Canon EOS 400D Soft Images

[Big Mike]

What were your other USM settings? 80% at .1 pixels...isn't going to do much sharpening.

 

[Digital Matt]

Hi Matt
I used the kit lens
an EF 20 usm
an EF 75 - 300
and a sigma 105 f2.8

Not the sharpest lenses on the market, for sure.

 

[Groupcaptainbonzo]

The ef 20mm is rather good . and the sigma is mid range but I get your point.

 

[bitteraspects]

i have a XTi and i have no problem with softness. the images come out just as sharp as with any of my 20D's

 

[Groupcaptainbonzo]

I supose that is what I really expected was the nub of the discussion. That the image from the 400D (Rebel XTi) was to be as sharp as any other camera, otherwise, what would be the point of marketing the thing in the first place. I now know that I need to go back to my camera shop and have a word. Maybe do a few comparisons and get a print or two made in the shop, to find out firstly if the camera is actually performing to spec or not. And if so, what is not performing.
I just want to say thank you to everyone who has contributed towards helping me on this one. the response is frankly overwhelming. and has been very helpful. thanks again guys. It's just a pity that the people who run different countries aren't as evolved as the people who live in them.

 

[bitteraspects]

i highly suspect your glass. you should try a good lense and see the difference

 

[table1349]

Being a Canon shooter (30D) I will toss my 2 cents in here. Canon SLR's out of the box will not shoot as sharp as a Point and Shoot. The point and shoot has a certain standard of processing set at the factory that happens in camera when you take a picture. If you read the manual you will see that you can adjust the camera settings to achieve what you desire.

Do not use basic zone modes. Switch to one of the creative modes (AV, TV, P or Manual) and shoot raw. The manual will tell you about picture styles. There are several preset styles that you can adjust and two user defined styles that are there for you to create your own. You can change the sharpness, contrast, color saturation and color tone as well as set monochrome filter effect and monochrome color toning for all of the styles. Learn the different styles, how they work and then decide how you want them to be set. I have tweaked all of them to my tastes. I quickes my post processing.

Yes you can also be getting soft pictures from the lens. Go to the local photo shop if you have one and try out some top line glass. My local store has an area set up to let you try lenses with your camera and view the results on a computer right there. If they are a authorized Canon rep then they will be able to help you as well.

 

[Groupcaptainbonzo]

Ah , This sounds more like it. Firstly let me say that I am well up with the idea that if you pay £300 for a lens it will probably not be as good as one you pay £6000 for. If it was then they wouldn't sell many £6000 lenses as everyone would be buying the £300 ones and spending the rest on holidays to exotic locations.. But I am also aware that there is a difference between a camera that costs £250. And a camera that costs £500 with a lens that costs £300. Somehow (and correct me if I'm wrong) I feel there should be a difference..... It may not be as good as L series glass, but it should be good...
Now Gryph comes up with a whole new ball game which appears to fit the bill. Some how I must have missed a very obvious chunk of hand book, and it appears that Gryph knows about this....and has obviously read my original question, ref getting sharp images out of the camera...Many thanks Gryph I am off to test your theory...
Wish me luck....

 

[bitteraspects]

thats just it, its not your camera. sharpness comes from the lense, not the body. unless of course you use the body to focus somehow.

 

[Groupcaptainbonzo]

I've had a small tweak and there is no doubt that it is a great improvement... I still need a little photoshop to bring it in. But now I am talking in terms of 60% 1.0 pixels 0 Threshold....
I'll be the first to acknowledge that a nice L series lens fit would improveit even further . but for now ....
Cheers Gryph. I owe you one ... or maybe even two...

 

[table1349]

Glad it helped. I've been in photography for, well lets just say it is 30+++ years and leave it at that. Only been digital about 6 months. The two biggest things I struggled with in the switch was the crop sensor conversion when buying lenses and the fact that it is not all glass when it comes to digital. Good glass is important, however unlike film, the sensor and the paramaters that are set in the camera can be just as important. P&S is designed to shoot and see with limited creative options. DSLR with interchangeable lenses on the otherhand have the advantage of being manipulated to create what you want that is outside of the creative ranges of the standard P&S. I quickly learned to set one of the user defined styles to mimic P&S for those quick snapshot times when I need to just grab the camera and snap a quick pic in fully automatic mode. Most of the time my camera is in manual mode. Have fun tweaking. If you go to far remember that you can always go back to factory settings and start over. Have fun.

 

[Iron Flatline]

I haven't read all of the responses, so forgive me if this is redundant:

Drill down in the camera's menus and see what some of the presets are. You will be able to set the camera to be substantially sharper, or change the saturation or the contrast, the color cast, etc etc etc. I have been told that a lot of the entry-level DSLRs ship with their sharpness dialed down because it makes for nicer portraits - harsh sharpness does NOT make you mother-in-law look good. Set it to neutral, or sharpen it if you're shooting architecture or landscape.

 

[Groupcaptainbonzo]

Well there is no doubt that everyone has been very helpful, and for that I thank you all again. The preocupation with glass stopped a few ideas from surfacing until later, But we got there in the end.
I know that to get the best from the camera I need to invest in a full 3 or 4 lens fit from the "L" series But at the moment this is not affordable (If it were I would be asking for help with my new EOS 1 DS MK II which goes with them.....)
But as I said in the first note. I have been using top end compacts in the digital side of things until now, And thought that even though I could only afford mid spec lenses, I should see an improvement...
Well thanks to all of your help, and the more esoteric parts of the menu, I am finding that I am slowly getting there. I know that 10 Meg sensors don't focus. But they Do record more detail. and if the focus is sharp. then that detail can be included in the resulting print. The lenses that I Have may only be 3 or 4 hundred pounds , But they would theoreticaly be better than a compact lens.... I therefore though that there was something that I should be investigating..
I'm not totally there yet.. I feel as though there is still some way to go... But I am progressing slowly, and there is no doubt that the images are getting sharper with each little trick that someone suggests.
There is now a real possibility that my old film cameras may be reaching the end of their useful lives (The 35mm ones any way). and that if the promise that there is in 10Meg digital is fulfilled I may be starting off again.
Thanks Guys you have been a great help.

Tim .

 

[Jeff Canes]

Likely the auto focus & shooting modes you are using and some DOF issues

 

[Groupcaptainbonzo]

These 3 are the latest, and I think show an improvement. Still working at it.

Although at this size (800 X 600) they show what appears to be too much USM, (although it could just be an artifact produced by resizing from A3 to 800 X 600), when printed at A3 300 dpi it is unoticeable.
The anti dust software is not in use as yet. (One thing at a time eh?).

I took this at an angle to define where I was getting my depth of field at f22.