Canon focus issues (possible damage)

[davidpalmerphoto]

Hey all.

I'm first going to bore you with my little storey of what happened.

I've been taking photos for an alternative club night in my home town for a while now using my 450d, kit lens and a 430ex with diffuser. The photos have been turning out great, however. I few months back my camera got completely knocked out of my hand and slammed straight down on a solid tile floor. Yes, I nearly cried! I quickly picked up my camera and checked everything, it seemed to all be fine. However later that night when I was packing up I realised that the lock switch on the bottom of my 430 has gone extremely stiff and you really have to force it to lock.

This isn't my main issue but does anyone know a quick fix? Maybe?

But anyways I'll carry on...

This saturday just gone I was asked to do some photos for a 50th birthday party which I happily accepted. Well last night I was processing the images when I started to notice that on most of the group shots people on the far right of the frame of out of focus compared to people on the left.

One particular group shot was about 6 people, I shot using tripod, flash and at about f8ish (would you say this was a good choice?)

I decided to check my lens (18-55 kit)

Well I noticed is on the back end of the lens the first bit of internal glass you see sits about 2mm across to the left (the same side my camera landed on that night)

Do you think this would be my cause of focusing issues? And is there any possible fix without having to buy a new one????

Please please help!!!

 

[Overread]

Without seeing example photos its tricky to say if you have a problem with the lens or if it was your settings and conditions on the night which resulted in the problem you are describing.

As a general test try focusing straight on at a subject. Try something like a book or similar flat, textured surface and shoot at about a 45 degree angle. This helps ensure that you do land focus in the scene, whilst also allowing one to compare the opposite sides of the shot. A series of 3 with the focus placed in the top, middle and bottom areas of the frame should probably suffice.

If you see that you've clearly got a blurrier one side over the other chances are the knock has shifted one or more elements in the lens; repair or replacement would be your only options. You will want to check the repair quote costs (before sending it in) and the lenses market worth (ebay for second hand - shops for new). With cheaper kit lenses you can oft find that replacement costs are cheaper/not much more than repair work.

 

[davidpalmerphoto]

Thank you for you advice, I'll devise a test for it tonight and let you know what the results are.