Any experiences with a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro on a 400D ?

[wise]

Today I bought some flowers to make a few macro shots of them. And once again I was disappointed by my EF 100mm Macro lens. When I come really close to the object it gets overly soft. I really miss the sharpness in this lense at short distances. Of course the Dof is rather shallow when you are near life-size magnification, but there is not even the tiniest dot you could call sharp. I am not sure if it is really a problem of the lense or rather that of the lense combined with my 400D. I just saw some sample pictures of that lense mounted on a 10D, which were all tack sharp. Anyone here who has experiences with this combo: Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro on a 400D? Or any idea why I just don`t get sharp pics with this lense?

 

[McQueen278]

What settings are you attempting to use? If you aren't using a tripod, you should be. That lens is considered by some to be the absolute sharpest lens in the EF lineup right now and there is nothing wrong with using it with a 400D.


My suggestion is stop down to at least f/4 and use a tripod with 2 second self timer and mirror lock up. (I have no clue if the 400D has mirror lockup) You could also build yourself a macro ring flash.

DIY Ring Flash Herehttp://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/01/homemade_ring_flash.html

 

[Big Mike]

Also, are you getting too close...as in, closer than the lens is able to focus?

 

[keith204]

Keep in mind, that when you're taking macro shots, f/2.8 will have a TOO shallow DOF for most cases. When doing anything macro, I am hardly ever shooting larger than f/11. Be sure to use it in a well lit area, tighten that aperture, and use a tripod.

 

[wise]

@Mc Queen: Yes, I think I will retry with a tripod. But I still think that even at the widest aperture at least something must be sharp. I used apertures from f/2.8 to f/4 as the lighting wasn`t sufficient for more stopping down.
I was just thinking of buying me a ringflash for christmas, but when I don`t get sharp pictures with my lense there`s no use to it. Or will a higher aperture really help? At least I couldn`t see any difference between the shots made with f/2.8 and f/4, they were all unsharp. Well, I`ll see when I use the tripod.

@Big Mike: No, I didn`t get too close. I wasn`t even at 1:1.

@keith: Yes, I will try higher apertures with my tripod.

 

[Big Mike]

Is is possible that when shooting at F2.8 - F4, that your DOF is just too thin to make out where it's sharp? When you are getting really close, your DOF may only be a few mm or less.

Do you have any examples to show us?

 

[Overread]

Depth of field at those ranges is very small - also what is your shutter speed - at macro work its very easy to get motion blur from very tiny movements.
Some examples would help

 

[wise]

Here is one example:

 

[wise]

This one was shot at: 1/80s f/2.8.

 

[Big Mike]

Looks like there is a tiny sliver of DOF, near the end of the petals.

1/80 isn't as fast as you would want with a 100mm lens...and macro shots probably accentuate camera shake blur.

 

[Overread]

focus looks like its right on the edge of the petals - it looks a little soft on this example, but that could just be resizing for the net ( I take it you did not sharpen again after resizing).

If your looking for more flower to be in focus then your going to have to stop down more - if lighting is not enough for a fast enough shutter speed then tripod mount the camera (you said flowers were bought so I assume you can get them inside and secure - away from any wind) and try with a longer exposure.

Try jumping to f13 you will notice more depth. If the depth is not enough for you you can try going larger though diffraction starts to take hold (somewhere after f16ish) and then you can end up losing sharpness in shots.
If the aperture won't get you the depth then you can try moving back to a lesser magnification since that will give you a deeper depth of field - then you can crop creativly afterwards.

 

[wise]

Here is another one:

Shot at 1/15s f/3.5.

I know that by rule I should at least shoot at 1/100s, but I had support for my elbows, and I am relatively sure that the blur is no motion blur.

 

[keith204]

that's camera shake.

 

[wise]

Yes, I`ve overdone a little with that one. But, also without camera shake most of it would be blurred.

 

[Overread]

not blured - it would be out of focus - looks like in the second you just caught (might have missed) the every edge of the back petals. Its not easy but it is doable - don't lose hope
Also are you shooting with AF on or off?