Fantastic bottle, yes the IS was turned OFF while on the tripod. The car shots I know are not in focus. I was just showing how GREAT the IS can be. I carefully went to the beach yesterday and took some shots. I have to say I am impressed. I posted 2 new shots to my gallery
http://www.pbase.com/t​ikikity/image/81055583
http://www.pbase.com/t​ikikity/image/81055505

Overall it's a keeper . . I just have much to learn.
Thanks again
Lisa

There is always the comfort of sending it in for calibration. A sense of assurance. I sent my 24-70 in when I first got it with similar concerns and it came back with the same problems .. It was me and my adjustment to the lens.

the bottle photo is front focused, on the top of the neck of the bottle.

I think I'd like to see a few more pictures, preferably with an indication of the focus point. Both new pictures are a little OOF, if you ask me.

Sorry about this.

Kind regards, Wim

MauiTiki wrote in post #3425713
Thanks but see, that's the problem. It was dead on focused "on" the fantastic bottle, on a tripod, using the camera timer.

I think you need a few more tests to see how your XT is focusing with the lens. The XT focus spec is within DOF and it looks as if the bottle shot is right at this extreme (front wise). On my XTi my 17-55 still shows some focus variation even with the Xti's tighter AF spec with faster lenses.

Hi Again

Thank you so much for all your thoughts and suggestions. At times I really think it's just me. I took and added a few more:
http://www.pbase.com/t​ikikity/image/81070413 (crop version)
http://www.pbase.com/t​ikikity/image/81070405 (original)

Wim - no need to say sorry - this is why I am asking for opinions. I double checked both those shots and I have to say on my moniter they were sharp *zoomed in 100%" I wonder since I resized down for PBase if it lost something . . .hmmmm.

Hi Lisa,

MauiTiki wrote in post #3431991
Hi Again

Thank you so much for all your thoughts and suggestions. At times I really think it's just me. I took and added a few more:
http://www.pbase.com/t​ikikity/image/81070413 (crop version)
http://www.pbase.com/t​ikikity/image/81070405 (original)

Wim - no need to say sorry - this is why I am asking for opinions. I double checked both those shots and I have to say on my moniter they were sharp *zoomed in 100%" I wonder since I resized down for PBase if it lost something . . .hmmmm.

Ok, that explains a lot. I think it lost something . You'll need to do your own cropping and resizing, followed by a little USM sharpening for the web, otherwise they will look a little less sharp then the pictures could look. So don't let Pbase do your resizing - it doesn't do the additional step required.

I had a look at the water flowers, and it seems it is focused on the flower just to the right of the middle of the picture. Can you post a full size picture of that, to make it a little easier to see?

I also had another look at the plastic bottle, and it clearly is focused on th ehorizontal depressions in the neck of the bottle, with only a few mm of DoF. This is clear from looking at the table(?) th ebottle is positioned on. So, that looks good to me.

BTW, as an ex-350D owner (I upgraded a few months ago to a 400D, at a fairly low cost to me), I used a specific little trick that helped a lot with accurate focusing on the 350D, namely assigning AF to the * button via Custom Function 4 (CFn 4), and focusing twice. Just set it to option 3 (default is 0). It allows you to focus with the * button i.s.o. a combined action of the shutter button. This also means you can focus more than once to get focus right, before pressing the shutter button. Metering is done still when pressing the shutter button.

I did this, and actually do still on the 400D, with only the center AF button activated. Now, on the 350D, I found that in low light and/or low contrast situations, focusing exactly twice would get focus spot on. This is easy to do if AF is assigned to the * button (second button from the top right at the back of the camera). Also, it means it is easy to focus exactly on the item or subject you want in focus, then reframe for composition, and press the shutter button to take the picture.

Of course this won't help a lot with fast moving subjects, but I do even use it for candid portraits and the like.

Kind regards, Wim