Canon 550d/T2i and 450d Live view VS viewfinder focus issues

[Ironlegs]

Hello everyone,

Since like i started photography i had a problem that i couldnt fix... when i had portrait photoshoots no matter what i did i had so many photos i could throw away cause they werent in focus ( the eyes werent ) I always thought it was my fault... UNTIL NOW ! ( dramatic moment )

Today, i tried to do a little test... i put my canon 550d on tripod with 100mm f/2.8 macro lens and did huge amount of test shots... when i used viewfinder my photos were OUT OF FOCUS while liveview focused ones were perfectly sharp ! ... i did so many test shots that i cant even count it it was always the same result... I also put the lens on my canon 450d and the results were the same, liveview again sharper... i tried switching lenses, using 50mm f/1.8 and again, liveview sharper.
Oh and remote controller was used.

Both images were done on 1/100 f/2.8 and iso 400.
So does anyone know please what could be the issue and if there is any way for me to fix it ? It is driving me crazy. Thanks a lot !
( file names are the same cause thats how i saved it in gimp )

 

[UjaiDidida]

Hi there! Your camera is fine but your eyes! You need your eyes checked. Don't use the view finder unless you've got a correcting eyewear.

 

[Big Mike]

Hi there! Your camera is fine but your eyes! You need your eyes checked. Don't use the view finder unless you've got a correcting eyewear.

That would only be true if he was focusing manually.

 

[Big Mike]

Hello everyone,

Today, i tried to do a little test... i put my canon 550d on tripod with 100mm f/2.8 macro lens and did huge amount of test shots... when i used viewfinder my photos were OUT OF FOCUS while liveview focused ones were perfectly sharp ! ... i did so many test shots that i cant even count it it was always the same result... I also put the lens on my canon 450d and the results were the same, liveview again sharper... i tried switching lenses, using 50mm f/1.8 and again, liveview sharper.
Oh and remote controller was used.

It's possible that your main AF is out of calibration. Off the top of my head, I don't think that model has the option for micro AF adjustment, so you would have to send it in to a Canon service centre for adjustment.

 

[Ironlegs]

Hello everyone,

Today, i tried to do a little test... i put my canon 550d on tripod with 100mm f/2.8 macro lens and did huge amount of test shots... when i used viewfinder my photos were OUT OF FOCUS while liveview focused ones were perfectly sharp ! ... i did so many test shots that i cant even count it it was always the same result... I also put the lens on my canon 450d and the results were the same, liveview again sharper... i tried switching lenses, using 50mm f/1.8 and again, liveview sharper.
Oh and remote controller was used.

It's possible that your main AF is out of calibration. Off the top of my head, I don't think that model has the option for micro AF adjustment, so you would have to send it in to a Canon service centre for adjustment.

I thought about the calibration too but theres a really weird thing... yesterday i tried to do few portraits... i had really accurate focus using viewfinder and this time liveview was being the inaccurate one... weird right ? I know liveview has a different focusing method than a viewfinder but i still dont understand :/

 

[Big Mike]

What else can you tell us about how you are focusing? What mode are you using? Multiple focus points or single?

 

[Ironlegs]

i always use M, single center focus point... i just focus on the eye and then recompose... i try to stand correctly and try to not shake my camera...

 

[bratkinson]

In looking at the pictures, two things come to mind...
1. Your camera appears to be front-focusing a bit. Look at the 'band' of in-focus material the object is sitting on. I don't believe that either of your cameras allow for MFA (Micro Focus Adjustment), so you'll either have to send them in to Canon or deal with it via wider DOF.
2. I'm guessing the camera is less than, say, 3" from the object. At f2.8, your DOF is too thin to have accurate focus on the entire object. Shoot at a smaller aperture to get the entire object in focus.

 

[Ironlegs]

In looking at the pictures, two things come to mind...
1. Your camera appears to be front-focusing a bit. Look at the 'band' of in-focus material the object is sitting on. I don't believe that either of your cameras allow for MFA (Micro Focus Adjustment), so you'll either have to send them in to Canon or deal with it via wider DOF.
2. I'm guessing the camera is less than, say, 3" from the object. At f2.8, your DOF is too thin to have accurate focus on the entire object. Shoot at a smaller aperture to get the entire object in focus.

1. I think that it might be front focusing...
2. but why would it be sharp on live view and not on viewfinder ? both were shot at f/2.8 :O

 

[UjaiDidida]

2. The view finder's DOF is not the same as the live view. It changes the DOF to show yo the final exposure result in live view. When in live view mode did you pressed the 'DOF preview' button to see the actual DOF?

 

[fortheus]

When you focus and recompose, your focus point is actually no longer in focus because it change the distance (though it's only few mm). It's magnified if you have small dof

When you focus with live view, you directly target your focus point by click on it. Which is the exact focus. Thus it is very sharp

 

[Ironlegs]

When you focus and recompose, your focus point is actually no longer in focus because it change the distance (though it's only few mm). It's magnified if you have small dof

When you focus with live view, you directly target your focus point by click on it. Which is the exact focus. Thus it is very sharp

Both pictures were done on tripod without recomposing... I dont know if you even read what i wrote...

 

[Overread]

I believe Fotheus is referring to your normal shooting where you mentioned that you focus and recompose. It is a separate potential area where focusing problems will occur (and if you're already getting some miss-focusing because of a lack of proper calibration then recomposing might well be making it worse).

Best thing you can do is to consider sending camera+lenses to Canon for recalibration - unless you have AF micro adjust in your cameras user manual