50D vs T2i

[mrelsewhere]

Before I respond individually, let me just say. You guys are the best. :thumbup: Thanks so much for your time.

 

[mrelsewhere]

I love the Rebel, but some things are starting to irk this perfectionist who wants everything: 1) cropped sensor 2) limited lens selection 3) loud shutter 4) slow shutter 5) camera body balance/feel. I'm just afraid for my wallet.

1) Cropped sensor is the same for the 50D, 7D, 60D - the 5D series will give you the fullframe sensor; whilst the 1D series has fullframe sensor bodies and 1.3crop sensor bodies.

2) In what way are the lenses limited? A crop sensor camera can take any EFS and EF lens on the market so its range is just as big as the fullframe cameras - plus you've the EFS lenses as well.

4) How do you mean by slow shutter - rebels are pretty snappy with the shutter normally; of course if you're shutter speeds are slow then you'll get less FPS, but the actual engagement of the shutter should still be just as fast.

5) Have you tried a battery grip? Might save your budget on a new body and leave more for lighting and lenses at this stage - whilst giving you a bit more bulk to the body.

I think back button focusing in more precise than live view. Just my opinion, but with live view there seems to more of a chance of losing focus when hitting the shutter button. I agree with Overread that you should have boosted your ISO in low lighting then maybe you could've closed down your lens more. It can be difficult to nail focus at f/1.4. The slightest movement will cause you to lose focus.

Live view with the magnified image option when viewing is far more accurate than backbutton AF control - however it relies upon you having both a static camera (tripod) and a static subject; otherwise at 5* or 10* liveview magnification the accuracy you gain you lose by motions of your body/subjects body. That is typically when AF comes into its own.




As an idea here is how I control my AF setup:
1) Backbutton AF - that is the AF engages only when the * button on the back of the camera is pressed (on midrange bodies you gain a dedicated AF button on the back for this). This means that the shutter has no part in AF control at all.

2) Continuous AF mode - I've not set my camera to single shot AF in ages; Ai-servo is where I live and if I want oneshot AF I just hold down the * button to get the focus; then release my finger from it. I can then press the shutter and the AF won't engage - thus giving me oneshot AF mode.

3) If I'm using a lens with fulltime manual focusing I can even shift instantly into manual focusing mode without having to fiddle finding the AF switch on the lens. Just don't press the * button - AF won't engage and I can adjust the focus manually on the lens itself. Great for when the AF finds it hard to get a lockon to a certain subject in certain conditions; or when I want to use focus and recompose (since re-composing will shift the plane of focus and there is a good chance that the depth of field might fall outside of the subject I want in focus; if I don't adjust the focus after recomposing)

Wow. I didn't know that bit about Live View magnification being more sensitive to shake. Your other suggestions are things I'm already doing when not using Live View...so I think I know my culprit. I guess I'd gotten lucky with Live View on previous shoots.

 

[mrelsewhere]

So I typed this big long answer to all of this... and my entirely too fast moving fingers hit a wrong button and the whole darned computer shut down on me. Go figure.

As I suspected, your focus issues would not be fixed by a different camera or lens. They have to do with the aperture you are using and shutter speed.

If you look at the steps in the image I THINK your focus falls just short.
What focus points are you using? Are you using one or all of them?

At f/1.4 depth of field is so shallow that if you are off in the slightest in ANY way your focus is going to fall short or long. It's HARD to shoot at f/1.4 and you have to be pretty good at focus to begin with before you can nail f/1.4. Besides the aperture there are other things working against you in this image.
The shutter speed at 1/60 is good for hand held if you are incredibly steady AND if your subject is still life. With a live subject the chance of you having the slightest shake or her breathing is too much, you wont' get SHARP very often. In this situation I would never drop below 1/125 for my shutter speed. That is my bottom line for hand held and a live subject. My personal bottom line for hand held still life is 1/80-and a prayer. Your subject is standing still and posing so at 1/125 you should be fine, however if she were moving (such as modeling shoots where the model is moving quickly from one pose to the next) I would shoot at no less than 1/250 to avoid blur from any movement.

Focusing and recomposing at f/1.4 is pretty much not an option. Think about this: when you move your head side to side or up and down your nose's position can be a fraction of an inch behind the where it started before you turned or tilted. That changes your distance from the camera to the subject. With a very minute depth of field you can't afford a change of a fraction of an inch. It changes the focus.

As overread pointed out where you lock your focus point is important. Focus falls 1/3 in front of the focus point and 2/3 behind. In this image your subject is tilted so that she has one eye closer to you. Lock on the inside corner of that eye. The 1/3 before the focus point covers the first eye and the 2/3 behind covers the other. You should be using one focus point and toggling it to where you want the focus to lock. In this case probably your top focus point or the next one down.

Lastly back button focus has been mentioned: YES! It will change your focus completely to get it off your shutter button! You won't be able to focus and recompose using it any more than you can if you were focusing using the shutter button, but it will definitely improve your focus.

As you are trying to master focus at 1.4 these would be my recommendations: First make sure you are paying close attention to your shutter speed and it's not dropping below 1/125 for a live subject. Use a tripod-there is no moving out of the focus that way. Shoot with extra room in the shot. That will back you up further. The depth of field increases as the distance from the subject to the camera increases. Plus it leaves you the extra space you need in an image if you want to print it to 8x10 crop. Use one focus point and lock it on the inside of the eye. And lastly try out using back button focus. It will be awkward at first, but you will get easier! And it will improve your focus issues!

Thanks for your aperture and shutter speed suggestions. I'll definitely try those next time.

In the meantime, I just need to get over feeling like an idiot for not knowing this stuff and for missing shots that might've been got. :meh:

 

[mrelsewhere]

Here's a photo that did turn out. Settings: ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/125.

 

[MLeeK]

Why feel like an idiot? You have to learn it somehow. It doesn't come through osmosis or anything! The mistakes are ones that I still make 20 years into the game. I just happen to know what I did when I screw up now instead of wondering what the heck the problem is! The shot is salvageable if you want to spend a minute on it.

 

[mrelsewhere]

Even closer...

 

[mrelsewhere]

Why feel like an idiot? You have to learn it somehow. It doesn't come through osmosis or anything! The mistakes are ones that I still make 20 years into the game. I just happen to know what I did when I screw up now instead of wondering what the heck the problem is! The shot is salvageable if you want to spend a minute on it.

Thanks, you're kind. I think the black jacket shot may be usable on a website, but I doubt it's printable 8x10.

 

[MLeeK]

I'll bet it is... Do you have the full sized image uploaded somewhere? I'd like to take a shot at it.

 

[tmL]

Just wanted to pop in and say this thread is incredibly helpful for people with focusing issues. I'll definitely be thinking of some of these tips next time I go shooting, thanks!