How to tell if you spent good money-or got ripped off?

[LivingLarge]

OK, so I just recieved a ef 10-22 lens from what seemed like a reputabel seller off ebay. good price, but after a few shots, I wonder if I just got hosed.

The lens achieves focus, the zoom works although with a *tiny* bit of free play in the zoom ring, and there are NO scratches anywhere on the lens.

My question is....How does one go about determining if a lens is working properly and is within acceptable ranges??? Any seat of your pants recomendations? Any tests? :dunno

This lens gets good reviews and comments, and I love the coverage it provides. Hope I got a good one.:rolleyes

[Moogle Pepper]

Did you read the seller's description and his/her feedback completely?

why not post some of the photos you took with it here? Maybe Ziggy, or other fine members here, can help you out.

[LivingLarge]

Did you read the seller's description and his/her feedback completely?

why not post some of the photos you took with it here? Maybe Ziggy, or other fine members here, can help you out.

Well, yes, I did read teh description and feedback. Was satisfied the seller was legit and knowledgable. Just not what I was expecting for, shall we say - build quality from the lens based on all the comments. And it seems to have a very small focus range. Maybe???

I will take some shots with it this afternoon and post. :scratch

[Cygnus Studios]

OK, so I just recieved a ef 10-22 lens from what seemed like a reputabel seller off ebay. good price, but after a few shots, I wonder if I just got hosed.

You really have three possibilities.

1. The seller damaged the lens in some way (knowingly or unknowningly)
2. The lens came damaged from the manufacturer.
3. User error.

Just because the lens has great reviews doesn't mean that a mistake during the production isn't possible. I have sent a few back to Nikon and Sigma for tweaking. It is just one of those things that happen.
You mention a small amount of play with the zoom ring and short focus. The focus issue is an easy check. Lay out a ruler or yard stick and shoot away. This will show your focus spots in a very matter of fact position.
For the play in the zoom ring. Are the problems in auto focus, manual, both, shooting straight up, straight down, level.
Pictures will help, but some more details would make it easier also.

[PixNW]

I've used the focus chart that you can print from this link before:

http://focustestchart.com/chart.html (http://focustestchart.com/chart.html)

Just follow the instructions and it works pretty well, and will at least give you an indication of a front focus/back focus issue.

It's also possible, as I've had it happen, that the camera body and lens are both within allowable specs, but that each is close to the opposite end of what is allowable. If that's the case, the results of them together may not be great. If you suspect that may be the case, you can have the lens and camera calibrated together.

[Robinivich]

OK, so I just recieved a ef 10-22 lens from what seemed like a reputabel seller off ebay. good price, but after a few shots, I wonder if I just got hosed.

The lens achieves focus, the zoom works although with a *tiny* bit of free play in the zoom ring, and there are NO scratches anywhere on the lens.
Just not what I was expecting for, shall we say - build quality from the lens based on all the comments. And it seems to have a very small focus range. This sounds outwardly like my very well performing 10-22mm that's the subject of another thread in here...

The focus travel on an ultrawide lens is always very small, and my zoom ring, while very smooth and nice in use, had the tiniest bit of forward and back movement, just enough to hear it when you deliberately go to move it. Post some pictures wide open and stopped down and let us know how it goes!

Having read reviews at photozone and others, they usually say it's better than similarly constructed zooms, eg 17-85, this is due to fewer moving parts, and the very very smooth zooming action in comparison. Remember, it's not an L.

[ziggy53]

OK, so I just recieved a ef 10-22 lens from what seemed like a reputabel seller off ebay. good price, but after a few shots, I wonder if I just got hosed.

The lens achieves focus, the zoom works although with a *tiny* bit of free play in the zoom ring, and there are NO scratches anywhere on the lens.

My question is....How does one go about determining if a lens is working properly and is within acceptable ranges??? Any seat of your pants recomendations? Any tests? :dunno

This lens gets good reviews and comments, and I love the coverage it provides. Hope I got a good one.:rolleyes

Either take the lens to a knowledgeable photographer, preferably one with that particular lens so you can get a direct comparison, or do lots of shooting of the intended subject matter to see if the lens meets "your" requirements.

I am no longer a fan of those lens focus tests that involve a ruler or ruled marks. Most autofocus module's focus points are not as well defined as most people think they are and the lens will often front-focus using those tests because the "camera" chooses a closer mark on the ruling. In other words, the "camera" makes the focus mistake not the lens, and the camera was just doing what it was designed to do.

[PixNW]

Either take the lens to a knowledgeable photographer, preferably one with that particular lens so you can get a direct comparison, or do lots of shooting of the intended subject matter to see if the lens meets "your" requirements.

I am no longer a fan of those lens focus tests that involve a ruler or ruled marks. Most autofocus module's focus points are not as well defined as most people think they are and the lens will often front-focus using those tests because the "camera" chooses a closer mark on the ruling. In other words, the "camera" makes the focus mistake not the lens, and the camera was just doing what it was designed to do.

I've read that before too Ziggy. There is another chart out there that I've used that has the measurements printed very faintly, with the focus line of text being the darkest thing on the page. It's easier to get the camera to focus on the highest contrast spot. I'll see if I can find the link to the chart.

ON EDIT: Here is a link to a different chart. There are instructions on adjusting the peripheral text so that it's faint enough that it won't confuse your cameras AF system. It might be worth a try.

http://regex.info/blog/photo-tech/focus-chart/

[ziggy53]

... ON EDIT: Here is a link to a different chart. There are instructions on adjusting the peripheral text so that it's faint enough that it won't confuse your cameras AF system. It might be worth a try.

http://regex.info/blog/photo-tech/focus-chart/

Yes, I think that would be preferable. Thanks for posting the link. :thumb