After selling my first nifty fifty due to it's front focusing issues and purchasing a new one only to find the same issue, i have eventually come to the remarkable conclusion that the fault may actually lie with my camera, Doh!

I decided last night for some strange reason to try a focusing test with my 50mm f1.8, my 18-55mm IS and my 55-250mm all wide open at min distance with a 45 degree line of AA batteries. Surprise surprise, they all front focused, obviously some to a greater extent than others.

Conclusion it must be my Canon 350D. Another reason to upgrade to the 40D come the new year!

JD

Whilst I am not arguing that you may have a problem, there is a specific way to test for front an back focussing.

I actualy use a specific tool and Canon approved methods for the job of calibrating the focus for each of my lenses. Focussing at 45 degrees to an object is virtually guaranteed to give you errors!

It's still nice to get a new camera though ;-)

I see some of the high end cameras (perhaps yours as well Scuff) have the option of calibrating each individual lens to the camera. This sounds like a fantastic little option without the need to send to an approved canon centre. At the moment (and for the foreseable future) i will likely retain an entry level DSLR and some entry level lenses for taking family photos, holiday shots and maybe some landscapes/ sport if i ever get the time (hence wanting a 40D). Therefore everything being relative, i wouldn't be investing in sending off lenses or camera for calibration any time soon.

i appreciate my testing method is crude, but proved to me that the camera consistently front focused with all lenses. i did previously test the 50mm 1.8 at all apertures from 1.8 - 5.6 with the batteries. Unfortunately taking close up photos of the kids at anything wider than f3.5 meant that the shot was out of focus (generally focusing on the eye) at the focal point. When shot at f1.8 the camera seemed to be front focusing by between 5-10mm.

JD