Sharp non-centered subjects?

Try to adhere to rule of thirds, I rarely center a subject in my frame. I usually focus, recompose, and try to get my subject (usually a human) closer to the sides of the frame.

However, I noticed subjects at the center seem to generally come out sharper. So, is there a better way to do this? Should I center my subjects then crop during PP? Or stop down my lenses?

buy great glasses which sharp through out the frame..
crop could be another way of course.

btw, recomposing after focus may lead to (very possible) mis-focus which makes your subject soft.

Indirectly, you might help a tiny bit if you take advantage of your focus points. Moving your camera after focusing would change the distance, even if slightly.

EDIT (what Judsonzhao said)

The Dark Knight wrote in post #14964081
Try to adhere to rule of thirds, I rarely center a subject in my frame. I usually focus, recompose, and try to get my subject (usually a human) closer to the sides of the frame.

However, I noticed subjects at the center seem to generally come out sharper. So, is there a better way to do this? Should I center my subjects then crop during PP? Or stop down my lenses?

Recomposing can be an issue, especially if you shoot wide open. Your depth of field may be tight enough that just that little bit of movement can cause the subject to be soft. Also, not all lenses are sharp edge to edge which can add to the problem. I find that with my 60D, when I'm shooting wide open I select a focus point closer to where I want my subject. I don't know what body you are using, so I don't know if that's a good option for you or not.

Preeb wrote in post #14965011
Recomposing can be an issue, especially if you shoot wide open. Your depth of field may be tight enough that just that little bit of movement can cause the subject to be soft. Also, not all lenses are sharp edge to edge which can add to the problem. I find that with my 60D, when I'm shooting wide open I select a focus point closer to where I want my subject. I don't know what body you are using, so I don't know if that's a good option for you or not.

60D as well. I used to shoot with an XSi, and one of the instructional videos I watched recommended the focus with center point/ recompose technique because only the center point was a cross point on the XSi.

As you know on the 60D all 9 are cross points, so I think I'll try toggling the focus points as needed from now on. Thanks!

Try moving your focus points to suit the subject composition and not focus and recompose.

This article is correct, though it sort of over-exaggerates the problem in a lot of more "normal" shooting situations. Unless you are using really big apertures and/or working in close with tele lenses, so that depth of field is particularly shallow, filed curvature should be mostly covered by DOF. Just watch out for too large apertures... one stop smaller might make a world of difference (and most modern camera viewfinders tend to make you think you have more DOF than you really do.)

Moving subjects or stationary? Which focus mode have you got set?

If you have time and the subject is stationary, it will generally be safest and most accurate to manually select a single AF point that covers the subject as close as possible to where you want them in the final image. Some post processing fine tuning crop might still be needed, but you can get close.

If shooting faster with stationary subjects, or photographing moving subjects, it may be best to select the center point (it's faster/more accurate on most Canon)... frame a little more loosely to allow room to crop in post.

With stationary subjects, One Shot is most accurate and once focus is achieved you can easily With moving subjects you need to use AI Servo, which normally doesn't allow for focus and recompose technique. If you also use Back Button Focus, you can do focus and recompose, but it will still be a problem due to subject movement. Best bet is to allow some room to crop later.

If using a zoom lens, most modern ones are varifocal designs. If part of your recomposing involves zooming the lens and changing focal length, you have to refocus the lens.

The Dark Knight wrote in post #14964081
Try to adhere to rule of thirds, I rarely center a subject in my frame. I usually focus, recompose, and try to get my subject (usually a human) closer to the sides of the frame.

However, I noticed subjects at the center seem to generally come out sharper. So, is there a better way to do this? Should I center my subjects then crop during PP? Or stop down my lenses?

use an off-center point. i NEVER focus and recompose.

The larger the aperture, the shorter the focal length, the closer you are to the subject, the more important it is to use an AF point close to/on the spot that needs to be critically sharp. Many will crop to frame the subject as desired rather than recompose and risk moving the plane of focus off the desired spot.

ed rader wrote in post #14967726
use an off-center point. i NEVER focus and recompose.

That only works if your subject happens to align perfectly with your AF points. I often focus and recompose with the nearest AF point.

If you only shoot portraits where the whole subject is sharp (meaning you choose your DoF to be at least 10cm for head shots, ~25cm for half-body shots, ~40cm for full-body portraits, and >50cm for groups of people), then you'll never have issues with "focus and recompose", because camera movements during recomposing should be less than 10 cm.

tkbslc wrote in post #14967811
That only works if your subject happens to align perfectly with your AF points. I often focus and recompose with the nearest AF point.

i make the subject align and crop, if necessary.

ed rader wrote in post #14969866
i make the subject align and crop, if necessary.

This..

Here is a more realistic assessment of focus and recompose:

http://www.bobatkins.c​om …ical/focus_reco​mpose.html

ed rader wrote in post #14967726
use an off-center point. i NEVER focus and recompose.

I thought there was a problem with the outer AF points in that they aren't as sensitive at very large apertures (less than 2.8) or somesuch?

I remember once someone saying if your aperture is very low then use the centre point because it will be more accurate. Can anyone verify this or not?

Unfortunately it seems to be kinda catch 22 because in those situations focus and recompose is even more tricky due to the shallow dof.