Soft Focus Issues??

[nathan_rigg]

<p>Hi<br>

I bought a Canon 60D around a year ago and I have never been completely happy with the shots I am getting as I cant seem to get the crisp, sharp results I got with previous cameras. This is a good example of the results I am getting, which was taken in good light at F 4.5 1/800.<br>

Could this be the camera, the lens or is this me and I am only just noticing now?<br>

I have tried a test shot with a tripod and remote, but still thought the images were not sharp enough am I expecting too much at 100% view?<br>

src=" alt="" /><br>

Thanks</p>

<p> </p>

[hjoseph7]

<p>Most of your pictures look OK to me at least on my monitor. Maybe you might try boosting the sharpening level by a couple of notches on your camera. I usually do that with non-performing lenses, but cut back with better lenses because too sharp of an image is not very good either.</p>

[sgust]

<p>Post a full resolution crop from the tripod test. It's kind of difficult to see anything on a heavily scaled down image like that.</p>

[tom_mann1]

<p>You appear to have stripped out all metadata for those two examples. That makes it difficult for anyone to try to help you get to the bottom of this. Specifically, what ISO did you use for those two examples. If it was extremely high, you may be seeing some softening caused by the noise reduction algorithm of the camera. </p>

<p>That being said, they also seem to have unusually low contrast. Here's some suggestions: (a) do a full reset of your camera back to factory defaults; (b) remove any UV or other filter you may have on the front of the lens; © make sure your lens is sparkling clean. Then, take a few pix outdoors in bright sunlight at the base ISO (ie, 100 or so) for that model. Use f/8 and around 1/400 (assuming ISO = 100). Post both the full image (down rez'ed as needed), and a 1:1 crop from near the center of the image. Leave the EXIF info intact.</p>

<p>We'll be able to give a better diagnosis after that.</p>

<p>HTH,</p>

<p>Tom M</p>

[nathan_rigg]

<p>Thanks for the tips, i'll have to wait for next weekend for some natural light and I will re-post with the EXIF.<br>

Thanks</p>

[tom_mann1]

<p>OK. In the interim, what was the ISO for the two images that you already posted?</p>

<p>Tom M</p>

[john_deerfield]

<p>Do you have a cheap UV filter on the front of the lens?</p>

[William Michael]

<p>Tom - EXIF DETAILS:<br />Both images used a 60D and Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 DC Macro -</p>

<p>Image #8154198317 (Guitar Man)– F/4.5 @ 1/800s @ ISO100 (FL = 70mm)<br />Image #8154299201 (Tape Measure) - F/11 @ 1/60s @ ISO4000 (FL = 40mm)</p>

<p>WW</p>

[William Michael]

<p>The Guitar Man appears OoF on my monitor. The entire frame is Out of Focus.<br>

If that image is a full frame crop of the original, then you were shooting at about 6ft and would have had about 4inches DoF - and we would expect something to be in focus.<br>

The Guitar Strings appear to be the LEAST OoF, perhaps there is a Focus issue with the lens or perhaps you are using one of the edge AF point?<br>

An AF focus test (on a tripod) with a rule at 45 degrees and another with a newspaper stuck flat on a wall would be a good idea - BOTH in good light and at ISO100 ~ 400</p>

<p>WW</p>

[William Michael]

<p>Considering that the other images in your PhotoStream which appear to be made with the same Camera and the EF50F/1.8MkII seem to nail Focus quite well, even at small Depth of Field (for example the young Girl with Green Top and Guitar): my first suspicion is that the Sigma 17 to 70 has a slight AF error – but testing as described is necessary to confirm.</p>

<p>BTW the Young Girl with Guitar has Subject Movement -1/60s is too slow for that shot, in Available Light .</p>

<p>WW</p>

<p> </p>