Center weight issues.......

[NY10dGirl]

Hi I have a 10d with the Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 xr, Canon 100-400mm f/4/5-5.6 L IS and the 420ex Speedlite flash. The issue that I'm having is that whenever I use either the center weight mode or the Evaluative, or even when I try to use the manual AF points selection only a section of the face is sharp and the rest seems to be soft. The same happens with group shots. Is there a setting in which you recommend? I want the whole subject to be sharp. (BTW I'm using a good steady tripod)

Any suggestions will be very appreciate it.

[Scottes]

How big is your subject? How far away is it? What aperture are you at? Are you using P, Av, or Tv?

It sounds like you need an intro to Depth of Field.

http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/fototech/htmls/depth.html


I don't mean to sound like a jerk, but this can be a big subject. A little bit of reading will go a long way. And if you still have questions or need more info please come back and we'll be happy to help.

[PacAce]

Hi I have a 10d with the Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 xr, Canon 100-400mm f/4/5-5.6 L IS and the 420ex Speedlite flash. The issue that I'm having is that whenever I use either the center weight mode or the Evaluative, or even when I try to use the manual AF points selection only a section of the face is sharp and the rest seems to be soft. The same happens with group shots. Is there a setting in which you recommend? I want the whole subject to be sharp. (BTW I'm using a good steady tripod)

Any suggestions will be very appreciate it.

First of, the metering mode should have nothing to do with your focusing problem. The metering mode just determines the aperture and shutter speed the camera needs to be set to.

It sounds like the problem you are experiencing has to do with the aperture you are using. I'm going to assume most of your group and individual shots are taken with the f/2.8 Tamron. In low light conditions, the tendency is for the camera, in automatic mode, to use the widest aperture available. In the case of the Tamron, that's f/2.8. And that means that your DOF will be very shallow. Subjects you focus on may be sharp but things farther away will be out of focus. The next time you take a picture, take a note of what aperture is being used for the picture.

If you want sharper images all around, you need to make sure that a smaller aperture is selected, like say f/8 or smaller.

[MediaMagic]

My guess is the same as has already been mentioned = large aperture/shallow depth of field.

I have a center weight problem too. Problem is, I won't give up pizza and beer. :shock:

[AzzKicker]

I'm just learing this new SLR stuff. But correct me if I'm wrong.


If you take group shots, in low light, with 420ex and at f/8 or smaller. The SHutter speed will be real slow, so any movement of the group being photographed will come out as a blur wont it?

[Tom W]

I'm just learing this new SLR stuff. But correct me if I'm wrong.


If you take group shots, in low light, with 420ex and at f/8 or smaller. The SHutter speed will be real slow, so any movement of the group being photographed will come out as a blur wont it?

If you use aperture priority, that is exactly what will happen. But if you shoot in manual and use f/8.0 and set your shutter to 1/60 or higher (up to max synch speed of 1/200), your 420EX will acheive proper exposure, though the background will likely be underexposed. The flash meters separately from the camera's exposure metering.

[AzzKicker]

I'm just learing this new SLR stuff. But correct me if I'm wrong.


If you take group shots, in low light, with 420ex and at f/8 or smaller. The SHutter speed will be real slow, so any movement of the group being photographed will come out as a blur wont it?

If you use aperture priority, that is exactly what will happen. But if you shoot in manual and use f/8.0 and set your shutter to 1/60 or higher (up to max synch speed of 1/200), your 420EX will acheive proper exposure, though the background will likely be underexposed. The flash meters separately from the camera's exposure metering.


STUPID ME I forgot about that :( Thanks for the TIP. I was at a wedding last saturday. And I was taking some group pictures and completely forgot about manually selecting 1/60 and f/8. Since the flash will correctly expose it.



So is it safe to say that I can set any arpeture and have 1/60 as shutter with my 420ex and get correct exposure?

I'm just starting to read a book by John Hedgecoes "The New Book of Photography" and it seems very helpful so far.