Help please! Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II Lens problem!

[Elon Gane]

I got myCanon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II lens a couple months ago when I was using my Canon XSi. At first I had a little problem with soft corners at/near the MFD. After I got that cleared up, I was very happy with the 70-200mm 2.8 II.


I was going to do a wedding as the main photographer so I got a new camera...The Canon EOS 7D. I got it just a few days before the wedding, So I didn't really have time to test everything out. Or any testing with the Canon 7D with the 70-200mm 2.8 II.


At the wedding, [|-)] Somehow my bag cover got open and my Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II(just the lens and nothing else) dropped and hit a hard wood floor from about 4ft in the air.[:'(]


After the Wedding I was worriedif anything had happened to my lens so I started testing it on my Canon 7D(I no longer had my Canon XSI because I gave it away)


And I found out that at more farther focusing distances that the Left side(it was on the right side too but less) imagequality was pretty bad.


So I sent the lens into Canon for repair. after a longgggg.........wait I got it back today. On the paper Canon said that it had been returned tofactoryspecifications. Very happy ....So I start testing it. I soon was very upset and very, veryconfused. IT HAD THE SAME PROBLEM!!


Canon said that if it had the same problem I should send them my camera body with the lens to them. I only have one camera body so I would have to rent one if I did that.


So what do you think is the problem????? Could the camera body becausing it ?? Or did Canon not fix it right???? I know it didn't have this problem with the XSI. And I didn't have time to test it with the 7D before it had fallen. So I don't know if the problem was because of the fall or not.


Right now I'm try to see if somebody around here has another body so I can test out on another camera body.


Please help if anybody was any advise! please!


If y'all want some sample photos of the problem I will try to get some up ASAP.


If you want more info please ask too.

[peety3]

I think the problem is...well...dunno, but I think you need to send the whole combo to Canon for further evaluation.


With all due respect, please do your customers and our customers the service they deserve, and keep at least two cameras.

[JJphoto]

but I think you need to send the whole combo to Canon for further evaluation.

I agree with Peety3 and maybe you should run MFA before you send them into Canon?

[neuroanatomist]

Ouch! []


It seems that you might have had the problem with the 7D + 70-200 II before you dropped the lens - there would be no way to know if you hadn't shot with the combination. If it's in focus in the center and sharp there, I'm not sure that AF microadjustment will help, but it wouldn't hurt. One thing to try would be to use Live View and 10x and with the lens set to MF, manually focus in a region of the field which shows up as soft on the final image. Or just do that at several places around the image (but keep track of where you set the focus). Then check the resulting images on your computer - that should help determine if it's an AF problem or an optical problem.

[HDNitehawk]

If it were the camera body, couldn

[Elon Gane]

Thanks for your help guys! I looked at some pictures that I had taken with the Canon 7D and my 70-2002.8 II before the drop and it had the same problem.


Done more testing today...manual focus, live view 10x, tripod, same problem. When I take pictures of something that has slope to it like grass at a low angle. The center is sharp but there is really nothing in focus on the left&right side.


I tested my 100mm macro on my 7D and I found that it might have the same problem, Just a lot less as a problem then my 70-200mm 2.8 II.


The problem on the 70-200 2.8 II is worst at 200mm and gets better as it gets to 70mm.


So I guess I will have to send my Canon 7D with my 70-200mm 2.8 II to Canon. Before I do that I will try to test the 70-200 on another camera body. If it does not have the problem then will send the 7D and lens to Canon.


But that will create a problem since I don

[HDNitehawk]

Elon


I am not sure how you tested with live view, but you did mention slopes. If your shooting the 200mm at a close distance at f/2.8 your DOF is going to be very narrow. I think it would be more reasonable to test on a flat object to see if it has this OOF problem. I would have checked it at narrower aperture as well.


The 60D does not have AF microadjustment. So not sure it would be the option you want since your having this issue now. You may want that function. As far as renting or buying, its all a $ issue. How often would you rent, how much does it cost, compared to what it would cost to buy.


I wouldn

[neuroanatomist]

When I take pictures of something that has slope to it like grass at a low angle. The center is sharp but there is really nothing in focus on the left&right side.

If your shooting the 200mm at a close distance at f/2.8 your DOF is going to be very narrow. I think it would be more reasonable to test on a flat object to see if it has this OOF problem.

Here's an example a shot like you describe (grass shot low to the ground), and of whatHDNitehawk is talking about (thin DoF), shot with a 7D andEF 70-200mm f/2.8<span style="color: #ff0000;"]LIS II at 200mm, 1/30 s, f/2.8, ISO 1600 (for me, it's a nice demonstration of the power of IS and f/2.8, since I snapped this in my yard almost 30 minutes after sunset, when I could already see stars overhead). But with f/2.8 and focusing reasonably close (but not close enough to scare off the bunny), the DoF is very thin. Still, you can see a plane of focus which includes the bunny's eye and nose (but the whiskers on both sides extend out of the DoF - that's how thin it is). Note the thin line of grass that's in focus from one side of the frame to the other, on a slight diagonalrunning parallel to the angle of the bunny's head.


[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer-Components-UserFiles/00-00-00-35-15/IMG_5F00_3079.jpg[/img]


I'll echoHDNitehawk's suggestion of trying the test shooting a flat subject (e.g. tape a piece of paper with text to the wall and shoot it straight on from a tripod).


Hope that helps...


John

[HDNitehawk]

Reading Neuro

[Elon Gane]

Thanks again guys.


One of my friends has a Canon 20D and she let me shoot my 70-200 2.8 II on it. While it is a little hard to compare the two since my 7D has 18megapixels and her 20D has 8megapixels....It does seem to have the same problem. If that is so then it must be a problem with the lens. And since Canon said that it was returned to factory specifications it must be the way the lens is.?.? Because I trust Canon to be telling the truth.


After going back to some of the pictures I took with my XSi and with the 70-200 2.8 II I see the same thing.


I just must be to picky, But I will try to get some samples up here sometime and see that Y