Jessica McCollam |
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Lens Question for Canon 20D
I have the Canon 20D, and my problem is that I seem to be a little shaky. My photos are almost always soft and not as crisp and clear as I like. I have even tried my tripod, and still seem to have that problem most of the time.
I was wondering if I should get a better lens or if anyone has any suggestions for me?
Thank you!:)
HAppy New Year!:)
~Jessica M.
http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/gallery.php?memberID=47448
January 01, 2006
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robert G. Fately |
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Jessica, perhaps you can point us to an example to see if we can decipher what is making it less sharp than you'd like. Unsharpness can result from shakiness, as you say, or lack of critical focus, as you imply, or, in a digial SLR, a less sharpened image from the camera. That is, DSLRs are built with an anti-aliasing filter that covers the CCD chip - this helps smooth out the jaggies, etc., but leads to a certain amount of softening. Thus, manufacturers add the ability to process the image right in the camera, before it gets sent to the memory chip...and this is usually an adjustable setting. Ergo, it may just be that your 20D is not set to sharpen (enough for you, at least) in-camera - perhaps you can check the manual and see how to go about changing that setting (I'm a Nikon owner, so I haven't a clue on the Canon cameras).
December 31, 2005
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Mike T. Kurlowski |
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While certain lenses are sharper than others no lens should be so unsharp that your pictures are soft. I myself own the 20D and normally use the 70-200 f2.8l and my results are very sharp, but even the 18-55mm lens that comes with the 20D (if you bought the kit) should be sharp. Perhaps your lens or 20D is mechanically malfunctioning. You can try cleaning the sensor although its improbable that that the sensor would have enough dirt on it to make your photos blurry. It might be that its not focusing properly, try manually focusing. If that doesnt work, take it to your local camera store and let them take a look at it. Mike
December 31, 2005
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Jessica McCollam |
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Here are 2 examples.
December 31, 2005
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Jessica McCollam |
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Bentley
Jessica McCollam
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Posing
Jessica McCollam
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Here are 2 examples.
December 31, 2005
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robert G. Fately |
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Well, based on what I can tell on the LCD monitor, Jessica, these are not blurry due to motion, so the tripod issue is not the answer. They do seem a little soft (again, monitors, both CRT and LCD, are not nearly as deatiled as prints, so this gets hard to tell), but I can't tell if it's the in-camera sharpening I mentioned earlier, a matter of depth of field being shallow (the pup's nose is sharp, his eyes are less so?) or what. I doubt it's the lens itself - that's less likely than the whole CCD being slightly mis-mounted. And the odds of that are quite small.
December 31, 2005
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Mike T. Kurlowski |
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They dont look to blurry. I see no motion blur. As Bob said they do seem a tad soft. What lens are you using?
December 31, 2005
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Craig Paulsen |
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your fingernail looks sharp, maybe the lens focused on the line of your manicure. Looks like you could use some cuticle cream though. Sharpen it in PS and your good to go.
December 31, 2005
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Joe Jarosz |
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Jessica, how are you processing the images after you take them? If you are using photoshop or another image editing program, are you adding any sharpening (unsharp mask)? Almost all digital images need some sharpening either in camera, or ideally in a program that lets you control how much is added after you take the picture.
January 01, 2006
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Jessica McCollam |
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Thankyou so much, Bob, Mike, Craig and Joe. I use photoshop but never realized I needed to sharpen in there.
I do have my camera set to sharpen a little, but not much. maybe I will make it a little sharper.
I mostly use the Sigma 28-70mm f:2.8-4 lens. I am not very educated on lenses so I hope that is right. I aslo have a Sigma 70-300 lens, I don't like to use it much because the softness or blur is worse with that one. (even though I try to be super still)
Thank you again for your help!:)
January 01, 2006
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Jessica McCollam |
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Thankyou so much, Bob, Mike, Craig and Joe. I use photoshop but never realized I needed to sharpen in there.
I do have my camera set to sharpen a little, but not much. maybe I will make it a little sharper.
I mostly use the Sigma 28-70mm f:2.8-4 lens. I am not very educated on lenses so I hope that is right. I aslo have a Sigma 70-300 lens, I don't like to use it much because the softness or blur is worse with that one. (even though I try to be super still)
Thank you again for your help!:)
January 01, 2006
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robert G. Fately |
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Well, Jessica, with that 70-300, even though you try your best to be still, the rule of thumb would be that you should not try to hand-hold any shots at less than 1/500th second shutter speed, at least when you've zoomed all the way to the 300MM side. See, in 35MM film land, the age-old rule of thumb is to not shoot at less than 1 over the focal length of the lens hand held (with a tripod or a flash, it's another story). With most DSLRs, including yours, the chip is a bit smaller than a frame of 35MM film, so it acts to crop out and only the central portion of the image the lens projects; they use the term crop factor (your might be 1.3 r 1.5). What this means is that the 300MM lens "behaves" as if it's a 450MM lens - so 1/450 means that the slowest shutter speed you want to use without a tripod and/or electronic flash is 1/500th. I hope that wasn't too confusing...
January 01, 2006
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