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I hate to brag, but my 10D focuses well

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JohnM31499 said:
any camera can focus in a broad daylight/high contrast situation.

If you want to make sure it is working correctly, you have to make
it a little more challenging. Are you a complete total newbie??
Most people would not have such trouble understanding something
this basic.

-john
Click to expand...
Now this is what I don't understand, you say... "If you want to make sure it is working correctly, you have to make it a little more challenging."

My car goes great on the highway, but if I want to make sure that it is working correctly I need to give it something more challenging.... so I need to take it off-road and see how it goes. Arrghh!! Oh no! I am only five feet off the road and I am bogged... my car must be defective!

Now I wonder if I could take it back to GM and complain without getting laughed out of the building???

All products are designed to operate given certain criteria/operational limits.

AF works in light... GOOD, this is expected.
AF doesn't work in total darkness... BAD, but still totally expected.

So given that these are the two operational extremes, somewhere between there MUST be a point where the AF does not perform well.

It does not have a magical point where it goes from good to instant bad. So by your "make it a little more challenging" test you are finding that "iffy" area where AF is not that good.

Now I suggest that if a camera has "iffy" focus under these "challenging" conditions it IS actually working correctly and NOT flawed as many would suggest.

Russell
 
I don't see any 45° rulers anywhere! What gives?!

fastlane65,

Other than having no rulers in these pictures whatsoever; I can't find any problems with these shots at all. Good work. I love 'em. Thanks for posting.

Jason
 
I do think people should test their cameras in broad daylight and on high contrast subjects.

But, they should be doing it in a controlled fashion (so if it fails they know it's a camera fault, not their fault), and need to be using a combination of focal length, subject distance, and aperture such that DOF is sufficiently small to see focusing errors.

Testing the camera in low light is just begging for problems. If the light gets too low, or the subject non-contrasty enough, the camera will mis-focus. I will practically guarantee that. Somebody who thinks he has a camera that won't do this, send it to me. Cuz I gotta see it to believe it. (Having tested several 1D's, D30, and an EOS-3 in such conditions).
JohnM said:
any camera can focus in a broad daylight/high contrast situation.

If you want to make sure it is working correctly, you have to make
it a little more challenging. Are you a complete total newbie??
Most people would not have such trouble understanding something
this basic.
Click to expand...
--
The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons
http://thewilkinsons.crosswinds.net
Photography -- just another word for compromise
 
EOS 10D, 70-200 f2.8 (no IS) zoomed to 145, 350th, f3.5, hand held. Focus point on the lips.



100% crop, no processing except for sharpening, you can see the guy missed a few hairs when he shaved. (edited out on the final two page magazine shot shown above)



Don't try this at home kids, I do it for a living.

Another photographer here in South Beach called me to tell me he was sending his 10D back. I asked him why and he said he had heard about all the problems (now get this, he already had the camera, not a rocket scientist obviously, but a good photographer). I went to his place and shot tests with his and mine. I actually think his was better than mine. I then discovered his real problem, he read DPReview. I deleted the link from his computer, he now loves his 10D. True story.

Fish

PS: Ferrari's and Rolls Royce's come with a warranty. So does all camera equipment. If you have a problem with your camera, it is a problem with your camera. Get it fixed and move along but don't think the vast majority of professional users are having a problem. This camera rocks!

--
John Fisher
South Beach, Miami
http://www.johnfisher.com/models.htm
(305) 534-9322
 
Your camera/lens don't have a calibration issue, as far as I can tell from that image. To really test it, I would've had the subject much closer, though.

You've essentially tested it to whatever the DOF was in that shot. If you were to shoot an image with a smaller DOF, you may or may not have a problem.

At least you were testing in decent lighting. f/2.8, 1/1000, ISO 200 is very good lighting.

If you were to shooting where you needed ISO 3200 and 1/60 (8 stops less light), you'd almost certainly have problems. This wouldn't be a calibration problem, though, and couldn't be solved by Canon. It would just be beyond the limits of AF technology.
Ashley Cheng said:
dimage said:
For somebody needing to use their 70-200F2.8L lens at widest
aperture, it is a VERY SERIOUS problem for them. They paid big
buck to get an F2.8L zoom and they can't get it to focus right.
Worse yet, if they zoom out hoping to increase the DoF, the subject
gets even more out of focus.
Click to expand...
Look at this photo, taken with my 10D and 70-200F2.8L IS at F2.8.
Please tell me how big the focusing problem is.
Click to expand...
Ashley Cheng said:
Full EXIF: http://www.pbase.com/image/15617863&exif=Y
Click to expand...
--
The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons
http://thewilkinsons.crosswinds.net
Photography -- just another word for compromise
 
DavidP said:
Testing the camera in low light is just begging for problems. If
the light gets too low, or the subject non-contrasty enough, the
camera will mis-focus. I will practically guarantee that.
Click to expand...
I agree, as would the engineer who designed the thing. He could have told everyone that their camera (10D, 1Ds,1D etc) would fail to get good focus under "x" conditions way back when it was just a drawing on paper.
DavidP #28649 said:
Somebody who thinks he has a camera that won't do this, send it to
me. Cuz I gotta see it to believe it.
Click to expand...
If there are two send one to me as well, because I want it!

Russell
 
... because someone makes a positive post? Is it really necessary to punch holes in them lest someone might actually believe the 10D has NO issues?

And to answer your insulting question... yeah, I've been a newby in photography since '72.
 
John Fisher said:
Another photographer here in South Beach called me to tell me he
was sending his 10D back. I asked him why and he said he had heard
about all the problems (now get this, he already had the camera,
not a rocket scientist obviously, but a good photographer). I went
to his place and shot tests with his and mine. I actually think his
was better than mine. I then discovered his real problem, he read
DPReview. I deleted the link from his computer, he now loves his
10D. True story.

Fish

PS: Ferrari's and Rolls Royce's come with a warranty. So does all
camera equipment. If you have a problem with your camera, it is a
problem with your camera. Get it fixed and move along but don't
think the vast majority of professional users are having a problem.
This camera rocks!
Click to expand...
That's what I've been seeing too... people scared to use their camera because some peopel INSIST that there must be a problem because THEIRS has one. Even when someone posts a great shot like Fastlane's, they flock to squelch the idea that SOME 10Ds work as they should and shed their doubts all over it. It boggles the mind.
 
JohnM said:
JohnM31499 said:
10d is an advanced amateur camera - and certainly
some engineering design tradeoffs have been made to enable it to
hit the mass market at a sub-$1,500 price point.
Click to expand...
True, but it should still Af correctly
Click to expand...
Mine does... so does my wife's. And if you read the posts here, that goes for MANY others as well. It must be a drag to have one that doesn't though. That must be why the SAD people try to DRAG everyone else down too.
 
Good, not only you get a good 10D, I know some of my friends do. Unfortunately some of them don't, you get what I mean?

Shoot a lot and share with us.
fastlane65 said:
First off, I've had it two weeks now and haven't done any highly
scientific ruler/newspaper/cereal box/brick wall tests. I've only
taken about 300 shots, but very few have been poorly focused (that
I could blame o the camera, anyway.)

Here is my focus test. I set the camera in Tv at 1/250, AI Servo
focus, single shot, center focus point. Then I handed it to my
technically challenged wife (she thinks our Elf is too complicated)
while I carried my girl to the top of a really big slide. Here is
what she got the first time she held the 10D:









They aren't perfect, but they are nowhere near as bad as some of
the posts here would lead you to expect. I'm sure there are some
bad units out there, and Canon should step up and fix them fast,
but not all the 10Ds are broken.

My first D60 died in less than a week, but the local Canon rep had
a new one to me in three days. Was I just lucky to get the service
I got, or did I just approach the problem with a better attitude?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maybe my D60 meters correctly and it is me that is overexposed???
Click to expand...
--
Go ahead, never look back
 
Yes, many do.

But hardly ANY 10D's would autofocus poorly given the conditions he shot those images in (unless they were user-error).

So what's the point of his post?

It's certainly not: my 10D doesn't front-focus. Why? He hasn't proven that.

At best, it's "my 10D works fine in these conditions where 99.9999% of all camears would operate fine", with the implied (or at least inferred by many) message "see, quit yer complainin' cuz I got a good one).

The point is, we have NO IDEA if his is good or not from the images posted. It may (and I stress may) have an AF calibration issue that just dosen't manifest itself under those "softball" conditions.
PearlRider said:
Mine does... so does my wife's. And if you read the posts here,
that goes for MANY others as well. It must be a drag to have one
that doesn't though. That must be why the SAD people try to DRAG
everyone else down too.
Click to expand...
--
The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons
http://thewilkinsons.crosswinds.net
Photography -- just another word for compromise
 
These are for sure nicely focussed. However, to provide results that others can compare with directly, are you (or someone else with a good 10D) willing to perform the test using Frances Poon's target
http://www.hkdotcom.net/Francis%20Photography%20channel/AF_Test/index.htm

This will be for the benefit for those with a focusing problem, i.e., they can show the comparison to Canon service department as evidence that their units are defective or out of calibration.
fastlane65 said:
First off, I've had it two weeks now and haven't done any highly
scientific ruler/newspaper/cereal box/brick wall tests. I've only
taken about 300 shots, but very few have been poorly focused (that
I could blame o the camera, anyway.)
Click to expand...
 
DavidP said:
But hardly ANY 10D's would autofocus poorly given the conditions he
shot those images in (unless they were user-error).

So what's the point of his post?

It's certainly not: my 10D doesn't front-focus. Why? He hasn't
proven that.

At best, it's "my 10D works fine in these conditions where 99.9999%
of all camears would operate fine", with the implied (or at least
inferred by many) message "see, quit yer complainin' cuz I got a
good one).

The point is, we have NO IDEA if his is good or not from the
images posted. It may (and I stress may) have an AF calibration
issue that just dosen't manifest itself under those "softball"
conditions.
PearlRider said:
Mine does... so does my wife's. And if you read the posts here,
that goes for MANY others as well. It must be a drag to have one
that doesn't though. That must be why the SAD people try to DRAG
everyone else down too.
Click to expand...
--
The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons
http://thewilkinsons.crosswinds.net
Photography -- just another word for compromise
Click to expand...
So, tracking a moving object in light which requires a 1/250th of a second shutter speed taken by someone unfamiliar with the camera doesn't qualify as a decent exhibition of autofocus? Well, sorry Fastlane. Your attempt to deceive didn't work. ;-)
 
Dominic.Chan said:
These are for sure nicely focussed. However, to provide results
that others can compare with directly, are you (or someone else
with a good 10D) willing to perform the test using Frances Poon's
target
http://www.hkdotcom.net/Francis%20Photography%20channel/AF_Test/index.htm

This will be for the benefit for those with a focusing problem,
i.e., they can show the comparison to Canon service department as
evidence that their units are defective or out of calibration.
Click to expand...
... that his camera focuses correctly given the sharply focused shots of a moving target that he provided. He MUST shoot a test chart or ruler or whatever you deem necessary even though he feels his camera works just fine? SIGH
 
That illustrates only one aspect of AF, under one specific set of conditions.

It may function perfecly there, even if it happens to be miscalibrated.

Will that matter to him for these shots? No. Might it matter for future shots? Yep (most likely not, though -- since it probably works just fine).

But to say (essentially) "look, ma, no focusing problems here" is overstating the results of his test.

PS -- I'm not fastlane.
PearlRider said:
So, tracking a moving object in light which requires a 1/250th of a
second shutter speed taken by someone unfamiliar with the camera
doesn't qualify as a decent exhibition of autofocus? Well, sorry
Fastlane. Your attempt to deceive didn't work. ;-)
Click to expand...
--
The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons
http://thewilkinsons.crosswinds.net
Photography -- just another word for compromise
 
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