Help with new Canon 24-70L F2.8 Lens

Will someone please look at these pictures and tell me if these look good or kinda soft with a new Canon 24-70L F2.8 on my 50D. I've just got this lens and not sure if I really like it or is it just not setup correctly. I use to have a Sigma 28-70 F2.8 that seemed to take much sharper pictures.

Thanks
David

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It looks like your focused on the bricks behind them in the first picture and in the 2nd one focus also looks to be behind them.


Looks easily fixed with the micro adjustment. Grab a few batterys, line them up and see what you get. I was able to adjust each of my lens in just a few mins each very easily.

In the second one the bush looks sharper than the kids.

Couple important points:
1) I cannot really look at a web sized image and judge sharpness. Though the fact that these tiny images look soft tells me that they are in fact super soft. There is a problem.
2) Next time give us the full image downsized and then also a 100% crop of the part of the image that you focussed on. This way we can judge sharpness well.

The brick takes a little getting used to. Looks like you are not quite focusing on the subjects. Second shot looks better.

Seriously adorable in deed!

Space wrote in post #6961020
The brick takes a little getting used to. Looks like you are not quite focusing on the subjects. Second shot looks better.

I've often heard this said about this lens, but can't see what difference it makes.

Surely it's just a lens, and you need to focus it properly like any other lens

"Takes getting used to" is only valid when going from a smaller aperture to a significantly larger one, IMHO.

Thanks for all the suggestions and comments, I'll try it out a little longer.
David

cdifoto wrote in post #6962510
"Takes getting used to" is only valid when going from a smaller aperture to a significantly larger one, IMHO.

I did wonder if that was the case, It seems that everytime this lens crops up in a 'is this lens soft' thread, people come out with the "It takes some getting used to..." comment - I just wondered if it didn't focus properly or something

NinetyEight wrote in post #6962544
I did wonder if that was the case, It seems that everytime this lens crops up in a 'is this lens soft' thread, people come out with the "It takes some getting used to..." comment - I just wondered if it didn't focus properly or something

I think it's psychological. Most people live such sad boring dull lives that they feel like they need to be the conqueror of something.

"I can use an 85L wide open...cuz I whipped it!"

Guys the OP had as Sigma 28-70 f/2.8 he was happy with, I don't think he "needs to get used to" a lens that's only 4mm wider???

Both shots look out of focus!
1st was 42mm - 1/320 - f/6.3 - ISO200
2nd was 24mm - 1/200 - f/7.1 - ISO200

So its clearly not a "getting used to" narrow DOF situation, its clearly not a case of it being poor at one end and good at the other. In this case "the brick" looks like a bit of a paperweight.

As you have tried it in the real world, and it looks like the focus is off I would suggest......
1. Pick the focus point instead of using them all. I'm guessing if you shooting in P its possible that you have all focus points left on.
2. Don't focus recompose, as that will induce focus errors
3. If shooting moving targets or you tend to sway back and forth when shooting, try put the camera on AI-servo focus mode instead of one-shot.
4. Do a quick battery test in good light to see do you have any focus errors with the lens. If you look around these forums, you will find many cases of "the Brick" (aka 24-70 L) needing 1 or 2 trips to canon servicing to go from paperweight to brick status

Once its working at its best you should be pretty happy with it.

there is a little adjustment as the 24-70L Is quite heavy (heavier then the sigma 28-70).

minhi wrote in post #6964096
there is a little adjustment as the 24-70L Is quite heavy (heavier then the sigma 28-70).

Granted the Sigma 28-70 is 510g the Canon 24-70L is 910g (about double the other lens and double the weight of the 50d its attached to)

But not that much adjustment that you can't get a sharp shot at f/6.3 and 43mm which is a huge window of DOF (approximately 1.2 meters DOF from 3 meters away, the kids are not even that tall!), and the shutter was 4.72 times higher than needed to cope with camera shake.

Its time to stop making excuses for it because its an "L" and judge it just like you would a Sigma 24-70 or a Tamron 28-75. We are talking about a lens that can't be focused and is not used close to wide open. Show me a thread where someone with a non-L could not get a sharp shot from a 2.8 lens at f/5.6 at one end of the zoom and also in the middle of the zoom and was told "It takes getting used to" thats a joke right?

The facts
1. Its harder to miss the DOF at f/6.3 and 43mm than it is to hit it.
2. If this was a Sigma/Tamron/Tokina people would be saying send it in or return it (and "should have bought the L" :rolleyes
3. The OP took both shots in P, so we can't blame them for using the wrong settings, and the EXIF data shows us more than enough shutter speed and aperture for the situation
4. The only variable we don't know is how the OP went about focusing, which if the lens is good and working as designed is the only thing left that could explain the issue.

Plenty of people are quite rightly making that point. If its not down to how the OP focused, then its yet another bad copy of the 24-70L.

I find that my 24-70L looks soft at times. I find that the 24-70 focuses very slowly due to the macro. I wish there was a limiter. The images do look a little soft, actually a lot soft at the given aperture.

I got a new 24-70L f/2.8 in late November. Got in back from Canon service around Dec. 16 and I'm currently waiting for the shipping labels to send it to them for another try. I tried all sorts of things (tripods, timer, different bodies, etc.) and it's just plain not good.

I'm going to keep having them fix the lens until it works acceptable. In my opinion, those shots you posted are NOT acceptable.