Unsharp pictures with Canon Digital Rebel. Is this normal?

Hi:

I have recently shot a bunch of portraits in studio with digital

rebel. I noticied none of them were sharp at all. No where on the

image there was a single point that was sharp. I was disappointed to

say the least 'cause focus is the most fundamental thing for any

camera. I could do some USM in Photoshop but why? Isn't the camera

supposed to focus? I tried the kit lens as well as EF 28-105. I used

F8, on tripod ISO 100, default WB and the lighting was good so there

was no issue of lack of contrast etc to fool the auto focus

mechanism. I used the default parameter and the default autofocus

setting. I made sure to lock the focus(on the eyes for instance)

also. Basically it was not user error, I hope.

I used the point and shoot Kodak easy share right after the shot and

focus is tack sharp.

My question is, do we really go into photoshop for EVERY otherwise

perfect shot just to make the focus sharp? Is this how you are all

used to? I hear lot of issues about back focus. I wonder if this is

digital SLR camera ONLY issue. Any advice will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.<div></div>

Take a ruler and lay it flat, then photograph is using a large aperture at close range to get a narrow band of DOF. Make sure you mark on the ruler where you focused and then focus on that point according to the viewfinder. If the resulting focus is far off from that point then it would appear we have a problem. Even still its difficult to know for sure if it is user error from afar, but we just have to assume you're using the camera correctly.

 

You shouldn't see that much softness. Canon's DSLRs are known for a smooth low noise output, but they are not supposed to be noticeably unsharp/out of focus like your image is.

Hi Ravindra, I tried running levels and a little unsharp mask on your image, and while it helped, it still is a little soft. Since you are using a tripod, it's not camera-shake. I could be wrong, but your image reminds me of ones I get when I use my 28-135mm IS zoom - they always seem a bit soft to me too. (I use a 10D) I'll include a shot I did this weekend of a model. At the moment, I can't recall which lens I used, but it was either a 50mm 2.5 macro (a prime lens and very sharp) or the 17-40mm f/4 lens. The previous suggestion of doing a lens test with a ruler is a good one. Remember, almost all images need sharpening. The ones that come from consumer digicams are simply being sharpened in-camera for you. Good luck!<div></div>

Here's the other, and yes, I had to run USM on it too!

Thanks for the replies. My lens is not an IS lens though. Just a 28-105 F3.5 bought at B+H. If I do the ruler test and succeded in proving the fault, should I send the camera to Canon for fixing? It ran out of 14 day return policy 2 days ago.

Hi Ravindra, I do have the Digital Rebel and let me tell you that the softness is completely normal in your camera. Even if I set the sharpness parameter to the max I find my images much more soft than those taken with my Sony digital point and shoot. You need to work with the unsharp mask a lot if you keep your camera... regards, RV

Thanks again. I have a Kodak Easy share DX point and shoot and the images comes tack sharp even at max zoom at high (3.5)f-stops. Spend 4 times more to a better tool and face more time consuming methods!?. Does every Digital Rebel owner go through this every single time? I am surprized. I agree to some extent to use USM in post production but not on every single image just to make it "acceptable". I am not asking the camera to do the miracles for me, just focus right for me. Why that has to be a chore? I wonder if the other non SLR all in one cameras like Olympus C-8080 or Nikon Coolpix 8700 have similar focusing issues.

Please try to use auto focus instead of trusting your eyes and check results. If you still have a problem you probably need a mirror calibration from Canon service.

Ravindra, did you shoot raw or jpg? Raw images from DSLRs are known to be soft, they need some tweaking in Photoshop or a similar program. With JPGs this is done in-camera. I have experienced the same softness with my 10D. I still need time to figure this out.

 

Just my 2c,

Waldemar:

 

I really counted on autofocus of the camera. Also I shot on Jpeg but not in raw. Here is another image. This I can live with..not that bad. But others are worse.<div></div>

A 50mm prime is going to effectively 80mm in full-frame terms on this camera and fast, so suitable for some portraits. The 50 1.8 is inexpensive and high-quality -- a great value. It is certainly sharper than the kit lens, even at F8 (where the kit seems to be at its best). I'm not sure about the 28-105, but I'd guess the same.

 

Try the 50. I don't think that you're going to be disappointed, and it might salvage the camera for you.

 

If you find that it solves that problem, then you may hit another problem -- finding zooms which are sharp and affordable. The Tamron 28-75 2.8 Di XR blah blah blah (sorry, who can remember all that) is one such lens, but has a slight colour cast to my eye (which can be corrected of course).

You have some other issue going on here. There is no way that a properly functioning, properly operated 300D is going to produce that soft a shot with a decent lens. The ones you used should produce much better results. I shoot mine regularly, along with a 10D, using a 28-135 IS and get very sharp results. The kit lens works well as do several other L's, a Tokina wide zoom and any other lens I've ever used on them. These cameras are not the easiest to focus manually but it isn't difficult. There is something else going wrong here but I am hard pressed to say what it is.

 

Rick H.

All of the Canon digital SLRS all have an anti alias filter in front of the CCD or CMOS sensors which creates an element of unsharpness.

 

You have to sharpen all images especially if shot in RAW mode, JPEG mode functions can include an element of sharpening depending on the camera and the custom functions set. Different cameras have different filters so you cannot compare like with like. This s a common error with 10D and D Rebel owners who expect critically sharp pitures straight out of the camera.

 

So yes you do have to process all the pictures in some way to get teh best out of the camera.

The above picture looks very soft to me -- softer than I'd expect from lens issues that I mentioned. Perhaps it's an AF issue -- if so try MF (carefully & adjust diopter if needed)?

That is the best of the bunch! So I do have a problem. I fear if I send the camera to Canon, they may send it back with every thing working normal. See the link here.

http://www.expressresponse.com/cgi-bin/progsnp/canon_ps/srchjnnp?search_type=vdocument&search_input=0421.htm&session_id=1084980035.27126.3

You should try to find out if it's a focus issue -- manual focus, auto-focus, and the ruler test mentioned are things you should try comparing.

 

Changing the subject matter for such tests is going to make problem solving easier. I hear that Canon suggests newspaper/text photographs for such issues, and if you can demonstrate by pictures that the autofocus is off as compared to manual focus (or in the case if even the manual focus is off due to a mirror problem as suggested above and shown by a ruler test) that Canon will make the necessary correction.

 

Moreover, B&H has a good reputation, so if you give them some detailed findings, or even a simple plea for help, it's possible that they will address the problem. I'd expect that from a good retailer on a recent purchase, although I have no direct experience with B&H on such matters.

 

But if you go to either of them with clear technical demonstrations, then it will be easier for both them & you to understand the extent of the problem and to judge the solutions better.

I think this is a shutter or mirror problem. If you are using tripod and still received that kind of quality it's mean: shaking are coming from inside.

The following are photographs that I've taken with a 300D using a tripod and auto-focus at F8 and identical settings (50mm was approximated on the 18-55.) These are a bit off center. Although not the best demonstration of sharpness differences, it's something that I can show quickly.<div></div>

Here's the 18-55.<div></div>

I too am having issues with this camera and very soft/blurry images. I will post my example...this was a wedding I did. Taken from the balcony, no movement on the balcony, no flash (was instructed not to use flash by the Pastor), and on a tripod. There is no reason this image should be as soft/blurry as it is...I am tired of going back and forth whether it's me or the camera!!<div></div>

The image of the bride and groom posted above is not soft. The camera obviously has been moving. See the confetti on the floor: if you look carefully, you will see they are 'doubled'. This is a clear example of a camera vibrating...

i shoot most portraits with 50mm 1.8F and they are sharp as tack if i want them to. try this lens, it is cheap enough to have it just in case, and most likely you will keep it on camera more than zoom lens when you'll see what it can do.

I told you: your camera vibrating inside ( mirorr or shutter).

The wedding pic certainly looks like movement to me as well. Did you use a shutter release cable? If not wonder if that is the cause of this movement, just a thought

Focus Magic, http://www.focusmagic.com can help the wedding picture using its motion blur fix -- I used 90 degrees and 4 pixels. I could not get as good results on this image using out-of-focus fix or USM. I think that this is a good indication that the problem here is motion.

 

For the portrait above that, I could get some improvement using motion blur fix, but more IMO, using out-of-focus fix or USM. I would say that this is inconclusive, and invite the original poster to investigate this further himself.<div></div>