Reading mode: Light Dark

D60 Focus Problem

Go to last post
Try a good ruler test. Create a good high contrast test image. I used 2 point lines set .100 inches apart (both horizontal and vertical.) I then taped it flat to a box with a ruler just below the box at a 45 degree angle to the camera focal plane. The test pattern was perpendicular. I could then focus on the nice flat plane and the ruler could be used to determine where the focal point really was. Take all of your shots wide open and adjust the filed of view (by controlling distance a zoom focal length) to be about (+ -) 2 inches.

Steven
arthur.sukhbir said:
Alex Goldberg said:
arthur.sukhbir said:
--After getting some out of focus images with my D60 I decided to
do some tests.

The result is here: http://www.fotoart2.co.uk/CanonD60.htm

Can anyone report similar issues or should I send my Camera back to
Canon for adjustment?

Thanks in advance.

Arthur.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Arthur,

the images look "ok". What you see is what you have to expect when recomposing. You do rotate the plane of focus away from the "focussed on" subject, the subject will move into the "less in focus " area.

If the AF is good or not has to be determined when not recomposing. Try to AF when lens parallel to a target like a book shelf. Then switch to manual focus and correct the focus slightly forward or backward. If this improves the focus, then either camera or lens are not optimal. If this is consistant across all lenses, you could consider that it is a camera problem.

regards
arthur.sukhbir said:
Alex Goldberg said:
arthur.sukhbir said:
--After getting some out of focus images with my D60 I decided to
do some tests.

The result is here: http://www.fotoart2.co.uk/CanonD60.htm

Can anyone report similar issues or should I send my Camera back to
Canon for adjustment?

Thanks in advance.

Arthur.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Hi all,

Wouldn't this be a lens problem and not a camera problem?

I once had a great Canon 35-70mm 2.8 FD lens that I always zoomed up to get the best focus, and then zoomed back to recompose the shot. Unfortunately after years of use, the focus would shift whenever I zoomed.

If this is what's happening, it's a problem with your lens.

-Max
 
Don't think it's the lens as did tests as different focal lengths without zooming the lens, i.e. 10 shots at 70mm, 10 at 50mm etc.
Max McCarty said:
Hi all,

Wouldn't this be a lens problem and not a camera problem?

I once had a great Canon 35-70mm 2.8 FD lens that I always zoomed
up to get the best focus, and then zoomed back to recompose the
shot. Unfortunately after years of use, the focus would shift
whenever I zoomed.

If this is what's happening, it's a problem with your lens.

-Max
Click to expand...
 
I intend to use the D60 mainly for portraits outdoor. This involves a lot of recomposing as I like to focus on eyes then recompose. I have an image I did today where I focused on someone's right eye(they were at a slight angle) and when I viewed the image, their left eye was in focus and the right one was out of focus. Not really acceptable. What I believe is happening is that the camera is shifting ever so slightly from the time I compose to the time the shutter is pressed. Just my theory. As with previous film cameras, when focused was locked, it was locked. Don't understand why not the case with D60. Noticed slight out of focus too with Canon 24-85 that was on loan.
Stefan Klocke said:
the images look "ok". What you see is what you have to expect when
recomposing. You do rotate the plane of focus away from the
"focussed on" subject, the subject will move into the "less in
focus " area.

If the AF is good or not has to be determined when not recomposing.
Try to AF when lens parallel to a target like a book shelf. Then
switch to manual focus and correct the focus slightly forward or
backward. If this improves the focus, then either camera or lens
are not optimal. If this is consistant across all lenses, you could
consider that it is a camera problem.

regards
arthur.sukhbir said:
Alex Goldberg said:
arthur.sukhbir said:
--After getting some out of focus images with my D60 I decided to
do some tests.

The result is here: http://www.fotoart2.co.uk/CanonD60.htm

Can anyone report similar issues or should I send my Camera back to
Canon for adjustment?

Thanks in advance.

Arthur.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Arthur,

Your stuff doesn't look all that bad to me. Maybe you can stack some other stuff into your test image and see if you can better understand where the focus point is.

If your recomposing a lot and using f3.5 your going to have a very shallow DOF. Maybe you could move your shots to F7 or F8 to give yourself more leeway.

I'm not completely sure I understand your testing methods here, as test figure 1 and 2 or so much larger than fig 3 and 4. I would have expected them to be the same size.

Too tough to call at this point.
arthur.sukhbir said:
Stefan Klocke said:
the images look "ok". What you see is what you have to expect when
recomposing. You do rotate the plane of focus away from the
"focussed on" subject, the subject will move into the "less in
focus " area.

If the AF is good or not has to be determined when not recomposing.
Try to AF when lens parallel to a target like a book shelf. Then
switch to manual focus and correct the focus slightly forward or
backward. If this improves the focus, then either camera or lens
are not optimal. If this is consistant across all lenses, you could
consider that it is a camera problem.

regards
arthur.sukhbir said:
Alex Goldberg said:
arthur.sukhbir said:
--After getting some out of focus images with my D60 I decided to
do some tests.

The result is here: http://www.fotoart2.co.uk/CanonD60.htm

Can anyone report similar issues or should I send my Camera back to
Canon for adjustment?

Thanks in advance.

Arthur.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Maybe I'll do some more tests in Daylight tomorrow. But DOF does not reallyhave anything to do with it as when I focus lock on an image (Lyson box) it should be sharp no matter where you aim the lens after that, that's the whole reason behind focus lock. I just posted some manual focus results, and think maybe it's the lens.

The sizes are just me hurrying to post images, but to me something is definately wrong.
Arthur.
David Hood said:
Your stuff doesn't look all that bad to me. Maybe you can stack
some other stuff into your test image and see if you can better
understand where the focus point is.

If your recomposing a lot and using f3.5 your going to have a very
shallow DOF. Maybe you could move your shots to F7 or F8 to give
yourself more leeway.

I'm not completely sure I understand your testing methods here, as
test figure 1 and 2 or so much larger than fig 3 and 4. I would
have expected them to be the same size.

Too tough to call at this point.
arthur.sukhbir said:
Stefan Klocke said:
the images look "ok". What you see is what you have to expect when
recomposing. You do rotate the plane of focus away from the
"focussed on" subject, the subject will move into the "less in
focus " area.

If the AF is good or not has to be determined when not recomposing.
Try to AF when lens parallel to a target like a book shelf. Then
switch to manual focus and correct the focus slightly forward or
backward. If this improves the focus, then either camera or lens
are not optimal. If this is consistant across all lenses, you could
consider that it is a camera problem.

regards
arthur.sukhbir said:
Alex Goldberg said:
arthur.sukhbir said:
--After getting some out of focus images with my D60 I decided to
do some tests.

The result is here: http://www.fotoart2.co.uk/CanonD60.htm

Can anyone report similar issues or should I send my Camera back to
Canon for adjustment?

Thanks in advance.

Arthur.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Let's say you're focusing on a wall that's 20 feet away from you. If you point the camera off at a 45 degree angle (exagerrated for effect) and focus locked, you've just locked focus at a distance of 28 feet. When you recompose the shot to straight ahead, you'll be focused at 28 feet, not 20 feet where the subject is.

The other potential problem is that you slightly move the camera forwards or backwards when you're recomposing.
arthur.sukhbir said:
Maybe I'll do some more tests in Daylight tomorrow. But DOF does
not reallyhave anything to do with it as when I focus lock on an
image (Lyson box) it should be sharp no matter where you aim the
lens after that, that's the whole reason behind focus lock. I just
posted some manual focus results, and think maybe it's the lens.
The sizes are just me hurrying to post images, but to me something
is definately wrong.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks David, but this can't be the problem as the area that I focus on is the area that I wish to to see clear, in your instance even if I recompose I expect to see the 28 ft part clear and the 20 ft blurred, but this is exactly what in not happening. I also used a tripod for my tests, so no chance of movement here.
Thanks, I'm still working on what it might be.
DavidP said:
The other potential problem is that you slightly move the camera
forwards or backwards when you're recomposing.
arthur.sukhbir said:
Maybe I'll do some more tests in Daylight tomorrow. But DOF does
not reallyhave anything to do with it as when I focus lock on an
image (Lyson box) it should be sharp no matter where you aim the
lens after that, that's the whole reason behind focus lock. I just
posted some manual focus results, and think maybe it's the lens.
The sizes are just me hurrying to post images, but to me something
is definately wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
After testing a flat subject, I can see that only the exact middle of the lens is sharp. The rest is not bad, but for a D60 and Sigma 24-70 I don't think this is up to standard. I'll get the lens changed first and then see if the problem is solved.

Thanks for everyone's imput. I'll repost in a week or so when I test the new lens.
Arthur.
arthur.sukhbir said:
--After getting some out of focus images with my D60 I decided to
do some tests.

The result is here: http://www.fotoart2.co.uk/CanonD60.htm

Can anyone report similar issues or should I send my Camera back to
Canon for adjustment?

Thanks in advance.

Arthur.
Click to expand...
 
It all depends on the distnce from the subject to the film plane. If
you ae rotating around the film plane the recomposing will have little
effect. As the tripod screw is moved away from the film plane, the effect
will become greater and greater. On very shallow depth of fields ( .25" or so)
this is a MAJOR issue.

Steven
arthur.sukhbir said:
DavidP said:
The other potential problem is that you slightly move the camera
forwards or backwards when you're recomposing.
arthur.sukhbir said:
Maybe I'll do some more tests in Daylight tomorrow. But DOF does
not reallyhave anything to do with it as when I focus lock on an
image (Lyson box) it should be sharp no matter where you aim the
lens after that, that's the whole reason behind focus lock. I just
posted some manual focus results, and think maybe it's the lens.
The sizes are just me hurrying to post images, but to me something
is definately wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
arthur.sukhbir said:
As with previous film
cameras, when focused was locked, it was locked. Don't understand
why not the case with D60
Click to expand...
Easy enough to test that theory. Autofocus on something, and before recomposing, flip the lens switch into manual focus mode to freeze the focus. Then recompose and see if you get better results or not.

This requires a very steady hand and body if not using a pan head on a tripod.

-ml
 
Took approximately 80 shots out and about in London today, about 50 percent were slightly out of focus!

Spoke to Canon (UK), no reported problems with any D60 focus. Took printouts or images to Dealer who confirmed that lens is at fault. New lens on it way. Will post results as new post when I can test the new one.
Arthur.
arthur.sukhbir said:
arthur.sukhbir said:
--After getting some out of focus images with my D60 I decided to
do some tests.

The result is here: http://www.fotoart2.co.uk/CanonD60.htm

Can anyone report similar issues or should I send my Camera back to
Canon for adjustment?

Thanks in advance.

Arthur.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
I was lucky enough to get one of the first D60s in Ottawa. Unfortunately the camera consistently focussed behind whatever I was aiming at.

The left focus point was a little off, the middle one was really bad & the right point was a disaster!

I could easily produce far better results by manual focus - it definitely wasn't a lens problem.

Canon claims to have fixed the problem (some sort of software adjustment). I should get the camera back on Monday.

See an example below. Taken using a tripod, high ISO & mirror lockup to ensure no possibility of blurring due to shake!

Auto focus (center focus point):



Manual focus:

 
Hmmm. Maybe I'm glad I'm having to wait. I wonder if the later shipments will have this corrected.

Has anyone who's just gotten a D60 (like in the past week) had this focus problem?

G
David Williams said:
I was lucky enough to get one of the first D60s in Ottawa.
Unfortunately the camera consistently focussed behind whatever I
was aiming at.

The left focus point was a little off, the middle one was really
bad & the right point was a disaster!

I could easily produce far better results by manual focus - it
definitely wasn't a lens problem.

Canon claims to have fixed the problem (some sort of software
adjustment). I should get the camera back on Monday.

See an example below. Taken using a tripod, high ISO & mirror
lockup to ensure no possibility of blurring due to shake!

Auto focus (center focus point):
http://www.cyberus.ca/~davidw/IMG_0412.jpg

Manual focus:
http://www.cyberus.ca/~davidw/IMG_0413.jpg
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Keyboard shortcuts

f
Forum
m
My threads
Mobile site
About
Editorial content
Cameras & Lenses
Community
All content, design, and layout are Copyright © 1998–2025 Digital Photography Review All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction in whole or part in any form or medium without specific written permission is prohibited.
When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission.
©GPS Media - Guides, Products, Services.
Back
Top