Beginner Samyang 14mm - won´t focus to infinity

casanoffi

casanoffi

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Name
Andreas
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Hi guys!

At first, english isn´t my native language, so sorry if talk nonsense :)


I´m a rookie and I´m interested into astro and landscape photography.
I use a Canon EOS 500D from 2009 and I´m pretty ok with the overall results.
My lens of choice for astro and landscape is the Samyang 14mm f2.8 ED AS IF UMC (without AE chip).

The problem is (seems usual for this lens) I cannot reach infinity focus.
I read a lot about uncalibrated copys of it, when the infinity point is not where it should be - for example, when it´s at the distance 3 mark.
I wouldn´t care about it.

My problem is, I cannot reach infinitiy at all.
I took a lot of test shots with f2.8 at every distance on the focus ring (in 1mm steps) and there is no chance to catch the "sweet spot" where I reach infinity.
I get sharp images at close distance to roughly 15-20 meters, but everything further than that is blurry.


So, every video I found was just how to calibrate the focus ring to get infinitiy at the right mark.
But I didn´t found a video how to calibrate it when you´re not able to reach infinitiy at all.

I´m a little bit afraid just to try it out with the calibration, because I´m not of great talent with such things ^^


Any suggestions?

Thanks and best regards
cas
 
Sounds like the lens is faulty.

Have you ever been able to get it in focus at infinity?

I'd suggest trying it on another camera body, either a friend's or at a camera shop.
 
Thanks for the advice, at first I´ll try another body (already have a 80D in mind - the 500D is good but comes to a point it doesn´t fit my demands anymore).
If the lens will show the same issue, I hope a camera shop can fix it.

At the moment I´m not able to get it in focus at infinitiy.
 
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It is a well known issue particularly on earlier versions of the lens. The focusing rings inside are literally held together by selotape. You could lift the focusing ring rubber, remove the tape and readjust the rings for infinity focus. It is very empirical and hit and miss but eventually you will get there. I had to go through this myself. It worked fine for a few years until something else very trivial failed elsewhere and was sold off as spares.
 
I tested the lens with another body and the results were the same - no chance to reach infinitity focus.

I tested the hardstop at the left (minimum focus) - sharpness should be at round about 28 cm object distance (which is what the manual says).
But for minimum focus distance I have to move the focus ring for round about 3 cm at the right.

So, if I think right, the infinity focus point should be round about 3 cm after the actual hardstop...

I will do the calibration which I found on youtube and hope for the best ^^
 
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I had to do this with mine. I overdid it somewhat though and now mine focuses way way past infinity. But seeing as I only bought it for this I left it as it is.
I'd like to be able to focus just past infinity then come back a bit. Hope you have more luck than me.
 
If you're getting sharp focus at 15-20m as you've said, then you're effectively at infinity with that lens. The distance to infinity varies with focal length and with ultra-wides it's surprisingly close. It could be atmospheric pollution or heat haze that's making things beyond that distance look less sharp.

It's maybe the focusing scale that's out and needs repositioning, rather than the lens itself. That's more likely anyway.
 
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Well, I don´t mind about a correctly positioned focus ring - main thing to me is minimum and infinitiy should be at the hardstop positions.
I focus via optical finder and/or live view.
Especially when I do shots at night I cannot see the distance marks on the ring anyway ^^

@HoppyUK
That´s the thing I don´t understand - as you said at 15-20 meters it effectively is at infinity (should be).
But everything further becomes blurry...

Of course, as I said, I´m a rookie photographer. Maybe I miss something ^^
 
Infinity cannot be at the hard stop as the exact infinity position is dependent on temperature. A lens used at today's +30° will focus infinity at a different position of the focus ring than it will at -5°. There needs to be enough movement of the ring to accommodate both.

If the distant parts if your image cannot be made sharp, the lens is faulty. How old is this lens? And how long have you had it? If you have recently bought it, I would return it as being unfit for use.
 
casanoffi said:
Well, I don´t mind about a correctly positioned focus ring - main thing to me is minimum and infinitiy should be at the hardstop positions.
I focus via optical finder and/or live view.
Especially when I do shots at night I cannot see the distance marks on the ring anyway ^^

@HoppyUK
That´s the thing I don´t understand - as you said at 15-20 meters it effectively is at infinity (should be).
But everything further becomes blurry...

Of course, as I said, I´m a rookie photographer. Maybe I miss something ^^
Click to expand...

Without seeing an image, I'm just making a guess but you see the point. If you're getting good sharpness at 15-20m with that lens then everything beyond should also be sharp, regardless of what the focusing scale says which may be incorrectly positioned. Atmospheric pollution might explain that if you're comparing visual sharpness of subjects at 20m with those on the horizon for example.

If that's a possibility, then re-shoot the test. If you're still seeing a problem, post up an image and let's see what we can make of it. If the lens is faulty, then that could show up in all sorts of ways and would need servicing. I'm just trying to find out if the only thing wrong is the focusing scale has become misaligned :)
 
john.margetts said:
Infinity cannot be at the hard stop as the exact infinity position is dependent on temperature. A lens used at today's +30° will focus infinity at a different position of the focus ring than it will at -5°. There needs to be enough movement of the ring to accommodate both.

If the distant parts if your image cannot be made sharp, the lens is faulty. How old is this lens? And how long have you had it? If you have recently bought it, I would return it as being unfit for use.
Click to expand...

Good to know! Never thought about infinitiy cannot be at the hard stop... Thanks for the clarification.
I just bought it, it´s a new lens (should be ^^).


HoppyUK said:
Without seeing an image, I'm just making a guess but you see the point. If you're getting good sharpness at 15-20m with that lens then everything beyond should also be sharp, regardless of what the focusing scale says which may be incorrectly positioned. Atmospheric pollution might explain that if you're comparing visual sharpness of subjects at 20m with those on the horizon for example.

If that's a possibility, then re-shoot the test. If you're still seeing a problem, post up an image and let's see what we can make of it. If the lens is faulty, then that could show up in all sorts of ways and would need servicing. I'm just trying to find out if the only thing wrong is the focusing scale has become misaligned :)
Click to expand...

Also thanks for the advice, I will do new test-shots (after I calibrated the focus ring) at daylight and upload the images.
And I´m chomping at the bit for the total lunar eclipse tomorrow :naughty:
 
This isn't your issue, but just a note on infinity - it isn't at the hard stop on most lenses, but that 'L' shaped line you see before it, this is why people say you go to infinity and pull back a bit. They had passed it.
 
To check accuracy of the focusing scale, focus on something at exactly 1m (measured from the sensor) and see what it says. Don't expect mm accuracy, but it should be close.
 
GreenNinja67 said:
If it's a new lens why sod about with it? Return and get one that works.
Click to expand...

Yes ;) Get it as good as you can by focusing in live view on max magnification, and shoot at f/4 or 5.6 to cover any errors. But if it's not right, then return it after tomorrow's eclipse.
 
Cagey75 said:
This isn't your issue, but just a note on infinity - it isn't at the hard stop on most lenses, but that 'L' shaped line you see before it, this is why people say you go to infinity and pull back a bit. They had passed it.
Click to expand...

As I said, got a lot of things to learn.
I´m 41 years old and just got into Photography.
Now I have the feeling that I wasted the last 23 years of my life to do a job I don´t really like...

Never too late to start over, right? :D


GreenNinja67 said:
If it's a new lens why sod about with it? Return and get one that works.
Click to expand...

Well, you´re absolutely right - but I just wanna know if this could be a problem I can fix.
I also read a lot about this known issue, so it can obviously be fixed and I don´t wanna give up so fast.

If I can fix it, I will love thing pretty little lens very much - just because of I did it ;)


HoppyUK said:
To check accuracy of the focusing scale, focus on something at exactly 1m (measured from the sensor) and see what it says. Don't expect mm accuracy, but it should be close.
...
Yes ;) Get it as good as you can by focusing in live view on max magnification, and shoot at f/4 or 5.6 to cover any errors. But if it's not right, then return it after tomorrow's eclipse.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice!
And wish me luck (to get at least one good shot at the moon) :)
 
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casanoffi said:
As I said, got a lot of things to learn.
I´m 41 years old and just got into Photography.
Now I have the feeling that I wasted the last 23 years of my life to do a job I don´t really like...

Never too late to start over, right? :D




Thanks for the advice!
And wish me luck :)
Click to expand...


AH you're only a spring chicken sure - I say that because you're only a year behind me in age :D - Never, ever too late to learn! Best of luck for sure.
 
Quick report:
I fixed it !

I focused at an object at 28 mm distance (it was at the 35 distance mark on the focus ring).
Then I did loosen the screws to re-calibrate the inner focus to the hard stop at the left - now I have much more range to reach hyperfocal distance (y)

It was much easier than I thought.
 
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