Posted by Dave Cordery on November 15, 2007 at 2:32 AM
I recently posted a picture 'Red Headed Weaver' and all the comments were about sofness. I am not complaining about the comments in fact I welcome them. It is just to know how to see that a picture is soft or not. Do you visualy see it straight away or do you zoom in a little.
I was using the sigma 80-400 at its limits and if you read the reviews on the lens it is mentioned I know longer have the lens and now have a Canon 300mm f2.8 which should improve things.
What is good about this forum is that you get good and honest comments based on experience. This can only serve to assist someone like myself to improve their photography, which is why I joined.
The day that I send up a picture which recieves only positive comments, will be the day that I know that I am at last getting somewhere. Not a bad goal to be aiming for, I will get there.
Posted by Andy Astbury on November 15, 2007 at 3:04 AM
Dave - STRAIGHT AWAY mate, in fact it's not just soft, it's plain Out Of Focus, looking at the image again there's nowhere in the frame where the focus sharp so it's not as if your camera AF'd on the wrong point
Whenever anyone makes a 'soft' comment on this forum they can see the softness straight away without 'magnifying' the image.
Posted by Alan Woolnough on November 15, 2007 at 4:06 AM
Dave, i suspect its a combination of being out of focus and/or camera shake, which is a shame, as its a fine looking bird!!
If shake, its simply long-lens technique that needs working on, and 'possibly' something as basic as snatching at the shutter
Most of us will have suffered the dreaded shakes at some time, and long lens's only exagerate the problem.
I used to suffer enormously from this problem, and it was mainly due to my exitement at the moment of capture. Over the years i have developed more self-control during those moments when the subject is in the viewfinder, and although i still get the occasional 'shaky' shot, it has become far less of a problem.
If it is purely a focus issue, this is more about learning to use your individual camera/lens combo, which also takes time and practice.
Keep at it, it will become second-nature...........honest
Alan
Posted by Mike Smith on November 15, 2007 at 6:19 AM
Having looked at your image for the first time today, I suspect it may partly be down to a lens issue: the bill looks to be in focus and sharp/not suffering from the shakes and seems to be in the plane of focus, (As Phils repost demonstrates) the rest of the image softness could be down to depth of field limitations. - but overall it looks like it has been taken through a "mood effect softening filter"
Quite why the image looks like this needs pinning down - two immediate thoughts:
1 - do you have a front element protective filter on your lens if so what make and type?
2 - if not could there have been element fogging if taken in humid conditions?
Posted by Dave Cordery on November 15, 2007 at 1:19 PM
Mike
As I said I did get rid of the lens but when I took the photo no filter of any kind. I suspect that it could be a couple of issus one being hand held which takes in what Alan said and two the limitations of the lens at 400mm. Either way I will have to wear my glasses when I look at my pictures frm now on.
Dave
Posted by Rob Howard on November 15, 2007 at 8:03 PM
Hi Dave,
For me in nature photography, I class an image sharp or soft by looking at the eye, no magnification. It's a shame because the images you are posting are of very interesting subjects. Are you manually focusing? And I know it sounds dumb, but make sure if your lens is auto focus you have it switched on, the other thing to check is the focusing on the view finder of the 20D, there is a small wheel at the side you can adjust the focus of the viewfinder with.
Discussion
5 repliesI was using the sigma 80-400 at its limits and if you read the reviews on the lens it is mentioned I know longer have the lens and now have a Canon 300mm f2.8 which should improve things.
What is good about this forum is that you get good and honest comments based on experience. This can only serve to assist someone like myself to improve their photography, which is why I joined.
The day that I send up a picture which recieves only positive comments, will be the day that I know that I am at last getting somewhere. Not a bad goal to be aiming for, I will get there.
Whenever anyone makes a 'soft' comment on this forum they can see the softness straight away without 'magnifying' the image.
If shake, its simply long-lens technique that needs working on, and 'possibly' something as basic as snatching at the shutter
Most of us will have suffered the dreaded shakes at some time, and long lens's only exagerate the problem.
I used to suffer enormously from this problem, and it was mainly due to my exitement at the moment of capture. Over the years i have developed more self-control during those moments when the subject is in the viewfinder, and although i still get the occasional 'shaky' shot, it has become far less of a problem.
If it is purely a focus issue, this is more about learning to use your individual camera/lens combo, which also takes time and practice.
Keep at it, it will become second-nature...........honest
Alan
Quite why the image looks like this needs pinning down - two immediate thoughts:
1 - do you have a front element protective filter on your lens if so what make and type?
2 - if not could there have been element fogging if taken in humid conditions?
As I said I did get rid of the lens but when I took the photo no filter of any kind. I suspect that it could be a couple of issus one being hand held which takes in what Alan said and two the limitations of the lens at 400mm. Either way I will have to wear my glasses when I look at my pictures frm now on.
Dave
For me in nature photography, I class an image sharp or soft by looking at the eye, no magnification. It's a shame because the images you are posting are of very interesting subjects. Are you manually focusing? And I know it sounds dumb, but make sure if your lens is auto focus you have it switched on, the other thing to check is the focusing on the view finder of the 20D, there is a small wheel at the side you can adjust the focus of the viewfinder with.
HTH
Regards
Rob