Why Is This Photo Out Of Focus?

[Imagebuffet]

Canon 20D, 44 mm, ISO 200, 1/125 sec, f 11, focus lock on the model's sunglasses on photo left.

[AndrewCCM]

Looks like motion blur to me. 1/125 isn't always enough to freeze motion.

44mm on a 20D is also equiv Focal Length of 70.4mm... While 1/125 should be enough for handheld. Anything moving, can show blur.

[kenw]

that's an awfully small area to focus on, it very well may have missed it, especially since it is a dark area as well.

1/125 is kinda slow for moving people imho.

[Imagebuffet]

How fast should be fast enough? 1/250?

[ovimo]

Originally Posted by Imagebuffet

How fast should be fast enough? 1/250?

That is a very difficult question to answer. While I would never shoot BIF (aiming for a sharp result) above 1/500-1/700, I generally try humans in day to day activities (including walking) around 1/200-1/250s, but you will have to adjust. Taking pictures of my daughter taught me that sometimes 1/250 is not enough and choosing the right moment is much more important.

[ngoduyviet]

Don't think they were out of focus, the in focused area just isn't where you want it If you do focus & recompose and your subjects move about, best use AI focus, or you'll risk they walk right out of your focus zone. 1/125 is plenty for normal walking, unless they were doing marathon.

[kenw]

Originally Posted by ngoduyviet

1/125 is plenty for normal walking, unless they were doing marathon.

1/125 might be fine if every part of the person moved at the same walking speed, but it doesn't. Hair flies in the wind, heads nod, arms swing, all much faster than the rest of the body.

[luis_relampago]

You can see obvious motion blur on one of the subject pants and boots. In a sunny day like that you can easily shoot @ 1/250 shutter speed and still have sufficient aperture to work with.

[venchka]

Stopping motion also depends on the subject's motion relative to the camera. If the subject is moving 90 degrees to the camera then the change in position is greater. If the subject is moving toward/away from the camera, the change is reduced. Panning with the subject helps too. The subject will remain sharp but the background may be blurred. Little sensors don't like f/11 either. You won't see the harm in a JPEG but you will see it in large prints. 5.6 or 8.0 are better. So, ISO 400, 1:8.0, 1/500 and Bob's your uncle.

[Imagebuffet]

Originally Posted by ngoduyviet

Don't think they were out of focus, the in focused area just isn't where you want it If you do focus & recompose and your subjects move about, best use AI focus, or you'll risk they walk right out of your focus zone. 1/125 is plenty for normal walking, unless they were doing marathon.

Wouldn't f 11 mean that pretty much everything is in the same focal space?

Imagebuffet added 2 Minutes and 0 Seconds later...Double Post Merged Below

Originally Posted by venchka

Little sensors don't like f/11 either.

Don't studio photographers generally use f 11? They aren't all using full-frame sensors.

[venchka]

While f/11 may work, it's not the optimum aperture for any lens built for 35mm cameras. I have no idea what equipment studio photographers are using. I haven't been in a studio in a 100 years. However, you can bet your memory cards they know exactly where they are focused and exactly what will and won't be in focus.

Yes, f/11 provides a lot of depth of field. You still have to place that DOF correctly. Have you looked at a DOF table? Very little of the DOF is in front of the plane where you focus. Most of the DOF is behind where you focus.

Good luck.

[doctahjones]

don't forget your trusty friend:

http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

i used 44mm @f11, and your dof is only 2.6ft....guessimating that you were 6 ft from them....not alot of dof for two people walking next to each other....

[ngoduyviet]

Aside from the technical aspect and I don't have 100% crop to judge from. I still can see clearly parts of their clothes in focus, so that meant it was focused properly, just not where you wanted it.

[EyeBurn]

btw: the exif shows the image was captured at f/10

just fyi,

Benjamin

[MicWayWal]

Originally Posted by Imagebuffet

Wouldn't f 11 mean that pretty much everything is in the same focal space?...

Don't studio photographers generally use f 11? They aren't all using full-frame sensors.

Richard - Class is open - Depth of Field
No matter if you are using f/2 or f/45, technically, there is only one narrow plane of focus no matter which f/stop is chosen. But the smaller opening f/stops creates a smaller circle of confusion on the focus plane which gives an appearance of sharpness, this is DOF. Not always totally sharp, especially of moving subjects as others have said. Check your tables.

In this case and when total sharpness is needed I would have gone to f/22 and adjusted ISO and shutter speed to compensate, then focused on the second closest part of the closest girl.

I almost never shoot at f/11 in the studio. During film days I usually used f/8 on group pictures and for individual portraits I used f/5.6. Today's digital images are sharpened by software. If you use too small an aperture when you shoot will get images that are too sharp for portrait work. Today I use f/5.6 or f/8 for group pictures, for individuals portraits I use f/4.