help me with this problem, lens,camera, or operator

no i wasn't under that impression, i have now, and have had several other IS len's so i know what its for and its capabilities, these just came out alot more blurry then i would like, you cant see from these small examples i guess, but i can when looking at full files 100 percent in lightroom and phot0shop cs3, they look very bad, these are jsut a few, so thats what i was wondering, cause i am not used to results like this, at any focal length, shutter speed or lens, with is or not.

ed rader wrote in post #5765818
your shutter speed is waaaay too slow. you have tons of light and i would at least quadruple the shutter speed.

shoot in AV. raise your iso. it's you !

ed rader

thanks, that was my guess as well, will definatly keep that in mind, thanks ed.

akhoopes wrote in post #5765888
thanks, that was my guess as well, will definatly keep that in mind, thanks ed.

you're welcome. with the 70-200L i hardly ever use iso 100. i'd say iso 200 is a starting point on a sunny day.

if i'm at the beach and it's really bright then i use 100.

and on overcast day iso 400 is my starting point.

good luck!

ed rader

ed rader wrote in post #5765924
you're welcome. with the 70-200L i hardly ever use iso 100. i'd say iso 200 is a starting point on a sunny day.

if i'm at the beach and it's really bright then i use 100.

and on overcast day iso 400 is my starting point.

good luck!

ed rader

cool, i hardly ever come off of iso 100, just never really messed with that part of the camera, i guess ill have to start trying, thanks again

I wouldn't be so quick to assume it's operator error - may be most likely but these are relatively stationary objects and with IS 1/160 isn't that slow - should handle photographer motion blur fine if even 2 stop IS. 1/160 for a walking subject should stop it as well. I agree that it is better to use a higher ISO and SS but not sure we've sorted his issue yet.

Good news is that this is an easily sortable issue: you need some test shots of stationary objects and some shots with faster shutter speeds (or from tripod with remote release or timer) to isolate the problem.

As your focal length gets longer, it doesn't just magnify the subject more, or magnify camera shake more, it also magnifies subject movement more.

e.g. if you shoot a subject 10' away with the lens at 100mm focal length, and the subject moves 1" during the time the shutter is open then that movement will be recorded as a blur across X number of pixels in the image. Let's assume X is 10 pixels, for the sake of argument. If the subject repeated the same 1" movement, again 10' away, but you were shooting at 200mm focal length, the subject blur would be magnified and would now be across 2X pixels, or 20 pixels. That would be one very soft image.

So, ignoring camera shake for the moment, if you have a subject that moves, even a bit, it will look twice as blurry at 200mm compared to 100mm, and you will need double the shutter speed to retain the same level of subject motion blur.

tdodd wrote in post #5766034
As your focal length gets longer, it doesn't just magnify the subject more, or magnify camera shake more, it also magnifies subject movement more.

e.g. if you shoot a subject 10' away with the lens at 100mm focal length, and the subject moves 1" during the time the shutter is open then that movement will be recorded as a blur across X number of pixels in the image. Let's assume X is 10 pixels, for the sake of argument. If the subject repeated the same 1" movement, again 10' away, but you were shooting at 200mm focal length, the subject blur would be magnified and would now be across 2X pixels, or 20 pixels. That would be one very soft image.

So, ignoring camera shake for the moment, if you have a subject that moves, even a bit, it will look twice as blurry at 200mm compared to 100mm, and you will need double the shutter speed to retain the same level of subject motion blur.

very informative, thank you very much.

so what can i do to check the clarity of the lens, set it up oon a tripod and shoot a stationary object at different lengths to check clarity, this is what i am thinking, any other suggestions, let me know thanks.

Bill,,,your shutterspeed is too slow..For a 200mm lens I shoot at 1/300sec or faster..And why at 100ISO?? Your 40D will handle 400ISO or even 800ISO without any image degradation..

400ISO is my normal ISO setting on my 350D..

akhoopes wrote in post #5765546
... I have been shooting for 2 years now and think i have a pretty good concept and grip on how to take pictures...

akhoopes wrote in post #5765951
cool, i hardly ever come off of iso 100, just never really messed with that part of the camera, i guess ill have to start trying, thanks again

You stated that you have a pretty good concept and grip on how to take pictures yet you hardly ever take it off ISO 100, you're shooting relatively long FL shots with relatively low shutter speeds and moving subjects and wonder why they're not sharp.

As others have said, they usually start at 200-400. I hardly ever set it to 100.

Maybe you ought to brush up on the basics a little. The fact that you've shot for two years doesn't necessarily mean you'll learn a lot it just could mean you've had a lot of practice doing the wrong things. I'm not saying you are, but what really matters is how often you shot during that two years.

I never really started improving and feeling confident about my abilities until I started shooting on a daily basis.

I hope this doesn't offend. I'm just trying to help.

gooble wrote in post #5767269
You stated that you have a pretty good concept and grip on how to take pictures yet you hardly ever take it off ISO 100, you're shooting relatively long FL shots with relatively low shutter speeds and moving subjects and wonder why they're not sharp.

As others have said, they usually start at 200-400. I hardly ever set it to 100.

Maybe you ought to brush up on the basics a little. The fact that you've shot for two years doesn't necessarily mean you'll learn a lot it just could mean you've had a lot of practice doing the wrong things. I'm not saying you are, but what really matters is how often you shot during that two years.

I never really started improving and feeling confident about my abilities until I started shooting on a daily basis.

I hope this doesn't offend. I'm just trying to help.

no thats cool, doesn't bother me, I don't normally shoot the zoo, or moving objects, i shoot mostly models, portrait, stationary stuff, so it doesn't require more then iso 100 thats why it doesn't normally move, i normally don't shoot with a long lens, 105 being the long end but i normally stay in the 24-85 range, so thats what was a little different today, moving subjects, longer lens,uncontrolled light,

I have a grasp of the basics, thanks, but my questions was about some of the new equipment i got and i believe i got the answers i was looking for, thanks all.

akhoopes wrote in post #5766969
so what can i do to check the clarity of the lens, set it up oon a tripod and shoot a stationary object at different lengths to check clarity, this is what i am thinking, any other suggestions, let me know thanks.

anybody care to answer the above question.

akhoopes wrote in post #5766969
so what can i do to check the clarity of the lens, set it up oon a tripod and shoot a stationary object at different lengths to check clarity, this is what i am thinking, any other suggestions, let me know thanks.

Basically, yes.

Stick the camera on a tripod, on firm ground - not carpet - and aim at a subject with good contrast and sharp edge definition. Printed text on a bottle/can of something with simple black on white print should be perfect. Frame, focus and fire, using the mirror lockup and the timer release or a remote release to shoot. This will mean you have no vibration, or as little as humanly possible, at the camera end of things.

Try placing the object somewhere between 10-20' away - sort of vaguely representative distances for typical use. 5' (or MFD, wherever that is exactly) will probably not give you results that represent typical use for this lens.

Take a series of shots at 70mm, 100mm, 135mm and 200mm, using f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8 for each focal length. Each time you change focal length make sure you refocus. Also make sure you shoot to raw.

Open the raw files in DPP and set picture style to standard and sharpness to 3. view at 100% magnification. The images should look crisp and pretty much perfect.

If things are not looking peachy you need to figure out if you do actually have a soft lens or if it is simply that your AF is miscalibrated. Since you have a 40D, with Live View, you can check for yourself if your focus is off. Again, with the tripod in play, AF on the subject in the normal way. Now turn on Live View and view the subject using 10X magnification. Hopefully the image will look pretty sharp, but you are looking at a 100% crop with no sharpening (I imagine) at this point, so if it looks just a tinsy bit soft I wouldn't worry. Now, the important thing is - can you improve on the focus by very carefully focusing manually? If so, which way do you need to rotate the lens - towards the closer focus end of the scale, or the farther end? Repeat this test maybe five times, each time defocusing the lens either towards infinity or towards MFD, just to confirm that if there is a problem it is consistent. Repeat at 70mm, 100mm, 135mm, 200mm.

Hopefully the AF will be bang on every time. Maybe you will find you can always improve with manual focus, and always by moving the lens in the same direction. If you have to keep bringing the focus closer then your lens is focusing behind the subject - back focus. If you have to keep pushing focus further back then your lens is focusing in front of the subject - front focus. If you can improve the focus a little, but sometimes one way and sometimes the other, then you are probably seeing the variation in focus which is within acceptable limits, which is 1/3 DOF for an f/2.8 lens, which means that for practical purposes your picture will look sharp.

If you have unacceptbale front focus or back focus then you should send your kit to Canon to be sorted. It could be the camera that is off, or the lens, or both, so send them both in. If you have any other lenses you might want to send those in too, so that Canon can make sure that everything matches. There is little point in them correcting your body for your 70-200 if that then makes your other lenses go out of whack.

p.s. if you have a filter on the lens, take it off. You can't test the lens if you've stuck some cheap piece of glass in front of it. You'll be testing the lens and the cheap piece of glass.

the above is one of the most informative posts i have gotten from any question i have asked here, thank you very much, this is what help and not being a critical smart ass is. thanks again tim.

You're welcome

A couple more things - shoot with good light, so the AF can work properly and you can see the sharpness and contrast in the resulting pictures. Also turn off the IS on the lens. If you can pick a subject with a flat side rather than round, and face it square on to the lens then so much the better.