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09/30/2011 08:38:45 PM · #1 |
I have a canon 17-40L. Most people I know or have talked with rave about this lens and how wonderful it is for portraiture, etc.
I hate it.
I hated it the first time I shot with it.
I hated it the second time I shot with it.
I've hated it every time I've shot with it.
The shots, no matter how well exposed or "steady" come out soft unless I am around the 28mm mark and less than 10 ft away from my subject.
This last weekend, I had to shoot in extremely low lighting and most of the shots are soft -- passable at 4x6 range, but it is driving me crazy.
The kicker? In the exact same lighting, the horizontal shots are sharper (not perfect, but noticeably different).
Could it be something loose on the lens? Could it be a bad lens?
It's technically not mine, but on a kinda permanent loan from my sister, so I don't have the warranty information, or anything like that. Getting it repaired, if need be is possible, but I think I'd rather just get a different lens for the wider end. |
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09/30/2011 11:22:46 PM · #2 |
It's MUCH easier for most people to hold a camera steady in horizontal orientation than in vertical... I get WAY more sharp pictures when handholding landscape rather than portrait. Or did, before I got the IS lenses. That does help. A lot of it has to do with how you grasp the barrel of the lens, and the rest is what you do with your right elbow. More or less... Maybe that's not it at all. What do I know?
I do love my 17-40 though :-)
R.
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10/01/2011 10:08:02 AM · #3 |
First, it certainly *is* possible that something is loose or misaligned. While the 17-40 is not perfect, most of the softness is in the corners, where you aren't even imaging with the 30D.
I do agree with Robert, but I also assume you have ruled out shake as the major source of trouble? It would be good to see some pics with 100% crops to judge.
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10/01/2011 03:42:39 PM · #4 |
| You can try something like Testing Camera Lenses to help diagnose the problem. The "less than 10 ft away from my subject" part could indicate that the focusing is off, like it can't focus all the way to infinity. |
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10/01/2011 11:34:08 PM · #5 |
| Do you get the same shift in landscape versus portrait focal softness when shooting from a tripod? If you do then I would think Fritz is right and that one of the elements is loose. |
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10/01/2011 11:36:01 PM · #6 |
The softness is throughout the image -- not just the edges. At first, I thought it was just something funky with how I focus then re-compose or something.
But, it's soft even with a tripod and timer. :( I'll try to post something at 100% so you can see or tell me i'm crazy.
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10/01/2011 11:42:34 PM · #7 |
That's an interesting link. I may try that.
Would the flash be making it do something wonky? |
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