Sharp eyes?? help me please

[adnguyen714]

Hello POTN.

I am new to this forum and new to digital photography. i was just inquiring about how to get eyes in my subjects sharp. is mainly done while taking the pictures or in post processing? i use the canon digitial photo editing program my canon xs rebel came with. basically how do i make my eyes sharp like i see in the pix on this forum. please help, thanks in advance.

[Naturalist]

I keep my camera set so that it only uses the center focus point, and the custom function set so that focus is moved from the shutter release button to the * button.

Then, focus on the subject's eye, recompose, and shoot.

I also do not use any filters. Some people throw a cheap filter on their lens and this is one of the worst things to do.

[adnguyen714]

I keep my camera set so that it only uses the center focus point, and the custom function set so that focus is moved from the shutter release button to the * button.

Then, focus on the subject's eye, recompose, and shoot.

I also do not use any filters. Some people throw a cheap filter on their lens and this is one of the worst things to do.


thank you. i have a cheap uv filter on my lense just baically to protect it. u do not suggest this? will it really have an affect on the sharpness of pix?

[SOK]

i have a cheap uv filter on my lense just baically to protect it. u do not suggest this? will it really have an affect on the sharpness of pix?

Any extra elements you add between the subject and sensor plane (ie, a filter) will degrade performance. Whether this is noticeable or not is the big question.

As a general rule; the cheaper the filter, the more noticeable the degradation in image quality (IQ)...

If you're truly concerned about 'protecting' your lens, I'd suggest using a lens hood - it will offer better physical protection (especially if you drop the lens), and is quite good at stopping things like fingers from touching the front element.

As for getting 'sharp eyes'...it's all done in camera. You can optimise your photo electronically in Photoshop (or similar), but the trick is to get it right first up. It's not hard to do.

I'd avoid using the focus/recompose technique as described above, particularly when using your 50 F/1.8 wide open. If you're interested in the reason (or rather, the maths) you can check this article. (http://visual-vacations.com/Photography/focus-recompose_sucks.htm)

[Aside; I'm not 100% against focus/re-compose, but I don't think it's a good technique for beginners who might not understand the limitations. Once you're familiar with DOF (perhaps after tinkering with the DOF calculator (http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html), it can be a useful technique]

What I'd suggest;

*Make sure you use a fast-ish shutter speed to freeze any movement of your subject.

*Make sure you use a suitable aperture to give a reasonable depth of field (there's no point having sharp eyes if the rest of the portrait is out of focus!)

*Select an auto-focus point that sits directly over one of the subject's eyes. (On the XS, you do this by pressing the top-righthand button on the back of the camera - the one with the white grid symbol above it, and the blue magnifying glass with the (+) symbol below it - and then selecting the point with the arrow keys). DON'T let the camera auto select the AF point!

These 3 steps should help you get good sharpness. Try it with and without your filter so you can decide (based on sharpness comparisons) if you want to continue using it.

If none of these steps make any sense to you, I'd suggest you have a read of this thread (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=414088) before you experiment.

Hope this helps!

[Damaso87]

I keep my camera set so that it only uses the center focus point, and the custom function set so that focus is moved from the shutter release button to the * button.

Then, focus on the subject's eye, recompose, and shoot.

I also do not use any filters. Some people throw a cheap filter on their lens and this is one of the worst things to do.

I slap myself after i take shots and realize that I focus on the face, then forget to recompose.