Basic Focal Point Question

[amc22222]

I am completely new to photography (got a Canon Rebel XS last week), so bear with me if this question seems simple:
I plan on taking product shots, often of items that are patterned (e.g., furniture). I noticed the other day, when shooting an upholstered piece of furniture with a small-scale pattern, that I couldn't get the picture to turn out the way I wanted. Specifically, the image would look great - with the pattern appearing nice and sharp - when I viewed the image in PS at 50% or more, but at 33% or less the pattern started to look undefined or fuzzy. I want the pattern to look sharp at 25%. Is this an issue with where the camera is focusing? I've tried playing around with a few settings, but didn't find anything that really helped. I've reduced the file size and that seemed to help a little, but not much.

Thank you in advance.

 

[cdino88]

I am completely new to photography (got a Canon Rebel XS last week), so bear with me if this question seems simple:
I plan on taking product shots, often of items that are patterned (e.g., furniture). I noticed the other day, when shooting an upholstered piece of furniture with a small-scale pattern, that I couldn't get the picture to turn out the way I wanted. Specifically, the image would look great - with the pattern appearing nice and sharp - when I viewed the image in PS at 50% or more, but at 33% or less the pattern started to look undefined or fuzzy. I want the pattern to look sharp at 25%. Is this an issue with where the camera is focusing? I've tried playing around with a few settings, but didn't find anything that really helped. I've reduced the file size and that seemed to help a little, but not much.

Thank you in advance.

View the photo at 100% then check if it is stuffy blurry. If it is blurry at 100% then it will be blurry at all the other magnification %s. BUT if it is truly clear at 50% then it is the resolution of the smaller scale that is making it blurred.

 

[amc22222]

Thank you, CDINO88.

Yes, the photo is perfectly focused and clear at 100%. It's only at 33.33% that the pattern starts to look crappy.
Can you help me understand what you mean by "it is the resolution of the smaller scale that is making it blurred"? Do you mean that the pattern is just too small to photograph well?

In case it helps, here's a photo I found on a site of piece of furniture with a small-scale pattern. They managed to get the pattern relatively sharp even though it's not a close-up. That is what I'm hoping to achieve.

 

[misstwinklytoes]

What editing program are you using?

 

[amc22222]

I am using Photoshop, but having tried viewing it in PictureManager, too. In both programs the pattern looks perfect at 50 or 100%, but bad at 33 or 25%.

 

[RSPhotography]

Photoshop can do strange things when zooming, and can make things blurry as you say. Presumably it's something to do with the calculations it has to make and how the resolution of the picture relates to the resolution of the monitor... not sure.

anyway, that could be the problem.

 

[amc22222]

Photoshop can do strange things when zooming, and can make things blurry as you say. Presumably it's something to do with the calculations it has to make and how the resolution of the picture relates to the resolution of the monitor... not sure.

anyway, that could be the problem.

Thank you. I wasn't aware of that. Is there a different program I should be using?

 

[Sonoma]

Just a WAG, but it might be what "RSPhotography" is talking about.

Check out this thread..............

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...o-what-my-problem-today-another-question.html

 

[amc22222]

Thank you, Sonoma.

I took a look at that thread, but I'm not sure it applies in my case because I haven't done any sharpening to the image. However, I tried going ahead and "saving it for Web" and resizing it as I saved, and that seemed to help.

 

[enzodm]

Consider that simply zooming at X% does not make the same kind of smart processing you might have when reducing resolution (due to time needed for that). When resizing, different interpolation algorithms may be used that makes images appear better, including antialiasing. When zooming, the need for realtime operation may constrain in using less precise algorithms (e.g., just picking one among adjacent pixels: easy for precise percentages like 50%, less easy with odd values).
If you need smaller images, resize them and you will see them better than simply zooming out.

 

[amc22222]

Thanks! I have had some luck with resizing them - that does seem to help some.