That's the spirit!

Man, I've been having a bitch of a problem lately. I've been encountering focus issues with multiple lenses for probably 6 months or so. Hesitant to ship my lenses and body to Canon for calibration, I've been doing a bunch of tests to try and narrow down what the problem is. The pics were consistent in that the focus was soft, not front or back focused, and the aberration was terrible. I had a breakthrough tonight though. I use a UV and CPL filter on all my lenses and pretty much never took them off. I remembered reading somewhere, I think amazon, that filters can cause issues with some stuff, I didn't remember. So... I took the filters off, snapped some shots of the Fiancee reading on the couch (she was not happy) and looked at the results. Sharp pics. Tested a bunch more and all the shots were sharp, even at apertures as wide as 1.8. What a f*cking headache. I'm gonna take some car shots outside tomorrow and see what results I get. Hopefully positive ones.

BTW, live view sharpness was perfect, even with the filters on. Probably because its so much more accurate vs the viewfinder.

Sorry for your headaches, but that may help a lot of us. My focus has been pretty iffy too. I'll have to pull off my filters and see if it clears any.

You said you used UV and CPL filters. Do you mean at the same time? That can cause major issues.

Same time, yeah.

Just another side note, I started using a Nexus 7 tablet and the app DSLR controller, and oh boy is it an awesome setup! So much fun to use and far superior to the lcd screen on the camera for image review. Plus the live view control. I got a little bracket to attach it to the tripod, pretty cool stuff, just a little cumbersome, so its for shoots where applicable.

It did cause another issue though, non-ettl flashes don't fire through live view, at least on my camera because I cant turn silent mode off. There's a work around using the Magic Lantern firmware ( like unlocking an Iphone, same idea), but it isn't perfect. Excuse for new camera?! I think so!

Went out yesterday and shot some sans the filters, much better! It was a harsh time of day, but got some good shots. It was windy as hell, so I busted out the tripod and it was much better.

I need to get me a tripod and a polarizer. It was super windy out the other day and it was hard to get a good steady shot because of it. Anyone got any recommendations for either item that won't break the bank?


Sent from my iPizzle using magic and new-fangled science stuff

If you have Lightroom, you can shoot tethered with some DSLR's. You just need a USB cable. Slight delay, but it worked pretty well with my D90 & D7000. It's so much easier to see if everything is in focus with the larger screen on the Macbook. That wireless controller is pretty cool too though, I'm jelly.

Any type of filter will definitely cause a decrease in sharpness. For most people that don't pixel peep, it's not that big of deal. I don't use filters unless it's absolutely necessarry, like an ND or Polarizer. UV filters honestly don't do much for digital SLR's. It's a great way to protect the lens, but I prefer just leaving the hood on. If you want something even sharper, there are camera shops that can even remove the low pass filter. It increases the chance of moire, but there is a noticeable jump in sharpness. Nikon is even starting to sell their DSLR's without it like the D800E & the new D7100.

I would use the EOS Utility, but I don't have a laptop.

I'm gonna go out again today and shoot more to see what I get.

Uninvited guests have been cleaning me out of bird seed!
No filter unless you count the two panes of glass between me and the subject.

http://www.modachroma.com/the370z/squirrel2-0413.JPG

Amazon.com: Polaroid IR720 72mm Infrared X-Ray Filter: Camera & Photo

Ordered this just to see if the film infrared can be duplicated in any way...the photoshop doesnt look like true infrared. I'll let you guys know what i think of t :tup:

I got that filter a few weeks ago, just havent used it yet, to many lens problems.

BTW, I exchanged the 85mm 1.8 lens for another that will arrive tuesday. Hopefully it will be better. Canon wanted me to pay shipping for the warranty repair, so I said heck no and opted to use my return policy instead in hopes it was just a bad batch. Also heavily weighing dropping some cash on a 7D :)

:tup: i'm really happy with my 7D. I used to consider myself advanced amateur but now back to just amateur, way out of practice.

Nice shot of a theif.