Have I got a soft copy of 24-70L?

Nothing wrong with the lens from these new pics :)

But that doesn't really explain why your other images were so poor. It looks like simple mis-focusing. I wonder, did you manually focus any of those other images? Is the eye-piece correction adjusted correctly for you?

Try centre-point AF, and lock the focus on the subject with a half-press on the shutter release. Re-frame to compose, and squeeze the shutter. If either you or the subject moves even slightly (eg portrait) you must always refocus.
 
I agree based on these shots there does not seem to be anything wrong! But this was under controlled light, with flash, only around two metres away and the ETTL autofucus assist beam is a lot more powerful than the camera's so this may of assisted in this test.

I'm happy with the results but i'm still not sure that it is all solved! there is something at play here. I will try another test without the flash! but after work!

Matt
 
I have to agree, they look pretty similar. Although the 24-70 is still soft. If that was a nikon 24-70 the both would look soft in comparison (I'm a canon user)
 
What you've established is that there is nothing wrong with the sharpness of the lens. It is not a bad copy in that sense.

There are only two other possible explanations for soft pictures - mis-focusing, or camera shake. I don't think it's camera shake because that produces a distinct kind of blurring which is visible when it's responsible for the extent of unsharpness you've posted. My guess is that it's a focusing technique issue, not a camera problem, which prompted the suggestions above in post #42.
 
something is wrong, at f4 they should both be pretty much in the sweet spot of their resolution. If I were you I'd get the body checked but before that, get outside and take some shots at really high shutter speeds.
 
I've had amazingly sharp images out of my 50mm f/1.4. Whilst I'd hope the 24-70 is going to be nice and sharp I can't see how it can be as sharp as the 50mm.

One day I'll find out, the 24-70 is on the wishlist.
 
HoppyUK said:
What you've established is that there is nothing wrong with the sharpness of the lens. It is not a bad copy in that sense.

There are only two other possible explanations for soft pictures - mis-focusing, or camera shake. I don't think it's camera shake because that produces a distinct kind of blurring which is visible when it's responsible for the extent of unsharpness you've posted.[S3]My guess is that it's a focusing technique issue, not a camera problem[/S3], which prompted the suggestions above in post #42.
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I would usually agree but the camera was on a tripod mirrorlock was on and and three second timer was activated and the centre auto focus box was firmly clamped onto the Autoglym sign on the bottle! OK the shutter speed was quite slow but thats what I thought tripod's were for!

I don't know what I could of done differently.
 
onform said:
I would usually agree but the camera was on a tripod mirrorlock was on and and three second timer was activated and the centre auto focus box was firmly clamped onto the Autoglym sign on the bottle! OK the shutter speed was quite slow but thats what I thought tripod's were for!

I don't know what I could of done differently.
Click to expand...

Silly question Matt, but was the IS on?
 
onform said:
I would usually agree but the camera was on a tripod mirrorlock was on and and three second timer was activated and the centre auto focus box was firmly clamped onto the Autoglym sign on the bottle! OK the shutter speed was quite slow but thats what I thought tripod's were for!

I don't know what I could of done differently.
Click to expand...

You could have used the 10 second timer Matt - 3 seconds isn't very long for the camera to settle down after you've pressed the shutter by hand.
 
I could be wrong but when you activate mirror lock up and then use the timer function it automatically locks on 3 sec's.
 
onform said:
I could be wrong but when you activate mirror lock up and then use the timer function it automatically locks on 3 sec's.
Click to expand...

It doesn't on the 40D, but that's setting the 10 second timer before setting mirror lock up.
 
onform said:
I would usually agree but the camera was on a tripod mirrorlock was on and and three second timer was activated and the centre auto focus box was firmly clamped onto the Autoglym sign on the bottle! OK the shutter speed was quite slow but thats what I thought tripod's were for!

I don't know what I could of done differently.
Click to expand...

The shot of the coloured blocks proves that there is nothing wrong with lens sharpness, camera shake is not an issue because you used flash, and one way or another it's been correctly focused. Camera and lens function 100%.

Whatever is wrong with your other photos, is an intermittent fault. And it has to be said that the most likely intermittent function is the user. Sorry!

Shoot a number of pictures in good light, at different focusing distances from near to far. Choose nicely detailed subjects for the AF point with a bit of contrast for it to lock on to, and try to focus on things that are square to the camera, rather than at angle that might confuse the AF. Set f/4 so that depth of field will be reduced and you can see clearly where the point of focus is. Don't let the shutter speed drop below 1/200sec, higher is possible, and increase the ISO to make sure you get this.

Use centre point AF and ensure that whatever you're focusing on more than covers the AF point. The AF points are usually a bit bigger than the square in the viewfinder and it's possible they can pick up on something just outside - unlikely, but eliminate that risk. Once you've locked focus, make sure that neither you nor the subject moves!

Check your results. On a simple test like this, you should score perfect focus 100% every time, time after time.

Just to double check, do you ever use manual focus, and is the eye-piece correction properly adjusted for you?

Good luck!
 
bring this thread up as I think my 24-70 2.8 L is a bit soft. i havent had a chance to look at it in great detail, but will post some test shots soonish.
 
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