Canon's "softness"


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eh pros, this picture here doesn't look sharp, it's taken with 350D attached to 100mm - 300mm long lens, shot at focal length 290mm, F5.6 and 1/60sec.

is it canon's softness, motion blur, oof or what?

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/127/334085045_4bbd25e42a_o.jpg

i often get results like this so i really need to know what is the problem and how i can make it sharper in-camera.

You shoot through fencing of course not sharp lah.
 

Handshake...
1/60 is a tad bit too slow for this length.

so i should shot this at 1/320sec instead? what can i do if the lightings was bad? ISO already up-ed to 1600 liao.. suggestions?

and for this photo here: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/166/334108846_32d3489708_o.jpg it was taken with shutter speed 1/320 and the eyes are still not sharp leh... :think:

You shoot through fencing of course not sharp lah.

no leh.. it wasn't through fence.. it was right infront of me with nothing inbetween..
 

no leh.. it wasn't through fence.. it was right infront of me with nothing inbetween..

oic... the squarish bokeh behind lead me to believe you are shooting fence. Focus is pretty OK as you can see the eyes relatively sharp as compared to the other parts of body.

As for the second pic... can see stray hairs on the back of the body liao.. how sharp you want? :sweat:
 

eh pros, this picture here doesn't look sharp, it's taken with 350D attached to 100mm - 300mm long lens, shot at focal length 290mm, F5.6 and 1/60sec.

is it canon's softness, motion blur, oof or what?

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/127/334085045_4bbd25e42a_o.jpg

i often get results like this so i really need to know what is the problem and how i can make it sharper in-camera.

use a monopod.. please! high ISO introduces noise which generally decreases the 'sharpness'. try taking an object at ISO100 and ISO1600, scrutinize it and see for yourself.
 

oic... the squarish bokeh behind lead me to believe you are shooting fence. Focus is pretty OK as you can see the eyes relatively sharp as compared to the other parts of body.

As for the second pic... can see stray hairs on the back of the body liao.. how sharp you want? :sweat:

i the eyes just look blurry ar.. kinda uncomfortable, doesn't got the factor to really attract your eyes on it.. :sweat:

use a monopod.. please! high ISO introduces noise which generally decreases the 'sharpness'. try taking an object at ISO100 and ISO1600, scrutinize it and see for yourself.

thanks for telling, i didn't know that noise would decrease sharpness if picture was well exposed (that's what my friend told me).
 

if really really no choice then use flash lor if they permit but of course its HIGHLY RECOMMENDED not to use flash with animals.

otherwise
70-300 IS
70-200 f4L IS
70-200 f2.8L IS

if not sharp you really have to think.. WHY!
 

Image Quality Optimization Tips


Consider the use ofin-camera sharpening:
If you shoot JPEGs and you wish to reduce or eliminate the need for post-processing in
order to speed up your workflow, you mayfind that increasing the level of in-camera
sharpening is effective.

Apply post-process sharpening effectively:

Canon EOS digital cameras have an anti-aliasing filter installed on the image sensor.
This filter improves color rendition and practically eliminates moiré. The liability is a
slight reduction of sharpness. To reduce the softening effect of the anti-aliasing filter we
recommend applying an unsharp mask to the image in Adobe®Photoshop®. Although
there is no such thing as a “best” setting for all applications, we suggest the following
as a starting point:

Amount: 300%
Radius: 0.3 pixels
Threshold: 0 pixels


This para was extracted from the website below.

http://photoworkshop.com/canon/EOS_Digital_Ref.pdf

Hope it shed some lights into diff between canon and nikon.

Good tip. Thanks.
 

Brush up on handhold skills lor.

There are a few "poor man's IS" method you can try.

1.
Fire at max FPS and do a 3 round burst. The middle shot is usually slightly sharper.

2.
I'm not sure if you have a short timer function. My timer is set to 2s, so after pressing the shutter, I can hold the camera tigher and have less shake since my finger wasn't pressing the shutter when I took the shot.

If not non of this work, I'm afraid you'll have to invest in more expensive lenses.
 

one thing to note is w digital its easy to zoom in at 100% adn then complain not sharp. but that is like looking at a print out of a A1 or A0 print at like 5-10 cm??? if you don zoom in 100% just print 4r or 5r...you wont even notice the slight loss in sharpness for most pictures.. sometimes even slightly OOF photos sill look pretty ok at 4r.

take a few pictures of your family members or friends, print the photos and show it to them...i bet 100% they are more interested in whether you can make them look good or thin or not and won even notice your slightly unsharp pictures...

general public won bother most of the time. its us the photographers that will print a 8R photo and look at it at 5cm and complain not very sharp!:bigeyes:
 

hihi dude ;)
it's normal for you to feel the softness.

you switched from compact to dSLR right ?
compact cameras have automatic sharpening in-cam.
that means photos come out sharp without processing.
for dSLR, most of the time they leave the sharpening for post-processing by you and leave it as shot with minimal in-cam processing.

and i have tried canon 350D, when paired with a decent lens like the 70-200L, the photos come out looking pretty sharp. the kit lens is pretty disappointing when used wide open, used a smaller aperture for better images. :)

hope this helps, btw, i'm a nikon user now.

Nah, I switched from SLR to DSLR. And will stick with Canon :)

hi bro,

i've got a 400d too and most of my pics are sharp enough before PP. just feel that the cam is not too good at AF even with all the 9 point stuff at all. been resorting to manual quite often, especially at low light or complicated pics. so maybe you can check that. sometimes if the viewfinder dirty or diopter is out u can get a systematic error when u focus also. mild cam shake can also look "soft". see if u can rule out any of these simple things before u look for any other more major probs with such a nice cam :(

cheers

Are u calling me bro? WAh biang ... one called me dude ... another bro...

Anywayz, I always use MF; still find my pics soft leh.


But after reading all the posts, my conclusion is canon does produce softer images as compared to nikon.
So, just need to work harder a bit using post-processing tools.

Thanks all for your valuable comments.

Cheers~
 

general public won bother most of the time. its us the photographers that will print a 8R photo and look at it at 5cm and complain not very sharp!
Well said.

I'd rather have a photo which composition satisfies the viewer more than the sharpness.
It is not a must to have photos sharp at 100% crop all the time.If you want that, either you shoot in a controlled environment with a tripod and the best lenses, or you become a very sad photographer.
 

eh pros, this picture here doesn't look sharp, it's taken with 350D attached to 100mm - 300mm long lens, shot at focal length 290mm, F5.6 and 1/60sec.

is it canon's softness, motion blur, oof or what?

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/127/334085045_4bbd25e42a_o.jpg

i often get results like this so i really need to know what is the problem and how i can make it sharper in-camera.

It's definitely not motion blur for this shot of yours although with 1/60sec at 290mm, you'll need quite a steady hand which I can see you have. You didn't mention what make is your 100-300mm although for many normal telephoto lenses they tend to be "softer" towards the end of the range but in your case as in the example, I see there's relatively sharp focus towards the front limb and the tiny branch the animal is resting on (notice the relatively narrow DOF at 290mm F5.6). So, what that means is that either your focus is slightly off or that your lense tend to be sharper at the front of whatever you were trying to focus on. May I know which part of the animal were you trying to focus on? Did you also do a kind of lock focus on the part you are focusing on and then reframe before you take your shot? Sometimes this contribute to some level of slightly out of focus considering the DOF is so narrow. I suppose you know that you should usually set to focus on the "eyes" of your subjects.
 

Image Quality Optimization Tips


Consider the use ofin-camera sharpening:
If you shoot JPEGs and you wish to reduce or eliminate the need for post-processing in
order to speed up your workflow, you mayfind that increasing the level of in-camera
sharpening is effective.

Apply post-process sharpening effectively:

Canon EOS digital cameras have an anti-aliasing filter installed on the image sensor.
This filter improves color rendition and practically eliminates moiré. The liability is a
slight reduction of sharpness. To reduce the softening effect of the anti-aliasing filter we
recommend applying an unsharp mask to the image in Adobe®Photoshop®. Although
there is no such thing as a “best” setting for all applications, we suggest the following
as a starting point:

Amount: 300%
Radius: 0.3 pixels
Threshold: 0 pixels


This para was extracted from the website below.

http://photoworkshop.com/canon/EOS_Digital_Ref.pdf

Hope it shed some lights into diff between canon and nikon.


Thanks DeSwitch. Very informative.
 

Thanks DeSwitch. Very informative.

Welcome Sis. I belief the viewfinder of yr 400D is too small to get a good judge esp if you are using manual focus. I had that problem with my 350D. Now with my 1Dmk2, i dont have this problem anymore.
 

It's definitely not motion blur for this shot of yours although with 1/60sec at 290mm, you'll need quite a steady hand which I can see you have. You didn't mention what make is your 100-300mm although for many normal telephoto lenses they tend to be "softer" towards the end of the range but in your case as in the example, I see there's relatively sharp focus towards the front limb and the tiny branch the animal is resting on (notice the relatively narrow DOF at 290mm F5.6). So, what that means is that either your focus is slightly off or that your lense tend to be sharper at the front of whatever you were trying to focus on. May I know which part of the animal were you trying to focus on? Did you also do a kind of lock focus on the part you are focusing on and then reframe before you take your shot? Sometimes this contribute to some level of slightly out of focus considering the DOF is so narrow. I suppose you know that you should usually set to focus on the "eyes" of your subjects.

thnks bro for the advice. i was focusing on the animal's eyes as always, and i did lock my focus when reframing the photo before shooting. :)

hello fotojoy you are back. sorry for being a pillion rider in your thread. :sweat:
 

Is it me or the camera? :dunno:
I'm getting pretty sick of the "softness" in all my pics... taken with the 400D.

I miss those really sharp and crisp pictures. :bheart:

Anyone facing the same "problem" as me?

hi fotojoy,

i find that AF usually gives me sharper pics than MF on my 400d. your 400d and 100/2.8 is definitely capable of producing v sharp pics. play ard much more with it, experiment with different apertures, shutter speeds, iso settings and lighting conditions.

and most importantly, keep shooting!

:)
 

I've been playing with the EF100mm f/2.8 MACRO USM.

ops, are you refering to the sharpness on macro subjects? its not easy to get very sharp images in macro photography. The DOF is very shallow. Use smaller aperture like f11 - f16.
 

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