new 70-200 AF issues??

Ok as most of you should know, I got my 70-200L in a week ago and I haven't really posted anything since then about it but I think for sure I have AF problems I will explain.

I used the Lens the very next day, after getting it Fri., at my nephews Bday party. I missed a whole lot of shots with less then 25% keepers (after review the af points were 90% on the spot but shot was out of focus). I was quite pissed and my 17-55 2.8 didn't arrive until Monday of this week, so i didn't really have anything else to shoot with.
So I played the focus problems off on moving kids and my AI drive being set to one shot half of the time, when it should have been set to AI Focus or AI drive.

Move forward to Wed, I have my very first "photo shoot" you know cause I am big time now .. NOT lol

I didn't have enough room to shoot with the 70-200L but the 17-55 really really shined, I was so happy with the shots this thing was taking. Close to the ens of the shoot the woman want to move to her bedroom and I wanted to get some DOF shots so I attached the 70-200L and set flash lighting for F2.8 but there was little available light. I could not get the 70-200L to focus at all! I am thinking well it's just not light enough in here so I turned overhead incandescent light on and still was seeking BAD. I think I got it to chirp once. Another thing I saw that was strange was, it looked like the images shifted from inside the lens. Can't explain it other then it looked like the lens blinked sideways, I also remember it doing it Saturday too. So I popped on the 17-55 and had no issues with AF what so ever. Still got great DOF shots too.
Is there any reason for the frame to shift and that I have a real hard time with AF with the L lens?

(BTW the 4 hour photo shoot Wed with the 17-55 2.8 100% turn out )

Do i need to contact B&H about the lens? is there any secret sauce I need to pour into this L lens to make it taste better? Right now I have a hunk of glass I can't use and quite frankly am afraid to.

What aperture and focal length were you shooting the 17-55 IS at ?

Same question for the 70-200 ?

bohdank wrote in post #7613308
What aperture and focal length were you shooting the 17-55 IS at ?

Same question for the 70-200 ?

Wed. I was in a bed room, already mentioned I was at 2.8, um I was about 6 foot away from subject. I know I was within focusing distance because it did get it to grab once but after five minutes of having a half naked model wait on me to get my gear in gear, I finally swapped out. Although on Saturday, I was using a range of Apertures from 2.8 all the way up to 5.6 and 8 and distances from 10' up to 30' Still missed almost every shoot.

I am a better photographer then that. I am not sinking all this money into this eqip to play around and learn with. I have learned the basics, know my equip and I felt I should have had greater turn out then I did.

However, the 25% or so that I did hit Sat. was dead sharp. Maybe I was out of focus but the image was sharp lol It did seem like it was flip flopped. I hit as many as I would normally miss and I am not to thrilled.

What focal length....

Keep in mind... 70mm/f2.8/6 feet, you only have 3 inches of DOF. Unless YOU stay perfectly still, let alone the subject, between the time you focus and trip the shutter, your shots will be OOF.

Sorry yes I was set at 70mm sorry. But OOF could be an issue lol because i couldn't get the AF to work.

Bohdank i have to ask, is that a pic of you? You see some of these pics and they are obviously are meant to be funny but some are of the actual people. I just have to ask.

Yes, that is me, although now I have close cropped hair.

bohdank wrote in post #7613632
Yes, that is me, although now I have close cropped hair.

capitulation, eh ?

ed rader

Got any pics that you consider to be OOF?

bohdank wrote in post #7613733

i have a full head of gray hair. you know what they say about gray hair, Bohdank ?

ed rader

I'm afraid ro ask

You'd never know it from your avatar

What I have left is "specked" with grey... Ya, that's it, specked.

Are you sure the shots from the party were actually OOF and not suffering from camera shake? If you don't allow the IS to settle for a second or two, the IS will induce "camera shake", even at higher shutter speeds.

The shift you were describing sounds like the IS working.

It sounds like you may have been within the minimum focusing distance in the bedroom, "grabbing once" doesn't mean you weren't too close. You may have been right at the edge.

bohdank wrote in post #7613802
I'm afraid ro ask

You'd never know it from your avatar

What I have left is "specked" with grey... Ya, that's it, specked.

it's hair .

ed rader

To the OP:

I only see you mention once the distance you were shooting at, and then you say 6 feet.

Have you checked the focus limiter on the 70-200? I'm not sure about the 2.8 version, but on my f4 version the min. focusing distance is either 1.3 meters or 3 meters.

Even if you have the switch at the 1.3 setting, is it possible that you were actually inside the lens' minimum focusing distance?