RF 70-200 Examples, Latest Firmware

Running 1.6 on the R and 1.05 on the lens. Raws exported from Lightroom as 75% quality JPEGs. Only minor exposure adjustments made - no sharpening or CA correction applied.

First image is a classic example of a lighting situation in which you would expect to see strong CA. In my opinion, what little there is in the photo is well within acceptable limits.

Second image is near (but not at) MFD. This is where others were reporting front focusing issues. Focus was placed right in the center of the frame, and the AF nailed it. The lettering on the middle quickdraw is very sharp. Again, very little to no CA.

Third image was shot using Eye-Detect AF, which was accurately tracking the belayer's eyes even as small as they are in the frame. I was very impressed by this. The snow falling in the foreground and background did not distract the AF system.

Lastly I would like to comment on how well the R + RF 70-200 performed as a pair. This shoot took place in poor weather (rain transitioning to snow) in a technical and difficult to reach environment. The small size and light weight of the RF lens allowed me to pack it in a space where only my 24-105 would have fit before. I would have decided against bringing a traditionally sized 70-200 on this trip due to size and weight concerns. Reviewing the raws in lightroom, I am astounded how sharp this lens is even down to 300% zoom. Very excited to see how it performs on a high resolution body.

Not  sure what to tell you. My copy is nailing every shot down to the pixel level, in the scenarios I've been using it in. You are right that the second shot is not MFD (as I stated) but the subject was within a meter or so.

I think your concern about this issue as it relates to portraits is... interesting. How often are you shooting portraits at 200mm within a meter of the subject?

That being said, if this issue is affecting many lenses, this is absolutely something that should be addressed by Canon. In the meantime, go out and enjoy your lens - it is excellent at everything else.

sfnorton wrote:

I don’t see how the second image could be shot at f2.8 near mfd. The depth of field at f2.8 at mfd is only about 7 or 8mm. You seem to have a much higher DOF in that shot. Mine lens, even with newest firmware for R and lens is way off. My DOF is from 6mm in front of center of focus to barely 1mm behind center of focus. It’s not only off at 200mm at mfd either. That’s just the worse case. I would not feel comfortable using this copy for a portrait session at all. It seems to be not be an issue for other copies as reported so I may just return, wait for awhile, then repurchase. This thing is too expensive to not be pretty close to perfect. I’m so baffled by all this. One of the main reasons I went mirrorless was to put focus issues to rest. Arrrgh!

flyingskiguy wrote:

Running 1.6 on the R and 1.05 on the lens. Raws exported from Lightroom as 75% quality JPEGs. Only minor exposure adjustments made - no sharpening or CA correction applied.

First image is a classic example of a lighting situation in which you would expect to see strong CA. In my opinion, what little there is in the photo is well within acceptable limits.

Second image is near (but not at) MFD. This is where others were reporting front focusing issues. Focus was placed right in the center of the frame, and the AF nailed it. The lettering on the middle quickdraw is very sharp. Again, very little to no CA.

Third image was shot using Eye-Detect AF, which was accurately tracking the belayer's eyes even as small as they are in the frame. I was very impressed by this. The snow falling in the foreground and background did not distract the AF system.

Lastly I would like to comment on how well the R + RF 70-200 performed as a pair. This shoot took place in poor weather (rain transitioning to snow) in a technical and difficult to reach environment. The small size and light weight of the RF lens allowed me to pack it in a space where only my 24-105 would have fit before. I would have decided against bringing a traditionally sized 70-200 on this trip due to size and weight concerns. Reviewing the raws in lightroom, I am astounded how sharp this lens is even down to 300% zoom. Very excited to see how it performs on a high resolution body.