5D III focus accuracy with fast primes wide open

[BL]

thanks all for the contributions. it all seems very promising!

in hindsight, i realize this question is best answered renting the body and testing it out myself.

 

[@!ex]

So I have a the new 5dmk3 and a 50mm 1.2L. I have been trying to get the micro adjustment on the lens just right, but but I figured out why it had been a bit confusing up to this point. If I use the center point (or any AF point within the metering ring) I get spot on tack sharp AF on like 90% of the shots with 0 MFA. BUT, if I use one of the outer AF spots I get pretty bad back focusing (like +15). I thought maybe it was the body I had, so I just went back to the camera store and exchanged it for another body hoping that I would at least be able to figure out if that was the variable. Turns out this body is exactly the same. This makes me think it is either difficult for the AF to get a good lock due to the aberrations of the glass the closer you get to the edge, or something wrong with the lens itself (it is brand new and date code is uz0909). I'm also just wondering if this is the price you pay with AF on really fast glass. That is where you come in. If you have fast glass (1.2) try checking the AF accuracy on center point and a more lateral point and lets see if we can come to a consensus. I'm especially interested in 50mm 1.2 as thats what I'm working with. I tested my 70-200 2.8 and it's pretty spot on with no MFA, on both center and lateral AF points. I'll post a few test shots of my 50 when I get home later.

 

[Daniel Flather]

So I have a the new 5dmk3 and a 50mm 1.2L. I have been trying to get the micro adjustment on the lens just right, but but I figured out why it had been a bit confusing up to this point. If I use the center point (or any AF point within the metering ring) I get spot on tack sharp AF on like 90% of the shots with 0 MFA. BUT, if I use one of the outer AF spots I get pretty bad back focusing (like +15). I thought maybe it was the body I had, so I just went back to the camera store and exchanged it for another body hoping that I would at least be able to figure out if that was the variable. Turns out this body is exactly the same. This makes me think it is either difficult for the AF to get a good lock due to the aberrations of the glass the closer you get to the edge, or something wrong with the lens itself (it is brand new and date code is uz0909). I'm also just wondering if this is the price you pay with AF on really fast glass. That is where you come in. If you have fast glass (1.2) try checking the AF accuracy on center point and a more lateral point and lets see if we can come to a consensus. I'm especially interested in 50mm 1.2 as thats what I'm working with. I tested my 70-200 2.8 and it's pretty spot on with no MFA, on both center and lateral AF points. I'll post a few test shots of my 50 when I get home later.

My 24L and 35L are great using any focus point wide open, the 50L is a tricky lens. It performs well with the centre point, but may vary with using outer focus points. With the 50D the 50L as all over the place. The 5D3 seems to have tamed the 50L some. I'm much happier with the 50L on the 5D3 vs. my (now on eBay) 50D.

 

[wickidwombat]

So I have a the new 5dmk3 and a 50mm 1.2L. I have been trying to get the micro adjustment on the lens just right, but but I figured out why it had been a bit confusing up to this point. If I use the center point (or any AF point within the metering ring) I get spot on tack sharp AF on like 90% of the shots with 0 MFA. BUT, if I use one of the outer AF spots I get pretty bad back focusing (like +15). I thought maybe it was the body I had, so I just went back to the camera store and exchanged it for another body hoping that I would at least be able to figure out if that was the variable. Turns out this body is exactly the same. This makes me think it is either difficult for the AF to get a good lock due to the aberrations of the glass the closer you get to the edge, or something wrong with the lens itself (it is brand new and date code is uz0909). I'm also just wondering if this is the price you pay with AF on really fast glass. That is where you come in. If you have fast glass (1.2) try checking the AF accuracy on center point and a more lateral point and lets see if we can come to a consensus. I'm especially interested in 50mm 1.2 as thats what I'm working with. I tested my 70-200 2.8 and it's pretty spot on with no MFA, on both center and lateral AF points. I'll post a few test shots of my 50 when I get home later.

this could explain my wildly varied results too although i was deliberately stopping down to f2 or f2.8 to give it a bit of a chance also images are sharper there.

 

[Drizzt321]

So I have a the new 5dmk3 and a 50mm 1.2L. I have been trying to get the micro adjustment on the lens just right, but but I figured out why it had been a bit confusing up to this point. If I use the center point (or any AF point within the metering ring) I get spot on tack sharp AF on like 90% of the shots with 0 MFA. BUT, if I use one of the outer AF spots I get pretty bad back focusing (like +15). I thought maybe it was the body I had, so I just went back to the camera store and exchanged it for another body hoping that I would at least be able to figure out if that was the variable. Turns out this body is exactly the same. This makes me think it is either difficult for the AF to get a good lock due to the aberrations of the glass the closer you get to the edge, or something wrong with the lens itself (it is brand new and date code is uz0909). I'm also just wondering if this is the price you pay with AF on really fast glass. That is where you come in. If you have fast glass (1.2) try checking the AF accuracy on center point and a more lateral point and lets see if we can come to a consensus. I'm especially interested in 50mm 1.2 as thats what I'm working with. I tested my 70-200 2.8 and it's pretty spot on with no MFA, on both center and lateral AF points. I'll post a few test shots of my 50 when I get home later.

My 24L and 35L are great using any focus point wide open, the 50L is a tricky lens. It performs well with the centre point, but may vary with using outer focus points. With the 50D the 50L as all over the place. The 5D3 seems to have tamed the 50L some. I'm much happier with the 50L on the 5D3 vs. my (now on eBay) 50D.

I remember reading from a link posted somewhere in this forum on autofocus with lenses, and how it won't always work properly when further from the center. Perhaps that's what's going on with your 50 1.2.

 

[wickidwombat]

Thanks guys, yeah i'm not getting anything remotely that sharp :'(

I'm a little confused that you can make that assessment from a 640x427 jpeg.. If you really can tell from an image that small, you're doing something wrong or your camera or lens is incredibly broken.

I'm also a little confused by the wording of this thread's subject. Aren't all lenses "wide open" during autofocus? The aperture is only adjusted when the shutter is activated (or the depth-of-field preview is activated).

true I was just feeling sorry for myself yesterday so i spend most of last night doing detailed testing i posted all the raws this morning

 

[mrmarks]

So I have a the new 5dmk3 and a 50mm 1.2L. I have been trying to get the micro adjustment on the lens just right, but but I figured out why it had been a bit confusing up to this point. If I use the center point (or any AF point within the metering ring) I get spot on tack sharp AF on like 90% of the shots with 0 MFA. BUT, if I use one of the outer AF spots I get pretty bad back focusing (like +15). I thought maybe it was the body I had, so I just went back to the camera store and exchanged it for another body hoping that I would at least be able to figure out if that was the variable. Turns out this body is exactly the same. This makes me think it is either difficult for the AF to get a good lock due to the aberrations of the glass the closer you get to the edge, or something wrong with the lens itself (it is brand new and date code is uz0909). I'm also just wondering if this is the price you pay with AF on really fast glass. That is where you come in. If you have fast glass (1.2) try checking the AF accuracy on center point and a more lateral point and lets see if we can come to a consensus. I'm especially interested in 50mm 1.2 as thats what I'm working with. I tested my 70-200 2.8 and it's pretty spot on with no MFA, on both center and lateral AF points. I'll post a few test shots of my 50 when I get home later.

All AF points should work the same. Canon should look into this issue as well.

 

[Drizzt321]

So I have a the new 5dmk3 and a 50mm 1.2L. I have been trying to get the micro adjustment on the lens just right, but but I figured out why it had been a bit confusing up to this point. If I use the center point (or any AF point within the metering ring) I get spot on tack sharp AF on like 90% of the shots with 0 MFA. BUT, if I use one of the outer AF spots I get pretty bad back focusing (like +15). I thought maybe it was the body I had, so I just went back to the camera store and exchanged it for another body hoping that I would at least be able to figure out if that was the variable. Turns out this body is exactly the same. This makes me think it is either difficult for the AF to get a good lock due to the aberrations of the glass the closer you get to the edge, or something wrong with the lens itself (it is brand new and date code is uz0909). I'm also just wondering if this is the price you pay with AF on really fast glass. That is where you come in. If you have fast glass (1.2) try checking the AF accuracy on center point and a more lateral point and lets see if we can come to a consensus. I'm especially interested in 50mm 1.2 as thats what I'm working with. I tested my 70-200 2.8 and it's pretty spot on with no MFA, on both center and lateral AF points. I'll post a few test shots of my 50 when I get home later.

All AF points should work the same. Canon should look into this issue as well.

There's certain physics on the path light takes that causes it to come in at different angles towards the edges versus near the center. Theoretically Canon could probably make a sensor that works much better, but it'd probably be physically larger/different, and probably much more expensive.

 

[jm345]

My 5DIII is working great with the 35L 1.4 wide open. Accurate focussing in low light in the center and extreme left and right focus points. And ISO 3200 is amazing.