What am I doing wrong!?!?!?

[kwieringa]

I'm so frustrated. This is how my images keep turning out. I use full Manual.
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo...eat=directlink

ISO 100
1/160
f /4.0

Focal Length 33mm

Ugh I dont get what I am doing..I'm sure it is simple...

Please help!

I want it crisp..

[KJ Smith]

I hate to be the one to say this.

But your photo is not showing up.


OOppps, There it is.


What lens are you using?

[kwieringa]

is it now??

[kenw]

i see it now. what is the issue? focus? it is focused on the wall. shift your focus spot over to one of the people. as is it is focusing on the wall which is more in focus than anything else.

[kwieringa]

Almost all my images turn out like this, blury...and I just dont know why. I am teaching myself everything about my camera...maybe that is the issue. Or is it my camera/lens??

[KJ Smith]

What lens, what camera?

[kwieringa]

Canon 20d
lens is Sigma 24-135mm 2.8-4.5

[CaptainTom]

Here are the possibilities as I see them.

1- the auto focus is not focusing correctly.
2- if you are focusing manually you are not focusing correctly
3- you are not holding the camera still
4- you have such a strong personal aura that the sensor is confused.
5- disregard number 4.
6- your camera has been adjusted to the lowest sharpening setting.


If you have a tripod(for steadiness), put the camera on it. set it to self timer(to eliminate internal vibration). focus as normal on a subject. take a picture and see if it is really in focus. There are several ways to check for front or back focusing (that's when the camera focuses on the wrong distance). If the image is not in focus you can try the yardstick test. (look it up on google).
Check your menus and see if your sharpening has been set to a low value ( in the manual ).
Call back with the results.

[KJ Smith]

I don't like to judge other peoples equipment.

You can join FM and read the reviews on that lens.

They are saying its soft wide open.

Try stopping down to 5.6 or more.

If I looked at the right lens, they rate it 6.8 out of 10.

[humminboid]

You are probably pressing the shutter release like you were killing a particularly ugly bug! Softly, softly, catchee picture! The overall "unsharpness" seems to indicate camera movement. What did you choose to focus on?

The lens seems good: there are very few problems that can be blamed on a "bad" lens, nowadays. It does happen, but that is not the way to bet.

The f/stop, shutter speed, and focal length seem within reasonable ranges. I might suggest raising the ISO to 200 in order to achieve higher shutter speeds.

I speak HERESY, but get off "full manual", and see how yor pixes improve! You spent all that money for those features. USE them, and find out what your camera will do for you! You will still need to tell it what you want and watch it till it does.

Check your focus, It is rare, but not unheard of that it may be off just a smidge.

Steady on! Tripods are a PITA, but do contribute to sharper pixes. No 'pod? Brace the camera, pull your elbows in to your sides, don't let them flap around like short wings. That's all hard to remember in the heat of the moment, like when the yellow Corvette is coming by your position at 130 mph, and you just have to get that picture! Sometimes I think if I turned into the wind, I'd take off, what with all the flapping!

Practice, evaluate, practice some more...kill a few electrons, it will pay dividends.

Good luck...it will all come together, and sooner than you think.

[texkam]

Shoot something with those settings then readjust going towards the other extreme say... ISO 400 or even 800 which will allow you to increase your speed and shoot with a smaller aperture. Now compare. If they look the same except for the increase in grain it might just be the lens.

[Brains]

Looks like the camera was steady, the focus was just off. To my eyes, it looks like the focus point was in front of the subject - take a look at the ground in front on their feet, off the curb - near that leaf. That area looks sharper to me than the rest of the image.

Have you tried allowing the camera to auto focus? Try selecting the ONE SHOT focus mode, AF turned on, center focus point. Shoot a frame and see if you get an image that is sharp where the focus point is. If so, the camera and lens are (likely) OK. Next, try to correlate auto focus with manual focus. Shoot a frame with AF turned on, then switch it off, and without changing anything else try to focus manually. If the AF image is sharp, and the manual focus image is not, check the diopter wheel on your viewfinder.

If you start to suspect hardware, there's a bunch of folks in the area. Maybe you can meet up with someone and try swapping hardware around.

[SaSha]

Even if you are shooting in manual mode auto focus could still be active. I would get the focus part down first. If you are focusing by hand be sure your eye diopter is adjusted so what you see through the viewfinder is at its sharpest. Not sure about the 20D where it might be.

Are you using a flash for fill light. It will make you subjects pop more, especially the eyes. Onboard flashes are not always the best.

Also if you are shooting manual you should bracket your shots...however you must have good subjects that are patient. You can set up auto bracket or bracket manually. Also you can bracket many diff. ways. Start with F-stop bracketing, try iso bracketing or exposure, see what you get and compare.

[bryanlindsey]

Agree with autofocus as the issue.

1/160 is fast enough to freeze average movement.

[kwieringa]

Alright - I am sorting all this info!

I do autofocus on my lens and manual with camera...so that does help...

These children were non stop EVERYWHERE. I couldnt hardly snap a photo in time - which might have been my problem. Not standing still long enough. It just seemed to happen to the whole stinken session though.

I will try to hold still longer - and possibly raise my f stop so not to get too much bokeh.

Not a fan of flash - so I just dont really use it at all.

Thank you ALL for the comments! I have a session tomorrow morning - I will let y'all know how it goes!

I do have a question regarding sharpening in my camera. I searched my manual and found nothing as to enhance that or make sure its not too low! The menus?

Again...Thanks!