Just got a 10d....HELP!

[sigler]

Hi,

I just recieved my Canon 10d, the EF 28-135 USM IS lens, and a clear polarizing filter to protect the lens.

I love the camera, but I have yet to achieve the incredibly clear pictures i have seen on this forum...like the awesome race cars, etc.

When I zoom in all the way with photoshop, the edges look very soft. Are they out of focus, or is this the camera?

What can I do to get awesome pictures?

To see some samples, goto:

http://homepage.mac.com/rsigler/PhotoAlbum71.html

Thanks,

Rob

PS..I bought the camera from BuyDig.com. It was a TERRIBLE experience. I had the cam and the lens overnighted, then when the gear arrived, they informed me the lens was backordered. I cancelled the lens order, and ordered it with B&H. (Should have gone there first...just didn't want to pay tax) Well, today, 2 weeks after I cancelled my order, the lens arrives from BuyDig. Guess who had to pay shipping to return it. These guys SUCK!

[robertwgross]

First of all, what is a clear polarizing filter?

I know about a clear UV filter, and I know about a circular polarizing filter. I've never heard of them combined.

Second, you may possibly have focus problems in the camera, and that has been described a lot lately here on how to determine this. More likely, you have focus problems caused by your inexperience with the camera. You won't get much good advice without knowing what mode of operation you were in, the shutter speed, aperture, and other specifics.

For example, I tried to shoot a moving subject the other day, and my D60 was in sports mode. The light was very dim, so it did the best that it could without a tripod, which left me with a fuzzy shot. Well, that was mostly my own fault. If I had taken the time to do some smarter things, I could have gotten it much better.

Third, I also have dealt with the cut-rate photo shops, and the experience tends to be between awful and mediocre. Now, when I need some equipment, my list starts with B&H, then Adorama, then a few others ... and then the cut-rate shops never get my business anymore.

---Bob Gross---

[Hawkeye12]

if it is a cheap filter, that will degrade your image.
something that throws a lot of people off when viewing photos at full size is the soft edges. if it looks good at 50%, then your camera is fine.
the pictures look good, but they also look like you were shooting wide open (large aperture).

also, if you had a focus problem, then none of the details in your pictures would look as good as they do.

to help you analyze this more though, start by telling what UV (or clear polarizer) filter you have.
try shooting without it.

what f stop were you shooting with?
try shooting with a smaller f stop.

try shooting at f/5.6 and set the shutter speed to 1/125th.

[RGorrill]

Hi,

I looked at a couple of the images - "I love mommy" and "Hi dad" - along with a few of the other images. I am assuming that you used the fully automatic mode or the portrait mode for your shots due to the fact that the flash has been effectively used as a fill flash. What you did not tell us is the EXIF information in your image file so that we could see what exposure was used along with the ISO settings, focal length of the lens, etc. All this information can be used to ascertain if there is a real problem or if it was simply due to the shooting conditions.

If you were shooting in portrait mode the program is designed to give you a narrow focus base to soften the background and foreground for emphasis on the subject. Also, unless you set the camera to do internal sharpening, the images have not been sharpened by the camera and this would be done in your image program.

If you can post one or two of your images as full image size JPEG's along with the EXIF data we could help a bit more. I reckon that your "clear polarising filter" was, in fact, a simple UVa filter. An old sage in the world of photography once remarked that it was great to protect one's lens with a clear filter but to take it off when you shoot your pictures. His reasoning was that you paid excellent money for the lens and its quality but that you now lessened that quality with a piece of glass that you have added to the lens that was not fine-tuned to the quality of the lens. He also said that the most important accessory for a lens was a lens hood to be used at ALL times.

Bob

[CyberDyneSystems]

There are bad filters and pretty good filters. Hoya makes some very good filters.

Get that camera into better lighting too. I think the aperture may have been wide open due to low light?

And with the flash,. you may be getting only a 1/60th shutter speed.