Soft Backfocus
 

Why does my XL1s seem to have a soft back focus. Of course by this I mean I push all the way in, rack focus, pull out and it is soft. It is driving me crazy.

Thoughts?

Thanks Mike

Well, it's possible that your lens' backfocus is out of adjustment. If so, send it in to Canon and get it fixed.

Unless you are shooting with the 16x Manual, in which case you can adjust the back focus yourself.

Michael, often times I still have to roll through the focus on the 16x IS lens, after I have already zoomed in and set focus. That is why I am upgrading to a manual lens, too many focus issues with the stock lens. If your using the stock lens just roll through it and see if you picture is properly focused, if not you may have to send it in for repairs.
Mark

welcome to the soft-focus club, michael... i've had two xl's, and they both had soft focus, despite being "adjusted" by the service center... which i think is little more than a software tweak, not an actual backfocus hardware adjustment.

i believe that the new h1 has a real backfocus adjustment.

fwiw, there is an article on the xl watchdog site that discusses how camera settings affect this situation, be sure and read that.

I'm glad I shoot with the 16x manual. I check the back focus before every major shoot. Takes about two minutes.

Follow up
 

Thanks for the bad news. In ya'll's opinion, given the soft focus issue, should I just buy the 16X manual and not send it in for repair....Or send it in and hope they can fx the old lens?

And, how much are the news lens about $1,200 or so?

Thanks mike

BH Photo sells the 16x manual lens for 1299.00 new.
or you can try ebay for a used one.
Mark