Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 - Assessment

[250Gimp]

I'm no expert but I have to agree with some of the comments above that the pics are too different to compare properly.

Try taking some shots again, but under the same lighting, same subject with different aperatures.

Your soft shot could be a case of you locking the focus on the eyes, but then your body swaying slightly causing the focus to now be sharpest on the collar. As you said, the DOF is very thin at f 1.4 or f2.0, so slight movement back or forward can cause you to loose the focus point if you locked the focus and then moved. That is part of the reason that locking focus and then recomposing is nearly impossible to do when close to the subject and with big aperatures.

Hope this makes sense.

Cheers

 

[MarcusM]

I'm no expert but I have to agree with some of the comments above that the pics are too different to compare properly.

Try taking some shots again, but under the same lighting, same subject with different aperatures.

Your soft shot could be a case of you locking the focus on the eyes, but then your body swaying slightly causing the focus to now be sharpest on the collar. As you said, the DOF is very thin at f 1.4 or f2.0, so slight movement back or forward can cause you to loose the focus point if you locked the focus and then moved. That is part of the reason that locking focus and then recomposing is nearly impossible to do when close to the subject and with big aperatures.

Hope this makes sense.

Cheers

Thanks for the tips. Unfortunately these shots weren't test shots, so they were taken in different lighting. I am going to try to take some test shots tomorrow changing apertures in the same lighting.

 

[MarcusM]

After thinking about it, I know that I do focus and recompose at times. I think that may contribute to some softness at times but I can't remember if I did that for these shots. I think I switched AF points, because I'm trying to break myself of the focus/recompose habit. It's something we were taught in my photography class way back and I've done ever since.

The problem with my 300D is that I only have a measly 7 points for AF so there are many times when I don't have an AF point that matches what I want to focus on, and the AF points are extremely cumbersome to access, thus often times resulting in losing the moment.

 

[usayit]

It's something we were taught in my photography class way back and I've done ever since.

What is the reason did the professor give? IMO, focus and recompose is actually a good habit... Your focus and composition is more purpose driven with control. My 1 series has a whopping 45 AF points and I still find myself defaulting to the single center one on many occasions (I have that function assigned to a button). I'm not saying bad about the 45 points AF (its actually freakin nice)... for sports or action its accuracy can be uncanny. For my older cameras and my rangefinders... it is a must and does require some practice (a good thing).

The problem with my 300D is that I only have a measly 7 points for AF

.

Wow ... oh how time and technology flies quickly (a good thing). I went from a Spotmatic (no points) to a Minolta 7000 (1 point) to a Elan IIe (3 point AF). I thought I was flyin high with that Elan and its 3 points... now we are talking a "measly" 7 points.

honestly.. I don't think there is anything wrong with the lens (my guess). Shooting at a shallow DOF is just going to take practice. For peace of mind, go ahead and setup a tripod, some light, and the focus chart. Then enjoy.

 

[250Gimp]

MarcusM

AS usayit says, focus and recompose is not a bad thing, and can actually be quite good.

The times when it is not as good is when you are working with a very thin DOF, such as you are.

Cheers

 

[Big Mike]

? I said I was focusing nowhere near the collar (relatively near anyway) - I was focusing on the eye, which is where I always focus for people. The collar is sharper than her eyes, which makes me wonder if it's the lens or the body.

Remember that focus is a plane of distance away from the camera. So while you tried to focus on the eyes, the collar is in sharper focus because it's closer to the camera than the eyes...and it seems that you were actually focused slightly in front of the eyes. That could be an issue with the lens, camera or both...or it could be user error (like I said, it can be tricky to shoot with such a thin DOF...you have to be very careful).

Lens and camera focus is adjusted with a certain tolerance spec. For example, it might be plus or minus 5 (just a random number for example). So your lens could be off by -5...it's not perfect but it's still within spec from the factory. Now the camera could also be -5, which is within spec...but now you are off by -10 combined and you have a real problem.

You can send your lens, body or both to a Canon service centre for adjustment....if you really think that it's out by too much.

 

[Early]

You don’t always want to be tact sharp in portraits, especially with women 30 and up. Pros often put softening filters on lenses for them.

I would call the 1.4 pic of the little girl at least adequate standing alone. Another thing, it looks like the girls collar is sharper. Are you sure you focused on the eyes?