Edges appear jagged in picture when zoomed in

<p>Hi all,<br /><br />I previously posted a question regarding enlarging my photos for oversized wall prints. I noticed my pictures have incredibly jagged lines. Is this normal? My camera body is a Canon 1Ds MKIII with the 24-70 2.8L II Lens. <br />Attached is a cropped example. <br />Thoughts?</p>

<p>example</p><div></div>

<p>Are you zoomed in past 100%?</p>

 

<p>Sorry, yes. Try this attachment, it is at 100% original size.</p><div></div>

<p>What quality are you shooting? Do you shoot RAW, L, M, or S? I would guess it was shot in S (small) quality and is a low res photo. The photo above is the full photo, not a crop correct.</p>

<p>How could it be the full photo, it doesn't have the right aspect ratio. It has to be a crop.</p>

<p>The appearance of angled lines in digital photos depends on many processing parameters, most obviously sharpening.</p>

<p>If you're shooing raw you have complete control; if you're using the in-camera processing (ex. to create a JPEG) then you need to experiment with those settings to get results you like.</p>

<p>I often resort to localized sharpening in "problem" areas to get the look I want.</p>

<p>Hi all, Sorry, I meant to say it is cropped but not zoomed past 100% if that makes any sense. I was shooting in RAW (which shows the jaggies even more pronounced) but I did a post-process conversion from RAW to JPEG (so the pic you see above is post-process JPEG). <br>

Here's some other data:<br>

File name<br /> 352G0284.CR2<br />Camera Model Name<br /> Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III<br />Firmware<br /> Firmware Version 1.1.4<br />Shooting Date/Time<br /> 12/29/2009 20:37:06<br />Tv(Shutter Speed)<br /> 1/10Sec.<br />Av(Aperture Value)<br /> F14<br />Metering Modes<br /> Evaluative metering<br />Exposure Compensation<br /> 0<br />ISO Speed<br /> 400<br />Lens<br /> EF24-70mm f/2.8L USM<br />Focal Length<br /> 70.0 mm<br />Image size<br /> 5616 x 3744<br />Image Quality<br /> RAW<br />Flash<br /> Off<br />White Balance<br /> Auto<br />AF mode<br /> AI Servo AF<br />Picture Style<br /> Standard<br />Parameters<br /> Tone Curve : Standard<br /> Sharpness level : -<br /> Pattern Sharpness : -<br /> Contrast : 0<br /> Sharpness : 3<br /> Color saturation : 0<br /> Color tone : 0<br /> Long exposure noise reduction : Enable<br /> High ISO speed noise reduction : Disable<br /> Highlight tone priority : Disable<br />Color matrix<br /> -<br />Color Space<br /> sRGB<br />File Size<br /> 22352 KB<br />Dust Delete Data<br /> No<br />Drive Mode<br /> Shooting with self-timer</p>

<p>I thought the same thing Jeff.</p>

<p>were you using a tripod?</p>

<p>I just noticed "Sharpness : 3" in the camera EXIF data. Maybe I should turn this to Zero?</p>

<p>how much of a crop is this? Do you have the full photo?</p>

<p>yes, using a Gitzo GT2531 with an Arca Swiss Monoball Z.</p>

<p>also, you should never use Al servo focus on non moving objects. This makes the focus continuously focus and refocus and is designed for sports and action where there is a lot of movement. The very slight movements in the focus while using al servo can make an out of focus photo on a non moving object. I'd use one shot AF.</p>

<p>I just thought 1/10 second is a slow shutter, but its fine for a tripod. And if you're using a tripod, I'd set ISO to 100 to get the best quality since shutter speed won't matter.</p>

<p>Hi Nathan,<br>

Regarding AI Servo Focus, yes I completely agree and was not paying attention to that setting when I normally do.</p>

 

<p>I don't know how big the original file was, but this looks to me like its an extreme zoom. Full frame cameras allow for nice crops, but I would guess this pushes the limits. Can you look at the properties of the crop and tell us the pixel dimensions?</p>

<p>Yeah, I do it too. I hate it when a careless mistake messes up a great photo, but sometimes there's so many settings that you forget about something small like that.</p>

<p>Here's another one on a completely different day with lower ISO: <br>

Tv(Shutter Speed)<br /> 8Sec.<br />Av(Aperture Value)<br /> F11<br />Metering Modes<br /> Evaluative metering<br />Exposure Compensation<br /> 0<br />ISO Speed<br /> 200<br />Lens<br /> EF24-70mm f/2.8L USM<br />Focal Length<br /> 70.0 mm<br />Image size<br /> 5616 x 3744<br />Image Quality<br /> RAW</p><div></div>

<p>The first photo, the crop where you circle the jagged edges, is only 457x900 pixels. I know that is a crop to show the flaw, but that's less than a 1/2 megapixel image. Even the larger image you showed us can't be any more than 3 or 4 megapixels. I think its just cropped too much.</p>

<p>that one is even less, its only about a 0.13 MP image. If you look at the whole photo it should look fine, but this is like a pinpoint on the original image.</p>

<p>Hi Nathan,<br>

First Crop Pixel Information:<br />Width: 339 pix<br />Height: 370 pix<br>

Original Pixel Information of the original file:<br />Width: 5616<br />Height: 3744<br>

Second Crop Pixel Information:<br />Width: 721 pix<br />Height: 577 pix<br>

Original Pixel Information of the original file:<br />Width: 5616<br />Height: 3744</p>

<p>"If you look at the whole photo it should look fine, but this is like a pinpoint on the original image." -- Ok, I must be doing this post processing crop all wrong but if I open the original JPEG file in Photoshop (converted from RAW) and then go straight to Image->Canvas Size without manipulating the photo, the Canvas Size is Width 78inches, Height 52 inches. Am I missing something here?</p>

<p>The original file was 21MP, the crop is 0.42MP. That's 1/50 of the original. I don't know if you plan on printing an image that cropped or if you're just hitting the magnifying glass in photoshop a hundred times to see what it looks like, but that's too much of a crop to use for a practical situation. All cameras no matter how many megapixels they are will show those jagged edges if zoomed in enough. Pixels are square and when you get close enogh to see individual pixels this is what it looks like. If you want to crop your images that much and use them, I suggest buying a telephoto lens so you don't have to crop or so the crop isn't as extreme.</p>

<p>change the inches to pixels on the drop down menu, it should then read 5616 x 3744</p>