I drank the Kool-aid

[ron777]

My error, it was a focus shift issue. 

[thefsb]

Beware of pundits who make money blogging about cameras. They are dependent on promos and won't bite the hand that feeds them.

 

This is a very important point.

 

Sony does very good pressers. Even photographers whose opinions I respect can go a bit weak-kneed, lovey-dovey at these events.

[thefsb]

Good point.  Oh well, guess we're back to trial and error.

I'm in S Florida, where there are few if any high end camera retailers.  When it comes time for new equipment, I usually order online from B&H or equivalent, but that is generally sight unseen. I have been reasonably satisfied with the end result, as it pertains to cameras, but lenses have been a horse of a different color.  Although I must say that in days gone by, my Rollei, Hassy and Leica lenses have been without issues but, then again, they were all manual lenses.

 

Don't feel bad about sending a lens back to B&H. They make it very convenient. You pay shipping, which is fair. And the costs of such returns are built into their business.

 

I felt ho-hum about the 4/24-105 so I sent it back.

[thefsb]

Internet posts regarding the QC for that lens, with decentering representing the most common complaint.

 

Beware of technical jargon. It is how we hide lack of understanding.

 

How did the posters measure decentering? As Kasson has remarked

 

... most of the lens construction problems that people encounter are not related to decentering, even though many folks say a lens which produces sharp images in the center of the frame and soft ones someplace (or every place) else is ‘decentered.”

 

https://blog.kasson.com/lens-screening-testing/