hi guys, i was shooting yesterday at Oxford and when i was ooking at my pics last night i saw 2 pics i cant quite explain what happened.

I am using a 30d with a 24-105L. To sum it up, the 2 pictures seem to be too soft. My picture styles are at 5 sharpening already. But the confusing thing is that i have shots which were taken using a slower shutter speed but are sharper. Its like the camera didnt focus well enough.

example.

http://static.flickr.com/122/271167084_4432235e6a_o.jpg


and

http://static.flickr.com/97/271167088_4bd7cb56ba_o.jpg


but i do get sharper pics at slower shutters like so


http://static.flickr.com/91/271167086_07a8a6b355_o.jpg




any ideas what happened? its like the camera got confused where to focus. I dont remember if i focus recomposed since i dont do that much now ever since i learned its not a particularly good technique.

Aside from focus issuee, all your photos are blown out too (too much hot spots). Were you on full auto mode?

nope, i metered for the people thats why the background is like that hehehe..otherwise dark sila...too large ang range eh di kakayanin ng sensor. and i dont like using my dinky flash hehehehe.....so walang pang fill flash.

It looks like the first two pics are focused on the foreground see the ledge they seem to be in focus as well as the bags. Perhaps if its not you, the lens has a front focusing prob or you chose a diff focusing setting on the first two.

hi marton, yun nga eh i dont think the lens/camera have front focusing issues kasi yung iba ko namang shots ok...yun 2 yan lang ang parang super soft....yung may nakaluhod pa yata eh 1/100 ang speed.

parang nalito lang yung camera generally at di nahanap yung gusto kong ifocus, have you guys experienced this before?

Could it be the IS?

hi marton, yun nga eh i dont think the lens/camera have front focusing issues kasi yung iba ko namang shots ok...yun 2 yan lang ang parang super soft....yung may nakaluhod pa yata eh 1/100 ang speed.

parang nalito lang yung camera generally at di nahanap yung gusto kong ifocus, have you guys experienced this before?


im thinking the IS...

ah talaga sir nino? pano yun? no tripod ha

Could it be the IS?

I think not since he shoot in slow shutter speed and got sharper results. It seems all shots are shallow DOF, and Higlights are blown-up. It might be the lens if not the metering system. I suggest try another 24-105L.

2 more samples of better focused pics.

http://static.flickr.com/79/271193802_a64c89f263_o.jpg


and

http://static.flickr.com/108/271193801_865f513541_o.jpg

Christopher, it seems very soft for me. Or maybe my eyes only. What do you think guys?

For situations like these, I always reset the camera first to make sure it's not a custom function that may have been set in a previous shoot.

I would get that kind of shots if I used spot metering in a bright day.

Some exif data would also help us diagnose your problem.

thanks sir dave. ill put down the exif later tonight when i get home..i resized the pics so it would upload easier.......

when you reset you mean remove the batteries? i dont have many custom functions turned on just 3200 ISO and the CF that would allow me to make use of the joystick as the AF selection tool.

sir jerome you mean even the stone shots were soft to you? i was focused on the 3rd stone mind you not the first one.

Sir Chris, yes, the stones are Ok, but the group shots are somewhat soft for my liking.

thanks sir.....

question is, is that fine for an L image?

Hi Chris, please check-out other forums about the first bacth of 24-105 L which has been recalled for softness and distortion. If you have another 24-105L it would be a logical test to see if the lens is the culprit.

yeah thanks for all the help sir jerome, my copy is a UU copy so it was made around 2006.....not part of the UT ones......

if you wanna stop by my site and take a look at the other shots feel free to. they are shots made her ein the UK.

ccp900.multiply.com

the night shots are really blurred coz it was so dark not even the IS can help hehehe

first picture, one with 2 girls : 47mm, f4, 1/125

the one with the kneeling girl: 88mm, f4, 1/100


the one with 4 girls : 35mm, f4, 1/80

the one with the stones : 35mm, f4, 1/250

one with the group pic : 45mm, f4, 1/160

What were you focusing dots set on?

Mike

when you reset you mean remove the batteries?

No... there's a menu command to reset all the camera's functions back to default. I do this sometimes when shooting totally different enviroments just to make sure I'm back to square 1 and I didn't leave anything specific function I might have needed the previous shoot that will interfere with the current one.

Your exif seems ok. Best way to isolate the issue is to shoot with a different lens since the problem is related to focus and exposure. If you can replicate the problem with a different lens, then it will be easier to find out what's wrong.

first picture, one with 2 girls : 47mm, f4, 1/125

the one with the kneeling girl: 88mm, f4, 1/100


the one with 4 girls : 35mm, f4, 1/80

the one with the stones : 35mm, f4, 1/250

one with the group pic : 45mm, f4, 1/160

I believe the use of f4 makes some of your images soft. F4 is fairly large aperture so when dealing with large aperture slight movement from your focus point can give you blurred image...... and I think there's nothing wrong with focus and recompose even if it's an old style. It always works for me. :) Try shooting at smaller aperture like f8 or even 5.6... You're shooting outdoors anyway

I also agree that the probable culprit might be the IS. I used to use the 28-135 IS and it gives me softer images than my 24-85mm.

:Grin:

thanks sir darwin.....problem is the 24-105L should be sharp at f4 hehehe...

im thinking 2 things...well 3 now that you guys have chimed in. 1 is focus recompose, im not too sure if i did it though....sir darwin theres an article out there in the internet about the effects of focus recompose, sometimes it just misses and when it does it makes the image softer.

2. could have been the fact that after previewing the shots and using the zoom button, my camera reverts to all points af, i sometimes press it before pressing the preview button so i guess i could have changed my af to all points rather than 1 point. and lastly you guys the IS could be the culprit, i guess i should pause a bit after the half shutter press to let the IS settle.

i hope its one of those 3. hehehe.....

sir mike, i dont have my canon software now so i cant figure out which af point was used by the camera.

the girl kneeling is a beuatiful model.... :)

shes getting married so tough luck hahahaha....shes a friend sa office.

...and I think there's nothing wrong with focus and recompose even if it's an old style. It always works for me. :)

Hi. What do you mean focus and recompose is old style? Has it gone obsolete already? What's the new style? That is what I always use and I do not know of any other way. :Shock:

Thanks,

Marco

hi sir marco, try googling "why its bad to focus recompose" or something to that effect. It merely says that focus recompose leads to mistakes in focusing because of the shift in the focus plane as you move away from where you focus locked. this would obviously be more pronounced as you move farther away from the subject. i used to do a lot of focus recomposition but there were shots that were simply too soft and they appeared back focused....ever since i stopped focus recomposition, the number of those kinds of shots went down. Back then i was asking why canon had to give us more than 1 focus point if we can just focus lock and recompose.....maybe just for tracking? then after reading that article i realized and started using the other af points....small recomposition might be ok if no other choice but do it using the nearest af point you can use.

I still focus and recompose. No problems noted. :D

I think focus, lock and recompose is ok as long as your DOF is sufficient enough. If it's too shallow, then this will really affect the sharpness of the primary focus area.

Hi. What do you mean focus and recompose is old style? Has it gone obsolete already? What's the new style? That is what I always use and I do not know of any other way. :Shock:

Thanks,

Marco

New style is you move your focus point by toggle/multi-selector where the subject of your composition is, in your frame; and do focus/recompose there... :)

New style is you move your focus point by toggle/multi-selector where the subject of your composition is, in your frame; and do focus/recompose there... :)

That is what I do. But since I am using only a D70 (still saving up for the D200, which have 11 focus points, or maybe, just maybe, waiting for the Fuji S5 Pro), we only have 5 focus points. Top, bottom, left, right, and center. I toggle to the nearest focus point, but still, I have to recompose. Yun nga lang maiksi na yung imo-move ng camera instead of doing the focusing from the center focus point. I don't think focus and recompose can be fully avoided.

My 2 centavos.

Marco

I'll start a new thread for this...

I disabled other focusing points, only used the center focus. That way, I am telling my lens to have that point focused. Then I recompose. Works fine for me also.:Grin: