7D detail problem

[eduardo_barrento]

<p>Hi all,<br />I just recieved my 7D last week. I updated the firmware to the last version. I am loving the camera except for one big problem: its detail. Look the 100% crop. Is it normal? The shadow areas are strange. I know about digital loose detail in the shadows. But this one I think is to much... Any ideias, please?<br>

<img src="http://www.eduardobarrento.com/crop_0889.jpg" alt="" /><br /><br />Thanks<br />Eduardo Barrento</p>

[PuppyDigs]

<p>You just shot the underside of a bird's wing against a bright blue sky, and there is supposed to be a big difference in brightness. Use the shadow slider to open up the shadows a wee bit. If you over do it you'll get too much noise. Maybe try a Better Beamer setup to lower contrast.</p>

[nathangardner]

<p>could be a number of things. What lens are you using? What is the ISO setting? How are you focusing? Al servo? One shot? Single Point AF? or Multi Point AF? What's the quality setting? RAW? Jpeg? L? M? S? Any or all of the above can affect sharpness and detail. As for shadow detail, spot meter on the bird to expose for the bird only. Then the shadows under the wing won't be as harsh, but the sky will be washed out. I really don't see anything wrong with the shadow detail.</p>

[Stock-Photos]

<p>Puppy Face is right. You shot a high contrast scene and you want detail in the shadows.</p>

<p>Eduardo, there is nothing wrong with your camera.</p>

[jason_hall5]

<p>Yep, I would say that is about all the dynamic range you are going to get. As puppy pointed out, you can try to open up the shadows in post if you like, but it will get ugly real quick. Before you ask, getting a Nikon or another Canon body will not help all that much if at all. The only thing that can help just a bit (and you may have already done it) is to shoot in RAW.</p>

<p>Jason </p>

[steven_f1]

<p>I agree with the others but it also looks like you have some motion blur in the picture. Your rhutter speed was probably not high enough to freeze the motion.</p>

[scott_ferris]

<p>1/1000th sec with a 300mm lens and a 2X TC on a 7D on a moving target, with those settings this is pretty impressive if it is a 100% crop.</p>

<p>Try iso 400 instead of 200 and 1/2000, but the truth is at 100%, even with the Canon TC, you are not going to get much better.</p>

[philip_wilson]

<p>the 7D can take quite good and detailed shots - it looks like you have a focus issue as well. This is a 100% crop from an Osprey in flight taken with a 7D and 300 F4L IS lens handheld.</p><div></div>

[scott_ferris]

<p>But it was a 300mm f2.8 with a 2XTC making an effective 600mm f5,6, wide open at 5.6, on a 1.6 crop camera. So an effective focal length of 960mm on a moving target at 1/1000, that is camera shake even if it was gimbal mounted, which I'll bet it wasn't.</p>

[jim_krupnik]

<p>You can't expose for the sky when shooting under a bird. This is an example of using spot metering, and bumping exposure about a third of a stop beyond that. I should have bumped it a half stop, or maybe even two thirds, but this is what came out of the camera, and there is at least reasonable detail in the shadows. The lens used was only a 70-200 f/2.8 IS with a 1.4X extender with a 30D at ISO 400. 1/1000 sec, and was wide open, or nearly so. In any event, forget the softness of the jpg crop of a larger jpg crop, as sharpness is not to be expected when expanding such a small portion of an 8 mp capture, and isn't part of my point here. How you meter a high contrast scene is though, and that applies to the 7D as well.</p>

<p>Let the sky go overexposed a bit for the sake of getting some shadow detail under the bird. Then, you have something to work with later. After all, the bird is the reason for the shot.</p>

<p><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1388/1473723377_1bcb26fabf.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="333" /></p>

<p><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4002/4614632456_d651a0cc66.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="402" /></p>

<p> </p>

[neill_farmer2]

<p>Eduardo, I think the replies above answer your questions and suggest improvements. Like all of us you have bumped up against one of the limitations of the trade. For what it's worth I have many times taken a photograph and noticed the rich blue sky background in the veiwfinder behind my subject. When I get home and down load I find my subject is beautifully exposed, but that blue sky is gone. Sometimes it can be brought back using Post Processing with Elements or some similar editting application that allows selections to be made, but it never seems to regain that richness.<br>

Neill</p>

[eduardo_barrento]

<p>Hi, thanks for all the answers. I use a Canon 300mm f/2.8 with a Canon 2x converter, at 200ISO 1/1000 f/5.6 raw with no post processing.<br />Here is another crop: do you think is normal? The thing is: my very old Canon EOS d60 deals better with the shadows. My 40D and now the 7D seems ugly to me.<br />It is true that I could open by lower to 1/500 but will be more "movement" and the highlights could be washed out. Using 400Iso also have its inherent noise...</p>

[eduardo_barrento]

<p>sorry, problems... here is the new 100 % crop<br>

Ok, I cant get the crop: here is the link to it<br>

<a href="http://www.eduardobarrento.com/barrentoCrop_0723.jpg">http://www.eduardobarrento.com/barrentoCrop_0723.jpg</a></p>

[mike_oflaherty]

<p>I'm guessing but are you really talking about is focus? If so what were the settings, hand held, mono or tripod, still shot or panning, auto or manual focus, what type of lens were you using? Just a few other things to consider if it sharpness and focus is what you were really talking about.</p>

<p>Mike</p>

[eduardo_barrento]

<p>Hi Mike,<br>

no, I am talking about the noise (or whatever it is): the tiny dark spots that make the shadows areas. I dont think they are normal, to much spots, no smoother...</p>