Out of Focus Question

[SkunkedAgain]

After owning my Canon 35-105 lens since 1994, I finally noticed that pictures seem slightly out of focus if I zoom in as far as possible. If I pull back on the zoom just a hair, things seem to be in focus.

Is this normal for zoom lenses? Am I crazy? (separate but somewhat related questions)

[Steve Foss]

SA, most zooms (particularly the less expensive ones) don't resolve as sharply when zoomed to max focal length. You can either do as you've done to help sharpen it up, and/or you can stop down the aperture one stop (as in from f5.6 to f8), which also helps increase sharpness.

[Dbl]

What about the focus ring itself? At max zoom can you actually rotate you focus ring past max? Many lenses at max length of zoom and focus will go slightly beyond to allow for thermal differences. On older lenses you will eventually have some wear at the end of the zoom mechanism as well. I have one lens that goes beyond when zooming and gets soft but auto focus puts things back in focus. I do notice it when I manually focus.

I've had a few older zooms rebuilt mainly due to zoom creep which often allows you to zoom beyond max. Wear and tear, it happens. If you can live with it as is and still get sharp photos with slight tweaking I won't get to concerned. The cost of repair might be higher than the cost to replace.

[SkunkedAgain]

These all might be good reasons to upgrade my glass. Sigh....more money.