canon macro ef2.8/100mm lens focus problem

tanukifot · Jan 23, 2014

Hello,

I m new to fotografy and need ur help...
just got a canon macro 2.8/100mm

i m doing jewelry and want to shoot a stilllife , the scene is 13cm wide,i shoot from 20cm distance, advice i got was to set a high aperture f32 with a long exposure like 30sec
but when i look through the lens evrything is blurred, i can rotate the lens to focus but still remains blurry...if i go to lcd shoot still remains blurry but when i shoot, the result is almost sharp...as i dont see i cannot adjust...

any idea???

lambertpix · Jan 23, 2014

tanukifot said:
Hello,

I m new to fotografy and need ur help...
just got a canon macro 2.8/100mm

i m doing jewelry and want to shoot a stilllife , the scene is 13cm wide,i shoot from 20cm distance, advice i got was to set a high aperture f32 with a long exposure like 30sec
but when i look through the lens evrything is blurred, i can rotate the lens to focus but still remains blurry...if i go to lcd shoot still remains blurry but when i shoot, the result is almost sharp...as i dont see i cannot adjust...

any idea???

Any lens stopped down that far is very likely not at its sharpest because of lens diffraction, but I assume the idea was to increase the Depth of Field, which can be really challenging for macro shots. It sounds like your problems might be more basic than that, though.

If I were you, I'd back up to something like f/11 and get a test shot there. Make sure you're tripod-mounted, and use a remote shutter release or the camera's self-timer to make sure you're not introducing vibration when you press the shutter. That lens should be tack-sharp at your focus point if your technique is good. Post a result here if you can.

If you find that part of your shot is out-of-focus (even though the focus point is sharp), you can try stopping down to increase the DOF, but start from a good shot and work on improving from there.

Rye · Jan 23, 2014

For starters try backing up a bit. I think you're closer than your minimum focus distance. Also when you're that close the plane of focus is razor thin, even at smaller apertures.

If you're not using a tripod I would highly recommend it. The smallest movement will cause blur. If you're still having problems look into a remote trigger, mirror lockup, and or live view.