Is this sharp enough ?

[lightwriting by swapan]

<p>Gurus,</p>

<p>Do you think this picture is sharp enough?</p>

<p>This is my cousins lens that I brought from India for servicing. The lens elements have been changed by Canon factory service as it had fungus in those.</p>

<p>To me the images now look unsharp! Crop form an 100% CR2 opened in PS. Converted to JPG of course.<br />No other alteration has been made.</p>

<p>As foar as technic goes- camera was on Tripod, cable release, MLU, iso 100, f16, 1/25sec,manual focus(confirmed by beep)</p>

<p>Sorry, I forgot, this is the180 mm f3.5L macro.</p>

<p>Your opinion please</p>

<p>Thanks<br>

<img src="../photo/13042592" alt="" /></p>

 

[lightwriting by swapan]

<p>Sorry, here is the Image</p>

<p><a href="../photo/13042592">http://www.photo.net/photo/13042592</a></p>

[lornesunley]

<p>Was the point of focus somewhere in this part of the image? You get about 0.2 inches depth of field at a distance of 20 inches or 0.1 at a distance of 10 inches when you are using an aperture of f/16. Not a lot of depth to work with.</p>

[randy_ramkissoon]

<p>Hi Swapan</p>

<p>From looking at your settings and the shot I can tell that 1/25 is too slow for capturing a flower which has water dropping off it (which means something is moving) at 180mm. Ideally your minimum shutter speed should be faster then 1/180.<br>

So to start with I think we need to eliminate technique from the issue.</p>

<p>(1) Read this article and make sure you follow the rules for sharpness.<br>

Achieving Better Focus and Sharpness in Your Images<br>

http://photo.tutsplus.com/tutorials/shooting/achieving-better-focus-and-sharpness-in-your-images/</p>

<p>(2) Follow the rules and complete a focus test with one of the free online resources.<br>

e.g. http://focustestchart.com/</p>

<p>(3) Then go indoors and make sure the model you are taking a shot of is still. E.G. take flower indoors and put in vase. IF you have to clip the head to something to insure little to no movement.</p>

<p>(4) Camera settings. Try shooting the photo with the following settings:</p>

<p>180mm<br>

No higher then F8<br>

Shutter speed higher then 1/180<br>

To supplement light use flash or reflector to keep your shutter speed high.</p>

<p>Then post your full shot and we can discuss it.</p>

[LenMarriott]

<p>Swapan, No, not for me. A Canon 180 macro should produce images sharp enough to cut your finger on. You need to take some tripod mounted, very carefully focused, shots to help determine if there is indeed a problem. Oops, I see you've done all that. Perhaps a re-test. I have run the image you have submitted through PhotoShop to get the maximum sharpness from it as well as a boost in contrast to help. Your call! Best, LM.</p><div></div>

[stp]

<p>I'm not sure if the sharpness on which you are seeking comments relates to depth-of-field or to sharpening prior to posting. In any event, I find the work that Len has provided has, to my eye, improved the photo considerably. In addition to sharpness, Len's version is also brighter, especially in the yellow petals, and I think that was needed in the original.</p>

[randy_ramkissoon]

<p>This is a great focus chart as well:<br>

http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/article_pages/cameras/1ds3_af_micoadjustment.html</p>

<p>On a side note I really think with good technique you should need very little sharpening.</p>

[Marcus Ian]

<p>That is not sharp. ANY macro optic should produce imagery FAR sharper than that. Something is wrong, while it may be technique, or AF Microadjustment, or even the lens itself, something is def. wrong.</p>