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| From Mobile '10 |
I've been playing around with it and have learned a couple of things:
1) This lens feels incredible on the camera. It is the best balance piece of equipment I have ever owned, without question. I actually like the feel more than that of the 77.
2) It is SOOOOOOFT wide open. Eh.
3) The autofocus/manual focus declutch works great, though I'm not yet convinced of its utility on a lens with such a short focus throw.
4) It backfocuses. Bad. I have the adjustment for the lens set to +7 (out of 10) and I'm thinking that's about right, but I actually had to print out a test chart to make sure it wasn't just something I was doing.
I'm going to be playing with it in context tonight and tomorrow; my hope is it shows some more positive character or else it's going back. The softness I could deal with, especially since it's considerably sharper by 2.5 and 2.8 seems as good as the K lens, but the focusing issues are a little on the inconsistent side and I'm pretty sure a lens I can't trust to focus correctly isn't worth $600. I am having trouble deciding if I got a bad sample or if I need to check out of this game and hope they sell a more modern lens in this class at some point in the future. The 21mm f3.2 just isn't enticing enough for its price.
sigh.
[edit:]
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| From Mobile '10 |
This is what I carried to work with me today. 14/2.8, 24/2, 43/1.9, 77/1.8
Nat,
ReplyDeleteIs the an internally driven lens, or is it a camera drive model? I can't remember if you bought a camera with the camera drive.
If it is the camera drive variety... Are you sure the camera isn't the problem?
I've never actually seen a back focusing lens in person, and I'm always a skeptic about home test charts, but a focus issue is inexcusable if it is noticeable. Is it ntociable in actual photos, or test test shots? One thing my stint at Photo.net taught me was that a lot of people, particularly with Nikon and Canon glass, would complain about back focusing but it wasn't apparent in day to day use, just when looking for focus issues. If it is obvious in shots and cannot be corrected in software, send it back. You are lucky you can correct for focus issues, my 40d is a generation too old for that.
The softness isn't a shock, since a wide lens isn't usually designed for anything near perfection wide open. Heck, most Canon lenses I've used don't sharpen up for a stop or two, even L glass. The only exception might be my 400.
Speaking of my 400, I think I'm going to do a little birding this weekend.
ReplyDeleteJust a sec, I'm going to take a sample shot or five to show you what i'm dealing with.
ReplyDelete