Am I crazy?

Wait... don't answer that.

I have a 20D with a 50 f/1.8 and a 24-105 f/4L. I just recently purchased the 24-105 because my old (28-105 f/3.5-5.6) seemed to be giving me more and more OOF pictures. I seem to STILL be getting many OOF pictures even with these two reliable, new lenses.

I thought maybe it had something to do with my technique, but I have been doing this for many years and have never had the focus problems I'm having now. Everything seems to be slightly off.

The last few photo sessions I have been diligent in setting the focus point on the eyes of my subject and NOT re-composing, which is not how I work, but I have been trying to make sure that when I recompose I'm not changing the angle of the camera. So... that being said, I still have OOF pictures. Sometimes I can't find anywhere in the picture that IS in focus, sometimes I'll find an area that seems sharp, but I did not set as my focus point. I don't often use the center focus point, rather one of the side points that would allow my subject's eyes to be in one of the "thirds" of the frame.

I took some stills of a flower the other night with my 24-105, at 105mm, manual focus set on macro and just moved the camera "in and out" to focus, and achieved super results. However, this technique is not practical when shooting people, particularly children.

If you are still reading, thank you. Does this sound like a camera issue or an issue with my technique?

Oh, and one more thing - i have been noticing small pink dots on in the same spot on every image - seems like a dust issue, but using the camera's "sensor clean" function has not taken care of it. Any suggestions?

Thanks a million,
Erin

How long have you had your 20D? Because Canon sensor dust looks like dust bunnies, no color. You may have a sensor issue.

Probably if we saw a couple examples, or technical settings, can then confirm it's definitely user/camera/technique.

I personally use only centre point focus, CF-04 mode (focus with *) and recompose after focusing on eyes. Even if the plane of focus moves by 5cm, with F8 or so, it realy shouldn't matter. Shooting wide open however will make it more obvious, but also lens aren't always as sharp at this point. Usually 2 stops down is where they hit their sweet spot.

PS> Sensor clean, DOESN'T clean the sensor. Instead it exposes it, so you can clean it yourself. (at your own risk!)

Let's see some sample pics with EXIF information.
Also, how are you cleaning the sensor? With a blower? Liquid based?

You do know that the 20D doesn't have the sensor removal system that the 400D and newer bodies have right? All it does is raises the mirror. You still have to clean it yourself. (Sorry if you already know this...just covering all bases here!)

Do you select the AF point yourself or let the camera select for you?

Its about 2 years old - I will try and find an example of my "little pink dots" and post it.

SuzyView wrote in post #3783009
How long have you had your 20D? Because Canon sensor dust looks like dust bunnies, no color. You may have a sensor issue.

Gosh, I feel stupid - I thought the sensor cleaned itself - I thought I read that it vibrated upon power up (??) and that was its way of cleaning itself. Geez... well, what is the best way to clean it then?

I will post some samples with EXIF for focus issues... thanks everyone...

Use a rocket blower, no can stuff, please. That opens a whole new thread.

Turn on the sensor clean, it will tell you on the LCD that you must have battery power and turn off when you are done. Say yes. Then take your lens off, turn camera to cavity side down, blow up. Sensor is exposed, mirror locked. If you blow it while it's upside down like that, the dust comes out. Blow it about 10 times, without touching the sensor. Then put the lens back on and turn the camera off. You will hear the mirror going back into position.

Okay, here's an example. This has NO PP, just converted from raw to jpeg. There's the full frame and close-up of her eyes.

Let me know if you need another example.

thanks..

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Here's the exif

Camera Model Name
Canon EOS 20D
Shooting Date/Time
8/14/2007 06:39:02
Tv(Shutter Speed)
1/800Sec.
Av(Aperture Value)
F2.2
Metering Modes
Centerweighted average metering
Exposure Compensation
0
ISO Speed
200
Lens
50mm
Focal Length
50.0 mm
Image size
3504 x 2336
Image Quality
RAW
Flash
Off
White Balance
Auto
AF mode
One-Shot AF

So this one was with the 50mm 1.8 @ f2.2.
Shutter speed was definitely not an issue.
Do you know that you have a good copy of the 50?
The fifty is known to be somewhat soft wide-open and I would guess even at f2.2...

Do you have any shots that are stopped down to say f4 for instance?

Center focus or evaluative or partial. That really is fuzzy, though. It's the 50 1.8, it looks like.

Hard to tell from the full shot, but it looks like the bricks at the right are in better focus than anything else.

I can't get any focus points in file viewer...

-js

How do I know if I have a good copy of the 50?

I'll check to see if I have any shots stopped down more...

thanks!

nicksan wrote in post #3783180
So this one was with the 50mm 1.8 @ f2.2.
Shutter speed was definitely not an issue.
Do you know that you have a good copy of the 50?
The fifty is known to be somewhat soft wide-open and I would guess even at f2.2...

Do you have any shots that are stopped down to say f4 for instance?

I selected a specific focus - I guess that would be considered partial? It wasn't centered - I set the focus on her face (eyes).

thanks!

SuzyView wrote in post #3783194
Center focus or evaluative or partial. That really is fuzzy, though. It's the 50 1.8, it looks like.