50mm f1.8 tips

[tom_berkowski]

<p>In addition to what everyone has written, I also suggest focusing on ears or other contrasty lines. If he had a music holder close to his head, I'd use that. In my experience, eyes can be difficult for lenses to stay on (but of course eyes are usually what you most want in focus.)</p>

[kim_johnson1]

<p>I think thats your slight movement thats blurring the image. Sometimes you think you're holding steady, but the camera proves you wrong. Test your lens by either using a tripod or shooting at a higher speed (even if it turns out underexposed). If the image turns out to be sharp, then error was you in that pic. If the image still isn't sharp somewhere in the image, maybe its your lens. <br>

As stated, remember depth of field is shallow at 1.8.<br>

On a 50mm lens at 1.8, at a distance of 10 feet, your depth of field is only .81 feet; at a distance of 20 feet, it increases to 3.3 feet. <br /><a href="http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html">http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html</a></p>

[robert_g.2]

<p>So at those settings if I'm 10 feet away from the dude there should be .81 feet worth of "in focus" subject right?</p>

[Matt Laur]

<p>Right. Under one foot is right. And if he's moving, and you're moving, even by a couple of inches as you focus/compose, you might have your critical focus point drift a combined several inches forward or backward in that under-10-inch zone, which might leave you with just a few inches of workable DoF. Gotta have a plan, when you're working with that critical a slice of the scene.</p>

[andrew robertson]

<p>If your subject is moving at all, try servo mode.</p>

[ajrobertson]

<p>umm weird!</p>

<p>i guess im the lower case andrew Robertson! lol</p>

[mars c]

<p>Hahahahahaha...</p>

[charles_davey]

<p>I think quite a few copies of the 50 1.8 are not very sharp wide open, my copy is one of them. I don't really try and use it below 2.0 or 2.2. At 1.8 it may look ok when the picture is small size but if you look at it full screen not even 100% you can see the softness in the middle (and gets worse the further from the middle) and its not due to focus. It is the lens, If you do some research you will see the same thing in other places. Some of them are better than others so If you really want to shoot at 1.8 you will prob just have to get a few diff copies and keep the best one.<br>

Do keep in mind that on a crop body your 50mm is around 80mm so you need to up your shutter speed accordingly like the others said.</p>

[andreas_kusumahadi]

<p>To me, the first pic suggests it's not a motion blur or shaky hands. It's more like out of focus (front focus to specific). I suspect the focus is somewhere between the saxophone man and you. Try to quick shot 3 simple objects arranged diagonally towards the camera, e.g. 3 batteries, and see where's the focus.</p>

<p>I have this lens (mk II, and now mk-I) and this is a good lens. Of course it's rather soft and less contrast wide open, but it's OK if you print it small-medium size. At 2.8 this lens is sharp with a good resolution.</p>

<p>You should also try to shoot with other lenses. If the problem persists, it could be your camera which is misfocused. </p>

[greg_wachman]

<p>I have also had similar issues. I do find the focus on that lens to be somewhat unreliable - when it is off it is usually front-focusing noticeably until f/4. This issue was noted in the dpreview review of this lens. I usually increase the number of shots I take in order to compensate for this, or if I'm in a situation that allows it, I will use manual focus with magnified live view. That said, I do much of my shooting with this lens at apertures f/2.8 and smaller so it hasn't been a huge issue for me.</p>

<p>Additionally I have found that I prefer the increased overall image contrast at f/2.2-f/2.8 (vs wide open) and will almost always use higher ISOs up to 1600 in order to get there. This is a matter of personal preference - I am not a stickler for noise, as I have yet to make a print where it was noticeable at a normal viewing distance.</p>

[greg_wachman]

<p>Also, by my judgment the main problem in your sample photo is front focusing - motion blur may be a secondary issue - if I were taking that photo I would shoot for around 1/80 or so.</p>

[yoshio]

<p>Hello</p>

<p>It looks like camera motion to me. Considering the shutter speed it is a likely candidate. I often see people holding their camera steady, then stabbing the shutter release button like a Roman Senator visiting Julious Caesar.</p>

<p>Slow and gentle, you should not feel the transition.</p>

<p>An old rule of thumb for anyone is to expect only sharp images with the focal length as the speed. I suggest for many to double this, and only expect it with practice. Since the 50 is an 80 on your camera I don't suggest you go slower than 1/80th</p>

<p>All the other issues about focal plane being shallow have been mentioned and I agree with them. I can add one more thing. When I was testing my first EOS film camera (a 630) for AF accuracy [yes, this is indeed an old argument isn't it] I found that (using a ground glass on the film plane and a x30 Pentax microscope) that AF was in accurate compared to manual focus. This inaccuracy was absorbed by stopping down and at f5.6 was in detectable.</p>

<p>The consensus at that time (on the thing called rec.photo) was that engineers were aiming at accuracy being at no more than 50lp/mm ... essentially enough. Modern digital cameras allow us to reveal better than we ever could on film the errors in focus. Perhaps that is a contribution to your issue also.</p>

<p>I was never ever satisfied with my 20D and my EF50, however since going to a G1 and carefully focusing using the magnifier in live view (the camera is a permanent live view camera) my images using my 50mm are sharp and beatufiul. The following was hand held and is a resize not a crop. From an FD 50mm (which is a similar optic to the EF)</p>

<p><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2527/4168268441_ca481e90b5_o.jpg" alt="" /></p>

[burhan_khalid]

<p>I can offer you some tips here as I have used this lens extensively. First, make sure you set up your camera to only use the center focus point. This helps immensely in getting focus fast. This lens has a very rudimentary auto focus mechanism so it really hunts a while trying focus, and I found while only using the center point it seems to focus better.<br /> I use the aperture priority mode and let the camera figure out the shutter speeds. Here is what you can get when things go right:<br>

<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3511/4031906184_d2ce556bac.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="334" /></p>

[robert_g.2]

<p>Thanks! Great picture. I will keep it on Av mode. Do you have a speedlite? If so, what setting was it on for this? High speed sync or normal?</p>

[dervis_ali]

<p>Hello.<br>

The same situation is valid for me. I have Rebel XS and 50mm f/1.8 II. I can not obtain pictures as clean and focused as the last poster Burhan's picture. I don't want to add my picture because i have the same situation with Robert. <br>

My question is that : How can i set/adjust shutter speed 1/80 or faster in Av Mode? I mean in Av Mode the machine will set shutter speed automatically regarding light conditions and we have no opportunity to determine this value?<br>

And if you think that my focus point is on the center where do i have to focus ; eyes or ears or elbows?<br>

Again regarding to light conditions do i have to set my XS Auto ISO?<br>

And the last one What is the ideal distance from the object to obtain not blurry images? <br>

Thank you very much,</p>

<p> </p>

[henrik_lauridsen]

<p>@Ali<br>

When using Av mode, you control the aperture and iso value, and let the camera handle the shutter speed. If you want faster shutter speeds in Av mode, either choose a larger aperture (smaller number) or increase the iso (higher value). If shutter speed is your main priority, choose Tv mode instead. <br /> <br /> Ideal distance - There is no such thing as one ideal distance for taking photos, but take a look at the DOF calculaters mentioned earlier in this thread, and understand how to use them. Also, take a look at http://www.photo.net/learn/basic-photo-tips/aperture-shutterspeed-iso/ for some introduction to basic exposure.</p>