is this what you would expect in low-ish light?

[perfectpixel]

Hi all,
I took some shots at HS football game on Saturday and they are all bad!
Here's an example. Let me know what I'm doing wrong, or is this what you'd expect?
Specs:
10D
24-70F2.8L @ 70mm
F2.8, 1/90, ISO 1600
AF One shot mode, center area
Focus point was forehead :) of cheerleader behind the mascot

Full sized pic, reduced to 25%:
http://www.photo.net/photodb/image-display?photo_id=1771806&size=lg

100% crop of a region
http://www.photo.net/photodb/image-display?photo_id=1771810&size=lg

thanks for the help

[Mark Kemp]

Actually I'm quite impressed, the pic is a bit better than I would expect for the conditions!

In low-ish light I would expect dark-ish pictures, or camera shake or loads of noise.

Remember flood lights are not nearly as bright as sunlight (your eyes adjust)

You seem to have got a fair depth of field, reasonable sharpness (assuming this is straight out of the camera), good colours and still not much camera shake for the price of shooting ISO 1600. (Your 10D seems to make much less noise at this rating than my D30).

This shot is not bitingly sharp crisp and clear, but under the circumstances its not a disaster either!

A little touch of neat image followed by a tiny touch of sharpening and/or colour correction to taste and this could turn out a little better still

The 10D is a camera after all, not a night sight!

[ssim]

I tried neat image for the first time yesterday and was quite amazed at how it was able to clean up a significant amount of the noise. I had taken some indoor shots at ISO 1600 and I had the results similar to the ones shown here. It certainly is worth a try.

[perfectpixel]

yes, it is straight out of the camera.
I understand the noise one gets at 1600, however, you think the sharpness is also where you'd expect it to be?
makes me feel better about that camera :)

[Mark Kemp]

The sharpness is not bad for the circumstances (in my opinion) there may also be a little subject and/or camera movement, but I don't think thats too bad either.

Remember that Canon digital SLR cameras don't sharpen very much in the camera, to allow the photographer to sharpen to their own taste or the intended print size. Even full daylight shots are a bit softer than you get even from some point and shoot compacts. Its up to you to sharpen them if you prefer.

Point and shoot compacts tend to sharpen more in the camera, because they are more likely to be for casual users who want the picture to be pretty good straight away. This sort of camera is more aimed at people who want to go straight to a printer or their high street developer rather than use a computer.

[JABACo]

Were these pics taken with or without a flash??? I'm curious about this because I'm in a debate with myself on whether to spend my saved $150.00 on a 420ex flash or the BG-ED3 grip.

[perfectpixel]

JABACo wrote:
Were these pics taken with or without a flash??? I'm curious about this because I'm in a debate with myself on whether to spend my saved $150.00 on a 420ex flash or the BG-ED3 grip.

sorry! should've mentioned that. No flash was used.


Speaking of that, there was a "pro" on the side lines taking action shots of the players. He had a big white canon lens on (bit not as BIG as the ones I've seen at pro games). Anyway, to my surprise he was shooting with a flash mounted on the camera hot shoe! and it had a diffuser on to boot!
I really wished I could have talked to him to find out the details of his lens/shooting specs etc.
Has anyone seen this before?

[lightandlife]

Yeah, that is about what I would get under low light conditions.

There aren't many photons for 10D sensor to capture. So the images are fuzzy. In this case, shrink the image, and it would look sharper. For indoor shots, mine would frontfocus. The same camera produce sharp images given enough light.

Here is one example in which 10D with 35mm shines. Night scenes with some light should look OK.
http://www.pbase.com/image/21595311/original

[CyberDyneSystems]

Was this taken using a tripod?

ISO 1600 can look bad but sometimes it is not so bad. I am amazed at how good it can look when there is a little more light than what you had to work with here.

But whatever you do, don't judge your camera or lenses "sharpness" based on an ISO 1600 shot! The ISO noise and the low shutter speeds resulting from low light will be the biggest factor in the sharpness.

[perfectpixel]

CyberDyneSystems wrote:
Was this taken using a tripod?

But whatever you do, don't judge your camera or lenses "sharpness" based on an ISO 1600 shot! The ISO noise and the low shutter speeds resulting from low light will be the biggest factor in the sharpness.

No tripod.
I'm glad to hear this image is about what you all would expect. I really didn't know what to expect under these conditions.

BTW, I don't want to *bump* my thread from lower down (did canon service fix your focus problem), but I'm much more anxious to hear comments on the "focus tests" I posted there. hint hint :D