What am I doing wrong?

Hi there, am loving this site and have learnt a lot in the relatively short time i've been here, sometimes i get a bit disheartened with the quality of my shots, for example the one below

What lens did you use?

There's nothing wrong with jumping straight into the semi-automatic modes at all!

Both with the 18-55IS, i had the 18-55 before and they were even worse!! Was pleased with the new lens, is definitely an improvement, just feel like i'm missing something....

What ISO should be acceptable with the 20d? Both are 400 which i didn't notice before, i always forget to change that!! But 400 should be ok right?

As you said, the top shot is front-focused. This may or may not be the fault of the equipment - at 55 mm, your DOF at f/5.6 isn't very deep and body motion can lead to an OOF shot.

Were these shots handheld? If so, try a tripod...

-js

Oh, yeah: you asked about Av. It's the most useful mode, IMO. You should never need to go to the green box unless you're handing your camera to a novice.

-js

Where did you focus on the second shot? The wood grain looks pretty sharp.

How were you standing/holding the camera for the first shot? I think your focus plane is tilted so that in front of the cone looks in focus along with the very tips of the cone.

Could you elaborate on how you focus? You say you manually select the focusing point rather than recompose. Using the center focusing point will provide more accurate focusing than any other point.

number six wrote in post #7389387
As you said, the top shot is front-focused. This may or may not be the fault of the equipment - at 55 mm, your DOF at f/5.6 isn't very deep and body motion can lead to an OOF shot.

Were these shots handheld? If so, try a tripod...

-js

Yes they were handheld, at 1/50 with IS is there still a risk of motion blur? I wouldn't say i'm unsteady, but have no frame of reference for it really!!

number six wrote in post #7389394
Oh, yeah: you asked about Av. It's the most useful mode, IMO. You should never need to go to the green box unless you're handing your camera to a novice.

-js

That's what i thought, I understand the effect of aperture, shutter speed, ISO etc. So i figure i'm ok to be let loose with Av

cowboylife wrote in post #7389431
Where did you focus on the second shot? The wood grain looks pretty sharp.

How were you standing/holding the camera for the first shot? I think your focus plane is tilted so that in front of the cone looks in focus along with the very tips of the cone.

I suppose the post was about 5 feet high and i crouched down slightly (i'm 6ft 5) so i was pretty much head on, although i was above it

Duncan Frenz wrote in post #7389466
Could you elaborate on how you focus? You say you manually select the focusing point rather than recompose. Using the center focusing point will provide more accurate focusing than any other point.

Didn't realise the centre point was more accurate, for the second shot i composed the shot (as such) then changed the focus point to the one which would be at the centre of the flower head, which i believe it that case was the far right of the diamond. How would i have done it better? put the center AF point on the flower, half pressed, moved back to the position i took the shot in and fuly depressed it?


Thanks for the replies guys, i don't feel like giving up (yet!)

sancho1983 wrote in post #7389648
Yes they were handheld, at 1/50 with IS is there still a risk of motion blur? I wouldn't say i'm unsteady, but have no frame of reference for it really!!

You're right, 1/50 with IS at 55 mm shouldn't show motion blur. And I don't see any in your picture.

IS is for side to side and up/down motion. I was talking about closer/further, which IS doesn't address. Photographers often sway a bit forward/backwards between focusing and tripping the shutter, giving a front- or back-focused result that's not the fault of the equipment. Hence my suggestion of a tripod for testing.

-js

sancho1983 wrote in post #7389648
Yes they were handheld, at 1/50 with IS is there still a risk of motion blur?

With a close shot like this, you're more likely to have an issue with changing your focus point simply by leaning forward or backward slightly.


Edit: number six beat me to it... great minds...

sancho1983 wrote in post #7389648
Didn't realise the centre point was more accurate, for the second shot i composed the shot (as such) then changed the focus point to the one which would be at the centre of the flower head, which i believe it that case was the far right of the diamond. How would i have done it better? put the center AF point on the flower, half pressed, moved back to the position i took the shot in and fuly depressed it?


Thanks for the replies guys, i don't feel like giving up (yet!)

The 20D has a high-precision cross-type sensor in the center position. It provides full cross-type performance with maximum apertures as small as f/5.6, yet it achieves up to 3 times the standard focusing precision when used with EF lenses featuring maximum apertures larger than or equal to f/2.8.

Yes, I would have useed the center focal point and recomposed if I was trying to achieve maximum sharpness.

Duncan Frenz wrote in post #7389756
The 20D has a high-precision cross-type sensor in the center position. It provides full cross-type performance with maximum apertures as small as f/5.6, yet it achieves up to 3 times the standard focusing precision when used with EF lenses featuring maximum apertures larger than or equal to f/2.8.

Yes, I would have useed the center focal point and recomposed if I was trying to achieve maximum sharpness.

Well, but tht depends on how close he was and what his aperture was. Shooting close up by focus and recompose can be a disaster (as is rocking back and forth).

OP, you might want to grab a tripod and try shots like that taken with a very sturdy support (you can turn the IS off for this). If you are getting a slow shutter speed, Mirror Lockup and a cable release are also your friends.

Once you take some tripod-mounted shots, you should get a much better idea of what to expect, and have some comparison stuff to bounce your hand-held shots off of.

number six wrote in post #7389686
You're right, 1/50 with IS at 55 mm shouldn't show motion blur. And I don't see any in your picture.

IS is for side to side and up/down motion. I was talking about closer/further, which IS doesn't address. Photographers often sway a bit forward/backwards between focusing and tripping the shutter, giving a front- or back-focused result that's not the fault of the equipment. Hence my suggestion of a tripod for testing.

-js

highbarger wrote in post #7389717
With a close shot like this, you're more likely to have an issue with changing your focus point simply by leaning forward or backward slightly.


Edit: number six beat me to it... great minds...

Great minds think alike lol, i see what you mean now, will definitely bear that in mind, perhaps try something similar both with tripod and without. Thanks!

Duncan Frenz wrote in post #7389756
The 20D has a high-precision cross-type sensor in the center position. It provides full cross-type performance with maximum apertures as small as f/5.6, yet it achieves up to 3 times the standard focusing precision when used with EF lenses featuring maximum apertures larger than or equal to f/2.8.

Yes, I would have useed the center focal point and recomposed if I was trying to achieve maximum sharpness.

Will definitely do that too, is there a negative to doing it that way? Don't know why i don't really

Yes, if the camera to subject distance is short it can cause a missed focus. Read this
http://www.visual-vacations.com …focus-recompose_sucks.htm

If sharpness is the goal, the first thing to do is put the camera on a tripod. You will be astonished at how much a tripod will improve the quality of any lens, IS or no IS.

Once you have run several experiments on a tripod you will have a much more realistic impression of just how your lenses can work if you give them a chance.