Frustrating Night

[dandaluzphotography]

Guys,

I've had such a frustrating night. I've spent the better part of 4 hours taking test shots between my 50 1.8, 70-200 f4 and my 17-40.

The 17 and 50 both took pictures that were soft throughout but more so on the right side of my face. The 70-200 took an amazingly sharp image with the same settings (except focal length). I even noticed that my profile pic is soft when I view it at 100%.

Now, I've always known that the 70-200 lens is an awesome lens, but I thought the 17 and 50 lenses were pretty good too. What am I doing wrong? Could it be something in the custom functions? More than likely it's me but I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong.

I've read that sometimes individual lenses and individual bodies don't produce sharp images. Could this be what I'm running into?

Danny

 

[molested_cow]

Was the camera on a tripod with remote trigger?

Different lens will produce different image quality even at the same aperture setting.

Post some examples so people can make suggestions.

 

[dandaluzphotography]

Yup. Tripod mounted with remote shutter release. No shake. Settings were all 1/200, f/8, ISO 100. I adjusted my single monolight for those settings to get an acceptable exposure. the issue was the softness. I was so pissed, I deleted the shots. I plan to step away from all this for at least a day. My eye sight's getting blurry and my patience is wearing thin.

I'm gonna do this test again probably on Thursday. I'll definitely post those.

 

[dandaluzphotography]

Different lens will produce different image quality even at the same aperture setting.

I missed this part of your response. Sorry about that.

I do remember reading about this back when I got started. I also remember reading that the same lens can be sharper at one aperture on one body and at a different aperture on a different body.

Ok. Feeling better now. I just need to find the sweet spot for those two lenses. Really for all three.

Thx
Danny

Sent from my iPad using PhotoForum

 

[MWG]

What kind of camera are you shooting with again?

 

[Derrel]

I would not use yourself as a subject. Instead, use a non-human, flat target, like a brick wall, or wooden fence, or some newspaper sheets taped to a wall. The camera must be set up carefully. And focused carefully.

 

[Garbz]

Most 50mm f/1.8s are actually quite horrible sharpness wise wide open.

 

[2WheelPhoto]

lens focus calibration?

 

[Village Idiot]

Sounds like crap lenses. Might as well throw them away.

 

[dandaluzphotography]

What kind of camera are you shooting with again?

XSI

 

[dandaluzphotography]

I would not use yourself as a subject. Instead, use a non-human, flat target, like a brick wall, or wooden fence, or some newspaper sheets taped to a wall. The camera must be set up carefully. And focused carefully.

I did that towards the end of the session. I grabbed a board game box with lots of details on it and taped it to a stand.

 

[dandaluzphotography]

Most 50mm f/1.8s are actually quite horrible sharpness wise wide open.

All the shots were taken at 1/200th, f/8, ISO 100. A read a while ago that most lenses' sweet spot is between 2 and 3 full stops up from wide open. For my 50 that would put me at between 3.2 and 4.5. For the 17-40 that would be between 8 and 11. While the 70-200 was sharp at 8, the 17-40 might be better at 11 or somewhere else between 8 and 11.

I have a lot of work to do tonight...

 

[dandaluzphotography]

lens focus calibration?

Hope not.

 

[Village Idiot]

There's an easy way to check this.

 

[GeneralBenson]

You shouldn't have to shoot at f/8-11 to get sharp pictures. While that is the sweet spot for most lenses, almost all of my lenses are still quite sharp wide open. Have you checked for front focus or back focus? Shoot something that has depth at a 45° angle, like a newspaper or a ruler> focus on a specific spot with AF, and then see in the picture if something in front of in back of that is in focus.