Dioptre Correction

Will having this dial in the 'wrong' position cause pictures to be fuzzy or slightly out of focus?

To be honest I turn this dial and find it hard to see a difference. I have taken a lot of pictures and I find that the focus on them just isn't crisp like I want it to be.

I am using the Canon Rebel XS with the kit 18-55mm IS lens.

Unless I'm seriously missing something, the diopter adjustment is just for what you see as you look through the viewfinder, it's not going to affect the shots that you take. How are you focusing? What focus mode are you using?

Getting tack sharp shots are the product of a lot of things, proper shutter speeds, using IS on your lens, using an appropriate aperture for the desired depth of field, focus mode, quality of lens, etc, etc.

The dipoter will have no effect on the autofocus mechanism of the camera, but having it set in a 'wrong' position for your eyes will make things look blurry, when in fact, the camera has attained a correct focus on the subject. The final output image is not dependent on how the image looks through the viewfinder with regards to diopter settings.

e: Would you mind posting a picture or two with the images that you feel are unsatisfactory, if EXIF data is intact, we can narrow down a potential problem.

Follow up question: Is this 'fuzzy' picture phenomena recent, or something that has happened after a month/months of acceptable pictures?

ee: And are you using a UV filter?

post examples

I didn't think it affected the focusing, but I wanted to make sure

I bought the camera in July 2010 and I use it most of the time for motorcycle sports(motocross and flat track racing) and I just cant seem to get a CRISP picture.

This uploader sucks...I have to shrink the pictures to be SO small! But I have attached two.

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ShelleyG wrote in post #11304339
I didn't think it affected the focusing, but I wanted to make sure

I bought the camera in July 2010 and I use it most of the time for motorcycle sports(motocross and flat track racing) and I just cant seem to get a CRISP picture.

This uploader sucks...I have to shrink the pictures to be SO small! But I have attached two.

What focus mode did you use? Why are you using F9?

Auto focus

what's wrong with f9?? To be honest I dont know what F to use :/

ShelleyG wrote in post #11304416
Auto focus

what's wrong with f9?? To be honest I dont know what F to use :/

The larger the F number the smaller the aperture the less light but the larger the depth of focus. At 18mm you really can leave the lens wide open(F3.5) for this type of shot.

In regards to focus, I am looking for if you are in one shot mode or servo mode. I am also looking to see if you are selecting the autofocus point. If you aren't doing any of these things then check out your manuals explanation of the focusing of the camera. You really should be in AF Servo mode for this shot.

I know how aperature works, kind of. I generally use ~16 for bright days and ~9-11 on overcast days. I use the lower setting for darker pictures. I use the larger f so that more of the picture is in focus (larger depth of field)

I am using servo. So that it continually is changing the focus as the bike moves.

ShelleyG wrote in post #11304464
I know how aperature works, kind of. I generally use ~16 for bright days and ~9-11 on overcast days. I use the lower setting for darker pictures. I use the larger f so that more of the picture is in focus (larger depth of field)

I am using servo. So that it continually is changing the focus as the bike moves.

F16 and 9-11 are both overkill and are causing your shutter speeds to be too slow. Lower this setting for action shots. Like I said, use F3.5 for this type of shot.

You still haven't told me what auto focus point you are selecting.

I think you've "fallen between two stools" as it were.
The shutter speeds chosen by the camera (given your selection of ISO and aperture) are neither fast enough to arrest subject or camera motion, nor slow enough to give an interesting motion blur while panning.

Try using Tv in shots like this. Pick a fast shutter speed to freeze all motion, or choose a slow speed and pan to give a sense of motion by blurring the background more than the subject.

If you find that your lens can't give you a wide enough aperture for the speed you want, bump up your ISO.

Any problems with shots of static subjects?

ShelleyG wrote in post #11304464
I generally use ~16 for bright days and ~9-11 on overcast days. I use the lower setting for darker pictures. I use the larger f so that more of the picture is in focus (larger depth of field)

Sdiver2489 wrote in post #11304530
F16 and 9-11 are both overkill and are causing your shutter speeds to be too slow. Lower this setting for action shots. Like I said, use F3.5 for this type of shot.

Yup, and larger depth of field is great for landscape stills, but in action shots, there is one thing that's important, and should be the centre of attention; your subject. Using the low F-stop means you will have the rider in focus, and the fore and background blurred, this is desirable! You want them to pop out of the frame! Give it a shot, i think you'll find your pics improve dramatically. With a big F-stop, the trees in the background will overpower the rider, he'll disappear into the background noise.

THAT SAID, a slow exposure can be desirable, BUT, in order to blur the back ground, instead of trying to get it in focus like you were. You need to be tracking the subject perfectly yo pull this off nicely, and not blur the subject. Have a look at this shot, quoted from the 450D thread.

Instead of choosing a high Fstop to get the background in focus, he's chosen the shutter speed, and set the aperture accordingly for exposure, in order to blur the background with motion blur.

izthistaken wrote in post #11240356
Doesn't even matter the lens. Here is my least sharpest lens. 70-300 IS USM

Camera Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi
Exposure 0.04 sec (1/25)
Aperture f/10.0
Focal Length 135 mm
ISO Speed 100

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/30705352@N04/5​154152395/
Mid Ohio Pan 1/25th shutter by izthistaken, on Flickr

ShelleyG wrote in post #11304228
Will having this dial in the 'wrong' position cause pictures to be fuzzy or slightly out of focus?

To be honest I turn this dial and find it hard to see a difference. I have taken a lot of pictures and I find that the focus on them just isn't crisp like I want it to be.

I am using the Canon Rebel XS with the kit 18-55mm IS lens.

Not the final picture, but what you see.
Defocus the lens so you just see a reasonably smoothly coloured area in through the viewfinder, then focus on the "focussing points", adjust the dioptre correction so that the AF markings that you see in the viewfinder are sharp.

You shouldn't see them the same way from -1 to +3, if you do my guess is something is broken in that. It will not affect images you take though.
Oh, and you possibly won't be able to nail "the" dioptre setting because your eyes will correct smaller differences.

I don't think the aperture is the big problem here. I simply cannot see anything sharp in either image.

So, it's either motion blur (possibly caused by the cameraman moving? and a faster shutter speed is required, or its post processing problems. Which begs the question, what sharpening do you do to the images in post?

You may also want to try using just the center focusing point only. Read up in your manual on how you can set the camera to use only that point. I use the center focusing point more than 99% of the time. That way, you are telling the camera what the subject of interest is.