Nice lens, shame about the focus

I went out again today with that Canon 300mm 2.8 L. It's been gradually dawning on me that something isn't right - and I think I've worked out what.

Quite simply, it doesn't focus where you think it does. This photo of a rabbit was what settled it for me. I know I focused on the rabbit's eye; the little red light blinked on it, it looked totally sharp in the viewfinder - but when I looked at the image on the camera's preview screen, the rabbit wasn't sharp, as you can see clearly in the cropped-in version below. Darn!

OK, I thought, camera shake - I was using a monopod, but it was only 1/125th of a second. But hang on, look at the leaves a foot in front of the rabbit: sharp as you like.

So I did an experiment - all very scientific, using the fence around our newly-dug vegetable patch. Sure enough, at a range of 10 yards, the actual focus is about 6ins in front of where you think it is - the point where you've actually focused, and where it looks sharp in the viewfinder.

 

It's not really practical to 'aim off', so I'm going to have to investigate this further. The effect is identical with the lens on my 20D, and my 70-200 lens behaves impeccably on both camera bodies, so the lens itself is chief suspect at the moment. Comments and suggestions from more experienced photographers will be most welcome!

UPDATE 1: Hmm, bit of googling and I'm already discovering there's more to this than meets the eye - and maybe there was a reason why the 550D was about a quarter the price of the 5D Mk II I really wanted.

UPDATE 2: Thanks to the readers who've offered helpful suggestions in the comments. I tried a more scientific test, downloading a test sheet here,  and photographing it following the instructions. The results suggest the camera is fine - I got accurate results with a Sigma 70-200mm 2.8, and a Canon 50mm 1.8 - but the 200mm lens is showing a significant degree of what I now know is called "front focus". The focus point for all three photos below was at "0" - these are cropped in to show the result.

Canon 50mm 1.8

Sigma 70-200 2.8

Canon 300mm 2.8

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What a manky fox!

Typical! I manage to get within snapping distance of a fox, it stands there posing for me - and look at it, the manky thing!

Still, I managed a few shots of crows, magpies etc as well, so not an entirely wasted afternoon.

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Phwoar, look at the size of that!

I've borrowed this lovely 300mm f/2.8 Canon L lens for the weekend - what a beauty! It's had a bit of a battering over its life, but the glass is still as lovely as ever, and focusing is smooth and fast.

I stuck it on my 550D and went in search of wildlife. Saw a roe doe creeping through the trees, but she didn't want to play.

Then a few young rabbits... and a couple of older ones, including this one that appears to have had myxy, and an ear full of fleas.

And then I thought, what the heck, I'll see if I can call up a fox. Within seconds of squeaking there was a brown flash in the undergrowth, just 20 yards away. He sat checking me out from behind a tree for a few seconds, didn't like what he saw, and scarpered.

And all I got was this shot of where he was a second earlier - you can just see him (circled) sneaking off through the trees. Better luck next time perhaps!

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Cameras banned from Olympics... no they're not... er...

Did you apply for tickets to see the shooting at the London 2012 Olympics? If you get lucky, it seems you will be able to take a camera - just a small one, mind. Without a flash. And don't think you'll cover the price of your ticket by flogging pictures to the shooting magazines.

The media office of LOCOG, the organising committee for the games, has been leading Amateur Photographer magazine a merry dance over their 'guidelines', first telling them that even compact cameras with powerful zoom lenses would be banned, then retracting it and blaming one of their PR team for making a mistake: "She got confused. She is not a camera expert."

The latest official statement is that the guidelines are still under discussion, but "Like many other large sporting events and previous Games, one possibility is that there may be restrictions around spectators using large (in size) lenses and tripods, simply because of the impact this can have on the viewing experience for other spectators sitting close by."

There has also been a suggestion that flash photography may be banned at certain events, including shooting.

As for making any money from selling photos from the event, sports photographer Bob Martin, who is head of photography for London 2012, said: "Ticket conditions will say that pictures cannot be used commercially – that's no different to any other sporting event."

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Portrait of a huntress wins major photographic prize

This stunning image of a 14 year old girl on horseback with a buck she hunted, by David Chancellor, has won the Taylor Wessing prize. Chancellor won £12,000 for the picture, described by Sandy Nairne, director of the National Portrait Gallery and chairman of the judges, "a powerful and beautiful portrait, a worthy winner amidst a strong international submission". More at the Guardian website here...