Unsharp pictures with Canon Digital Rebel. Is this normal?

On my 10D with primes and "L" glass, each RAW images requires leveling and USM. This is part of the digital processing required. My system is preset to +1 sharpening.

HI I used the 300D this weekend with 50mm 1.4lens, shooting manual at 1/80 f5.6 as you can see the picture is increadibly sharp, I used to use the 28-135 IS lens and yes it does produce soft pictures aspecially when you are using it wide open. My suggestion to you, try going down few aperature stops perhaps to f8.0 you should see a drastic difference.<div></div>

If you look at the catch lights in the subjects eyes you can see they exhibit the same problem as those of the wedding picture.

 

The catch light should have clear/sharp delineation, not a feathered effect like shown on the top and bottom of the catch light unless the light source was purposely this way.

 

You can also see some ghosting on parts of the flowers/design on the dress.

 

I'd suggest using the camera in shutter priority mode for a while and not let the shutter fall below 1/60th second or so before blaming the issues on the camera or lens.

 

If you can set the camera up on a tripod. Use the built-in flash and set the shutter speed to 1/125. Focus clearly on a subject and have your subject sit very still ... AND THEN YOUR SHOTS ARE THIS BAD AFTER DOING THIS, then you probably do have some kind of defect going on.

 

If you have a front/back focus thing going on then take a couple of shots manually focusing on the eyes of your subject. If these shots are sharp, then at least you know the camera is capable of taking shots which are sharp. Also remember, the focus indicators in the viewfinder are actually slightly larger than the rectangles you see in the viewfinder. You really have to pay close attention to what you're focusing on to determine if you have a front/back focus problem.

I used 1/200 shutter speed at F8 with studio flash in a softbox. This is not the case of camera shake or low shutteror wide open aperture. I even bought a 28-105 lens to make sure it is not the kit lens...same result. I will post here what Canon has to say.

The softness exhibited is does not seem to be directional. This means it is unlikely to be mirror induced vibration which produces more elliptical blur. My suspicion is improper alignment of mirror or focusing screen. Either way it will need servicing. This softness is much more than can be attributed to the antialiasing filter.

 

I don't believe it is user error. Borrow someone elses or a store 300D and compare the results.

 

Incorrect calibration of mirror/focusing screen has affected all SLRs not just digital ones. I am sure you have handled it will due care but you don't know how it was handled before you got it.

 

I hope that Canon comes to the party. Your 300D (I camera I am not particularly fond of) is capable of superb results.

I rented one a few weeks to use with my 28-70 2.8 L. I shot some 500 pictures, and at least 30% were out of focus. I interchanged the lens with my A2, which all came out sharp. Both cameras were set at the same iso and shutter/aperture combination. There is definately something going on with this camera, have it checked.

I have the Digital Rebel and have noticed that images taken with the kit lens are horrible at any focal length other than 55mm.

I recently tested the Canon Digital Rebel, the Fuji Finepix SLR and the Nikon D100. With the rebel, I used strictly autofocus lenses, which ranged from a 14mm to 90mm. The 90mm lens was an F/2.8. On the Nikon and Fuji, I used autofocus lenses and some manual focus lenses. I must've shot at least 150 images on each camera, and with many of the shots I found the same blur or soft focus that you're talking about.

 

Although I did try some high ISO's and night time shots, the majority were shot in the day time with good sunlight. The shutter speeds for the daytime shots ranged from about 1/60 to 1/4000, and the apertures varied from f/16 to f/4.

 

I'm no expert, but I'm attributing the blur to the super-sensitive pixels of the sensors in the camera. I believe that even the slightest movement will activate individual pixels and cause them to record whatever fraction of light that hits them. In order to avoid the blur, I'm guessing you just have to shoot at very fast shutter speeds and with very fast lenses.

 

This is probably one of the last drawbacks that's keeping me from switching to digital. I love the convenience of it and the sharpness of the images that do come in clear...but I really hate it when a shot looks great in the preview, then looses all the detail when you see it full frame.

 

I'd like to hear more about your future shoots though, hopefully you'll find a good solution to the problem.

Thanks for trying different lenses! I only have the kit lens and 28-105 F3.5. I will post one more time as soon as I get some portraits.