Lens Issue???

SeagullSteve

SeagullSteve

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Name
Steve
Edit My Images
Yes
I have a Canon 550D and have just purchased a 100-400L to go with it. Generally I'm really pleased with the lens and the results I'm getting, however I think I might have a problem, certainly something is showing in high contast images.

Two from yesterday both heavy crops to show show the problem:-

If you look at the terns head, there is a distinct blurring between the white body and the black head:
4484576973_8c3a2a4c0d_o.jpg


With the Grebe there is a halo in front of the neck:
4485227828_c1e4f7e1a1_o.jpg


What do people think - lens, body, combination?
 
That does look a bit strange, your shutter speeds look ok (1000+)

Have you done any pp on these shots? Are you able to post the images full size? I would say they are out of focus.
 
Those both look pretty soft to me! How big a crop are we talking about here? If you could post the originals, that would be a great help.

It's quite common to get fringing (called 'chromatic abberation', but spelled differently/correctly ;)) around areas of high contrast, as where you have bright white and dark black.
 
I could almost bet money both of them are out of focus. Can you focus with liveview manually and then compare the results? If it is still no good then the lens calls for a trip to service centre.
 
SeagullSteve said:
Ok Fuill size, unedited, straight from the camera jpg of the Tern
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4007/4485350262_e88a99e9d0_o.jpg

and of the Grebe
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2679/4485347158_cb27997e45_o.jpg

There is a lens protector on - its a Hoya Pro 1

I could accept that the Tern is out of focus - fast moving and I was trying to get to grips with the camera/lens combo, but the Grebe was very slow moving and I had AF servo on.

And Chris, if I knew how to edit the title I would.
Click to expand...

Hmm, using AI servo might be to blame. Did you select one focus point, or did you let the camera choose?
 
i think iv,e seen this before in a pair of bino,s one of the prism,s had been knocked out of alignment, possibly a lens group moved. :shrug:
 
chris321 said:
Hmm, using AI servo might be to blame. Did you select one focus point, or did you let the camera choose?
Click to expand...

none of this shot is sharp, so i dont think it matters which focal point you choose. as it didn,t focus sharp anywhere. :shrug:
 
chris321 said:
Hmm, using AI servo might be to blame. Did you select one focus point, or did you let the camera choose?
Click to expand...

Can't recall as I was messing round so much trying to get used to lens/camera.


Mike.P said:
Was it bought from a UK dealer or is it a Ebay special?
Click to expand...

Nope, it was a dealer bought on - Jacobs in Leicester.


dinorock said:
i think iv,e seen this before in a pair of bino,s one of the prism,s had been knocked out of alignment, possibly a lens group moved. :shrug:
Click to expand...

b****r - hope not - brand new lens.
 
Does it happen with any other lenses?
 
It might be a good idea to get back to basics and take some controlled shots. I would remove the filter, set it all up on a tripod, and take some shots of a still object at say 20 meters away. If these are ok, try some closer and some further away. Again, if they are ok, introduce the filter to the lens again and take the same shots just in case the filter is the culprit. It might be that the camera lens combo needs micro adjustment (if the 550D has this facility), but check it all out first.
Failing all that, I would suspect that the lens is at fault.
Good luck, the 100-400 is a cracking lens when its working right.
 
SeagullSteve said:
I've only got one other - 15-85 and that seems fine.



Let me go have a look. Only had it since Tuesday so not taken many pics yet.
Click to expand...

please tell me when you bought it you took a few shots and had a quick "chimp" to check it was sharp :bang:
 
Trev4 said:
It might be a good idea to get back to basics and take some controlled shots. I would remove the filter, set it all up on a tripod, and take some shots of a still object at say 20 meters away. If these are ok, try some closer and some further away. Again, if they are ok, introduce the filter to the lens again and take the same shots just in case the filter is the culprit. It might be that the camera lens combo needs micro adjustment (if the 550D has this facility), but check it all out first.
Failing all that, I would suspect that the lens is at fault.
Good luck, the 100-400 is a cracking lens when its working right.
Click to expand...

Agree-also try it with/without the IS on
 
Trev4 said:
It might be a good idea to get back to basics and take some controlled shots. I would remove the filter, set it all up on a tripod, and take some shots of a still object at say 20 meters away. If these are ok, try some closer and some further away. Again, if they are ok, introduce the filter to the lens again and take the same shots just in case the filter is the culprit. It might be that the camera lens combo needs micro adjustment (if the 550D has this facility), but check it all out first.
Failing all that, I would suspect that the lens is at fault.
Good luck, the 100-400 is a cracking lens when its working right.
Click to expand...

I'll try setting something up over the weekend - if I get chance, might have to be Monday.


dinorock said:
please tell me when you bought it you took a few shots and had a quick "chimp" to check it was sharp :bang:
Click to expand...

err - that'll be a no. Still it's from a UK shop so if it's faulty it will go back.


Les McLean said:
Agree-also try it with/without the IS on
Click to expand...

I'll add that to the mix when I do - although I though IS was meant to be off when on a tripod?
 
To me, the whole shot doesn't look right, the heron isn't as sharp as a 100-400 should be, and the background looks pretty funny (a watercolour was the first thing that sprang to mind!).

My first guess would be a dodgy filter, but if that's not the case then the lens might have something misaligned. Can you take the filter off and just take a few photos round the house? It should be pretty obvious if it's the filter or lens from just doing that. If the body is fine with other lenses, you've already narrowed it down to only 2 possibilities!
 
SeagullSteve said:
Found one of a Heron - it looks sharp to me. Lens mounted on a mono pod for the shot and a fairly high shutter speed, with IS switched on.

If you look around the head there seems to be a halo, especially infront of the neck.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2736/4484781293_c271c5ed50_b.jpg
Click to expand...

That shot does look odd especially the wood sticking up in the foreground.

If I'd been asked about this shot I might have suggested that some HDR had been used.

Definitely very odd.

And most definitely not the usual performance of these lenses which are usually quite exceptional.
 
SeagullSteve said:
Found one of a Heron - it looks sharp to me. Lens mounted on a mono pod for the shot and a fairly high shutter speed, with IS switched on.

If you look around the head there seems to be a halo, especially infront of the neck.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2736/4484781293_c271c5ed50_b.jpg
Click to expand...

Sorry to contradict you Steve, but the Heron isnt sharp, its out of focus in my opinion. There is a halo but no where near as serious as the first 2 shots here. Having seen that, I would definitely try test shots as I previously suggested.
 
It actually looks as if there is a haze over the pics.

May sound daft but there's no water vapour trapped between the filter and the lens is there?

Definitely take the fiter off and try again in bright sunlight.
 
Thanks everyone. Off to bed now, but I'll try and get some test shots done over the weekend.
 
I suspect the filter is creating flare around areas of very bright (over-exposed) highlights. Certainly the first thing to check.

Processing looks strange :thinking:
 
HoppyUK said:
I suspect the filter is creating flare around areas of very bright (over-exposed) highlights. Certainly the first thing to check.

Processing looks strange :thinking:
Click to expand...

If you mean the processing of the cropped images above - wouldn't surprise me, only been playing with photoshop for a couple of weeks. How I long for just sending a film off for development. If you mean the large jpg's on flickr then they are straight out of the camera.
 
Trev4 said:
Sorry to contradict you Steve, but the Heron isnt sharp, its out of focus in my opinion. There is a halo but no where near as serious as the first 2 shots here. Having seen that, I would definitely try test shots as I previously suggested.
Click to expand...

Realy?? This was a stationary target with the camera set to non servo focus. I got a lock and then just moved the heron slighly left in the picture so the focus shouldn't have changed. Does this mean I may also have a front/back focus issue as well?
 
Right, very quick grab shots. Taken across the garden from my dining room door, no support other than my knees, lens at 400mm and iso upto 1600. Only high contrast thing I could see from my door.

Shot with filter attached:-
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4027/4486305772_b69e37313a_b.jpg

Shot without filter attached:-
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4014/4485656185_19d9861d2e_b.jpg

So it looks like the fliter is the culprit - the whole picture looks sharper as well as the halo has gone. I'll do something a wee bit more scientific if I get chance later on today.
 
whats the fuss?? I get such pics all the time. 10 bad ones for 1 good one if im really lucky. I usually call it bad photographer and not bad photography
 
P-Chan said:
whats the fuss?? I get such pics all the time. 10 bad ones for 1 good one if im really lucky. I usually call it bad photographer and not bad photography
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The fuss is that for a £1,300 lens and £600 camera there shouldn't be a halo, unless it's down to my bad technique (which wouldn't surprise me and I could live with). However every high contrast shot is showing a halo and I don't believe that it's down to my technique.
 
It does look like its the filter, its what happens when you fit a cheap bit of glass to a £1300 piece of glass.
 
SeagullSteve said:
So it looks like the fliter is the culprit - the whole picture looks sharper as well as the halo has gone. I'll do something a wee bit more scientific if I get chance later on today.
Click to expand...

When you look at the filter do you see more reflections than on the surface of the lens? What is the colour of the glass tint, and does the writing on the thread look a little odd? It should be easy to tell if it is a cheap fake. But even with these it shouldn't be as bad.
 
SeagullSteve said:
So it looks like the fliter is the culprit - the whole picture looks sharper as well as the halo has gone. I'll do something a wee bit more scientific if I get chance later on today.
Click to expand...

That's why I asked if the filter came from Ebay .. I wouldn't expect a UK retailer to sell fakes. I recently bought a SIgma 100-300mm f4 and it had a filter attached ... the ruddy thing wouldnt lock focus for love nor money, I was just about to send it back until I took the filter off .. instant lock every time after that.
 
SeagullSteve said:
If you mean the processing of the cropped images above - wouldn't surprise me, only been playing with photoshop for a couple of weeks. How I long for just sending a film off for development. If you mean the large jpg's on flickr then they are straight out of the camera.
Click to expand...

Yes, I meant the crops.

I too hate post processing, and manage to do very little of it. If you spend some time setting the camera up with the Picture Styles presets so that they give you the results you like (effectively post processing in-camera) and also take care with white balance and exposure when shooting, then there is usually no need for any post processing at all.

I usually shoot Raw just in case I need to go back to that, but it's actually very rare.

SeagullSteve said:
Right, very quick grab shots. Taken across the garden from my dining room door, no support other than my knees, lens at 400mm and iso upto 1600. Only high contrast thing I could see from my door.

Shot with filter attached:-
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4027/4486305772_b69e37313a_b.jpg

Shot without filter attached:-
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4014/4485656185_19d9861d2e_b.jpg

So it looks like the fliter is the culprit - the whole picture looks sharper as well as the halo has gone. I'll do something a wee bit more scientific if I get chance later on today.
Click to expand...

I would say that's a filter problem, but the contrast you have there is nothing compared to your earlier images - the highlights in the previous shots are massively bright, exaggerating the problem.

I post quite a lot on here about the image quality problems with filters, flare almost always, and sharpness too with longer lenses. It often falls on deaf ears :shrug: I post examples and people say, yes well that's not a common situation and of course it's not, but most folks encounter uncommon situations more often than they realise.
 
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