Sharp or soft, 7d with 70-200 f4.0 is usm

Hi,

Recently, I brought a refurb 7D and just got my used Canon 70-200 f4.0 IS USM. I took few shots want to know whether the pictures are sharp or soft. This is my first "L" lens. I left the camera in the P-mode.

thanks,

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Might want to show us some pics.

How about something a little easier to evaluate, where there's an obvious focusing target surrounded by lots of detail? It's very difficult to evaluate tree/leaves shots.

Yes, too hard to tell with those shots.

Sorry, I will find better pictures. I was too excited when it came.

Also, it's hard to tell how far away the trees are you're shooting.

dave

any shots at f4? f5.6? the ones above at f9 should get a lot in focus if far enough.

Nice camera and lens combo, congratulations.

7D is not the easiest camera to learn since it has so many options - read about the focusing system and get out of program mode as soon as you can to start learning what changing your settings will do to your pictures. For example, if you didn't choose the exact point you wanted the camera to focus on, how will you know if it is "sharp" or not.....

Also, most of the "sharp" photos you see on a forum like this have been sharpened significantly on the computer after taking the photo itself!

It is quite difficult to ascertain where the focusing point was in this shot. I am amazed how often photographers will attempt to test their lenses by shooting tree branches - probably one of the worst subjects for a focus evaluation.

When shooting with a long lens and using multiple focus points; the autofocus will very often lock onto a point other than what you want - thus throwing the entire focus off a bit (sometimes by a great deal).

I realized this when testing my first f/4L (non-IS) lens. The lens had a reputation for back focusing and I wanted to make sure that my copy was not guilty of the error. While testing, I realized that the lens was locking onto points other than what I wanted.

People on these forums have been lulled into trying to test lenses. Instead, go out with your new lens and take pictures of things that interest you. When you've got used to using your lens in this way, you'll know yourself whether you're happy with it.

David

Woodworker wrote in post #11668438
People on these forums have been lulled into trying to test lenses. Instead, go out with your new lens and take pictures of things that interest you. When you've got used to using your lens in this way, you'll know yourself whether you're happy with it.

David

Excellent post David