135L - I can't get a sharp shot no matter what :(

[ddt0725]

Well, I spent more than the better part of today attempting to micro-adjust my second copy of the 135L! IMO, I would rather spend the day at the dentist! How can one side of a paper look fine and the other side look totally off and then you take real world shots and nothing looks sharp!


Nothing was consistent and I finally gave up! At one point, I saw absolutely no difference between a +0 and +12!!!Right now, I think I'm looking at about a +7 or +8.


I will try again tomorrow but at this point, I'm about to ship both off to Canon and tell them to figure it out or send the lens back and move on to #2 on my list ...a 5d II!


Not a good day ...I have a headache, I need a drink and I'm crabby now and crabby enough to admit it! [6]

Denise

P.S. Is there a link somewhere that shows how much difference I should be seeing between each +/-? I'm beginning to think my micro-adjusting doesn't work correctly ...it couldn't possibly be me! (?) [:O]

[Sean Setters]

Try micro-adjusting a good cocktail...several variations. At some point, you just won

[ddt0725]

LOL! Thank you for making me laugh, Sean! []

[neuroanatomist]

How can one side of a paper look fine and the other side look totally offand then you take real world shots and nothing looks sharp!

Yikes! DoF with the 135mm @ f/2 and ~11 feet is ~2 inches. Was the LensAlign any less frustrating? If so, it might be worth getting - they have a new version of the Lite, called the Mark II, has the front/back sight gate but still folds flat (unlike mine). No Enumerator (the sliding dots to show AFMA setting in the image) on the Mark II, though.


In your real-world shots, what are your shutter speeds like? Or are you on a tripod?

Is there a link somewhere that shows how much difference I should be seeing between each +/-?

I think I recall reading that each AFMA unit is 1/8 of the depth of focus at maximum aperture, but depth of focus is the 'thickness' of the image plane at the sensor, so how that translates to depth of field in a scene will depend on subject distance, etc.

[ddt0725]

Was the LensAlign any less frustrating? If so, it might be worth getting - they have a new version of the Lite, called the Mark II, has the front/back sight gate but still folds flat (unlike mine). No Enumerator (the sliding dots to show AFMA setting in the image) on the Mark II, though.

I do have the Mark II saved in my "Wishlist" @ Amazon. It is next on my misc. list. I wanted to see first if this was going to be an easy task without it ...obviously NOT!

For the real world shots, I handheld and used a tripod with various settings on the shutter speed but I did not see a difference in the results.

[ddt0725]

Here is a shot set a "0"




Here is a shot at +7




+7




Left side of paper (+7 on the left, +0 on the right




Right side of paper (same set-up as above)




My fence @ +7. I think this one was handheld at 1/320

[clemmb]

Issues with two lenses and this is one of Canon's best? I would question your camera but you have quite a few other lenses with no real issue.[:^)]


How is your 100-400 @ 400?


I am sure you are very frustrated.[:S]


Mark

[ddt0725]

This is EXTREMELY frustrating!!! I THOUGHT my 100-400 was fine at 400 ...but now I am starting to doubt everything at this point! The thought of going thru and double-checking the micro-adjustments on all my lenses makes me want to crawl back in bed and stay there!


Denise

[andnowimbroke]

This is EXTREMELY frustrating!!!

You realize that when you get your 5DII(I) that your going to have to do this all over again for that camera?[]

[tkerr]

Have you tried adjusting it using the test pattern you can find here>>


www.northlight-images.co.uk/.../1ds3_af_micoadjustment.html