New Lens... Too Sharp

[bullsparade]

I recently purchased a Canon 28-135 IS from cmalana and it is tack sharp! I took some portrait pics while playing with it and was very impressed. The problem is that the images show so much detail. I could see every pore on the subjects face.

I am sure make-up plays a part in this as she wasnt wearing a heavy foundation but is there anything I can do as a photographer to lose the detail but still maintain a sharp picture.

I do not want to spend hours in PS touching up images to remove detail.

[evil4blue]

I'm sure I won't be the first to say this, but I'd rather have too sharp than not sharp enough. That said, if you want to soften your photos without PP, use a soft focus filter or just open up your aperture. You can even try shooting wide-open. Your shallow dof will help soften things up.

Truthfully though, the best way to do this is to shoot sharp and selectively soften in PP.

[bullsparade]

That would be my second question: How many people here spend time in the post process removing detail ( seriously the images were like looking through a magnifying glass)?


I am thinking of getting a soft filter for fun and effect, but do not want it to be my solution. I like the DOF idea. I need to play with its range and get more experience with it.

[jeffkohn]

One thing to keep in mind is that what looks too sharp/detailed at 100% on screen may look great in prints.

[CaptainTom]

you can run the shot through a noise filtering program like noise ninja, and it will take out a lot of the "detail". NN allows you to adjust the amt. of filter effect. I use it quite often as a "cheap and easy" tool for portraits.

[suzyjazz]

Wanna trade lenses? I'm really not too happy with mine anymore. Maybe I should send it off, think I have a month of warranty time left.

[PictureCow]

Originally Posted by bullsparade

That would be my second question: How many people here spend time in the post process removing detail ( seriously the images were like looking through a magnifying glass)?


I am thinking of getting a soft filter for fun and effect, but do not want it to be my solution. I like the DOF idea. I need to play with its range and get more experience with it.

I spend a lot of time in PP. I wouldn't get a soft filter for your lens when there are so many free photoshop filters/actions out there that you can use. That way you have the benefit of having a tack sharp original to use as a mask... I don't like it when eyes and lips go too soft personally.

Visit action central....http://www.atncentral.com/download.htm They have some nice ones.

[David Price]

Originally Posted by bullsparade

I recently purchased a Canon 28-135 IS from cmalana and it is tack sharp! I took some portrait pics while playing with it and was very impressed. The problem is that the images show so much detail. I could see every pore on the subjects face.

I am sure make-up plays a part in this as she wasnt wearing a heavy foundation but is there anything I can do as a photographer to lose the detail but still maintain a sharp picture.

I do not want to spend hours in PS touching up images to remove detail.

Try putting a piece of nylon stocking (hose?) over your lens. Use a rubber band to hold the "filter" on. This will soften the pores/blemishes etc but allow you to selectively sharpen the eyes/teeth. Some smear vasaline on the lens but that's WAY too messy for me. There are "softening" filters available but the nylon works good for me and wifie goes thru hose pretty fast. She knows to save the old ones for me. (snicker).

[Shane]

Bullsparade was up here at my house when we took those shots and we tried Noise Ninja, a few different actions and every PS trick we could think of, but his shots with his new lens (Canon 28-135 IS) had much more detail than I was getting shooting with my 50mm f/1.8, so it was hard to make his photos look good on screen.

I agree with the previous poster about those shots looking good in print form, but getting them screen-ready was/is a challenge without a ton of time in PS.

At least I learned some new uses for Vaseline and my wife's hose in this thread . . .

[huxley]

lets see an example of the too sharp pics? that way some photoshop doctor can give a proper diagnosis. :)

[evil4blue]

You can always do a very, very slight Gaussian blur and mask out the areas you want to keep sharp. Play with your blending modes and opacity setting. Eventually you'll find something that works.

[adam7731]

i want the sharpest lens i can have. I want the image to look as if it was cut into the screen. I guess it comes from shooting film all the time. If i wanted blur I put it in. Put i always wanted a sharp image to start with. I just picked up the 50:1.4 and 85:1.2 I did a shoot with them this weekend and I still cant get over how sharp they were wide open or almost wide open.

[cmalana]

I did advertise that it was a sharp copy ;)

If you want it a little softer, turn of the IS and shoot at slower shutter speeds so you get a little motion blur. Of course, sharpness will be in the eye of the beholder so compare the images to an 85/1.2L and you'll probably think that the 28-135 is just fine :).

[jeffkohn]

I agree with the previous poster about those shots looking good in print form, but getting them screen-ready was/is a challenge without a ton of time in PS.

I would think this would be more of a problem at full-resolution though.

If you resize down for the web using Bicubic Smoother, are they really too sharp? Speaking of which, what type of sharpening was used on these shots, either in-camera, or during raw conversion? That could also be part of the problem.

[OversighT]

Originally Posted by suzyjazz

...I'm really not too happy with mine anymore...

Me neither, but then again I've never been really happy with mine and that is probably a result of the craziness I went through to get it. Luckily for me I'll be getting a couple replacement lenses soon so somebody is going to get an amazing deal on my copy when I sell it.


T.