xt focus disappointing

[felix_ing]

I just tried shooting using xt and the focusing turns out to be disappointing!

Without any sharpening the focus is soft (used 50mm f/1.8 and 70-200L IS USM!

and got a confirmation saying that it's in focus).

 

Is this normal? What kind of setting should I be aware of?

 

Will this be the same on the 30D?

 

Anyone experienced this or have suggestions please reply.

 

Thank you very much<div></div>

[felix_ing]

p.s. I was shooting AF at the soft end, the "usual portrait" apertures (4s and 5s) and the sharpness only shows with excess sharpening with unsharp mask (i.e. +100 Sharpening in Photoshop's Camera Raw).

[shambrick007]

Not typical of my experiences.

[sean de merchant httpw]

1/80 @ 50 mm on an APS-C sensor is pushing the limits on the 1/focal length rule of thumb. In other words, your skill at handholding is not good enough on the shot shown to get a sharp image at that shutter speed.

 

This can be seen by noting that the entire shot is soft while the plane of critical focus is in the frame.

 

Hence, take it up to ISO 400 (or higher with noise reduction for color work), use fill flash, or practice shooting shots at marginal speeds (elbows in, breath in or out but not breathing, ...).

 

Take the 100% crop example image below (inset is full frame). 1/80 @ f/5.6 @ ISO 1600 using a 50/1.4 and an XT. The in focus areas are sharp (eye and whiskers) while the OoF areas are blurred (fur behind whiskers). Please also note that focus is critical here as his left eye is out of focus in the shot. Focus is a touch less critical with a human at f/5.6, but even then you only have roughly 10 cm of critical focus ( http://bobatkins.com/photography/technical/dofcalc.html#calc ).

 

Another possibility is motion blur from the subject. It is rather hard to give a definative answer with only a single image to analyze. But jump to ISO 1600 and you should have less issues with camera shake or subject induced motion blur with the faster shutter speeds when using the same aperture. And heck, digital starts to look noisy like film at higher ISOs (albeit, it never has the character of Tri-X either).

 

hope this helps,

 

Sean<div></div>

[chrisjb]

Hi, not sure which focus point is used as cant see it in my exif viewer, it seams to be in focus on the shoulder behind the eye line, did you use a right single focal point and focus on an eye for minimal recomposure as there is still a shallow DOF at f4 1/80 is not usually a problem. Although I don`t personally like light bodies and find heavier cameras easier to hold steady.

[chrisjb]

Hi, I just changed sreens, and had another look, my apology shoulder is soft, but some of the outfit on the chest appears sharper. could be the angle taken, maybe you could try more speed to be sure. Its quite common to use many different speeds and aperture combinations to get a good shot.

[felix_ing]

Thx Sean, it turns out that with my higher shutter speed ones I do have acceptable sharpness. Recalling the shooting of the one posted, we were in a rush a bit and thus they're not as sharp as I would like them to. Thanks everyone.

[digitmstr]

To me it seems more camera shake than a focus issue.

[PuppyDigs]

"Although I don`t personally like light bodies and find heavier cameras easier to hold steady."

 

I agree, light bodies bob up and down easily. It's much easier to hold a heavy rig steady.