Getting sharper focus on the face?

[fmw]

Peg I think it just a matter of maximum zoom extension and wide open aperture. The shot would likely have been at ISO200 and f8. All you would need is a tripod.

 

[jcdeboever]

Many thanks to all for your thoughts on this. Really appreciate you guys taking the time to add details and suggestions for improvement. I’m thinking it’s a combination of that one setting being off and too high ISO and maybe poor technique on my part. Always something new to work on or relearn.

Since Princess is grounded today she’ll be around for me to try again. It’s raining so will need to improvise some lighting. I don’t even have off camera flash for the Fuji yet but I may try some kind of window and ambient light combination.

That little flash works great.

 

[Gary A.]

Now this time I had the face detection on and single point and kept ISO to 320.

Go B&W and kick up the contrast a ton ... just to see what happens ...

 

[Braineack]

high ISO doesn't cause a soft photo like that. Sorry, but no.

whatever posterized the image killed off any and all detail.

 

[SquarePeg]

high ISO doesn't cause a soft photo like that. Sorry, but no.

At this point, I think it was primarily having the AF "All" setting but the high ISO and my lack of technique just amplified the missed focus on the first photo. The second photo shot at a similar time of day, through the rain covered window, picked up the face very sharply in comparison. I updated the AF to single point and turned the face and eye detection on. Much better results, IMO, although my plan to have the photo be him looking through the window while the rain ran down was thwarted by the rain just sitting there like specs! I used the window because my nephew would be uncomfortable with the camera pointed right at him. He has Asperger's and eye contact and getting his photo taken can be issues for him. Going to try again today with a more direct approach and a different model.

 

[Braineack]

looking at your flickr, that Fuji handles itself nicely at 5000 iso. that 60mm macro looks really sharp in most your portraits, but wasn't seeing much from your 18-55.

 

[SquarePeg]

Yeah I'm not that crazy about the wider focal lengths and really only use the 18-55 for landscape stuff. I'm trying to use the 18-55 more often, I just don't find it all that exciting... The XT2 handles high ISO remarkably well, IMO. For either of these photos I would have switched over to the 60 but it hunts in low light - it's super sharp but not super fast. Still, I think the results would have been better than with the 18-55.

I don't take a ton of people photos except for family events. I need to start practicing though. While I have no interest in doing this for money, I think portraiture as art is a very interesting area and it would be nice to be able to take senior portraits for my daughter and her friends in 3 years.

 

[jcdeboever]

Yeah I'm not that crazy about the wider focal lengths and really only use the 18-55 for landscape stuff. I'm trying to use the 18-55 more often, I just don't find it all that exciting... The XT2 handles high ISO remarkably well, IMO. For either of these photos I would have switched over to the 60 but it hunts in low light - it's super sharp but not super fast. Still, I think the results would have been better than with the 18-55.

I don't take a ton of people photos except for family events. I need to start practicing though. While I have no interest in doing this for money, I think portraiture as art is a very interesting area and it would be nice to be able to take senior portraits for my daughter and her friends in 3 years.

I use the 60 in manual focus with peaking highlights about 99.9% of the time to overcome the low light slow focus issue. Works incredibly well. I do turn off the focus preview though, don't care for it. The 18-55 is a very nice lens but your right, it is kind of boring for some reason. It always impresses me though. I use it in low light a lot because the OIS enables me to shoot at really slow shutter speeds. You still have to pay attention to your stability stance though. I think the micro contrast on the 60 is better, that may be what your seeing.

 

[SquarePeg]

@jcdeboever

Is there a way to quickly toggle from zoomed in to standard view when using focus peaking?

 

[jcdeboever]

@jcdeboever

Is there a way to quickly toggle from zoomed in to standard view when using focus peaking?

I don't think so. I seem to recall it just pops up, hence why I don't care for it. It messes with my composition mojo.

 

[SquarePeg]

@jcdeboever

Is there a way to quickly toggle from zoomed in to standard view when using focus peaking?

I don't think so. I seem to recall it just pops up, hence why I don't care for it. It messes with my composition mojo.

Yes, exactly, especially when in close. I’ll just turn it off then and leave peaking on.

 

[jcdeboever]

@jcdeboever

Is there a way to quickly toggle from zoomed in to standard view when using focus peaking?

I don't think so. I seem to recall it just pops up, hence why I don't care for it. It messes with my composition mojo.

Yes, exactly, especially when in close. I’ll just turn it off then and leave peaking on.

It's a little more useful on the xpro2, it ahas a toggle switch on the front to put the view finder in hybrid mode which actually is ok when doing portraits. The only thing with the xp2 is I am left eye dominant and the vf is on the left. If the XT2 acted like that, I may use it more. I guess ... If I was right eye dominant, I'd probably use the xp2 more than the XT2. The xp2 is so stunning looking.

 

[photoflyer]

Does this camera have the ability to do autofocus microfocus adjustment. I have an 85mm f 1.8 that was doing what you show above... it was focusing short. I described this on the forum and someone explained AF microfucus adjustment. What a difference that makes, especially with a fast lens.

 

[ac12]

I don't know about your camera, but on my Nikon's, auto focus is driven by the exposure mode the camera is in.

• In "Auto" the AF is set to "closest subject." So the camera will focus on anything that is close, thinking THAT is the subject. I stopped using auto after one try. I had chairs, tables, dinner plates, etc, etc, in focus, but my subjects further back on the other side of the table was OUT of focus.
• I now use P, so that I can select where I want the camera to focus on.

In Canon's area focusing, the manual says similar, "closest subject."

On my old D70, I locked the camera to center point AF. This was because it was difficult to see the AF point that the camera would select. It did not light up bright enough to be easily seen, and I regularly missed which AF point the camera selected.
I am also forgetful, so if I moved the AF point away from the center, I was/am likely to forget and leave it there, messing up my next shot. I have an excuse for this, old age

Derrel has an interesting point. I noticed on some of my shots, which I "thought" were out of focus, it really was in focus. When I zoomed in on the face, I could clearly see the eye lashes, and they were IN focus.
In my case, I think the issues is, that the clothes are bright and have more visual attraction than the small eyes and eye lashes, so by attracting the eye to the clothes, it visually looks like the clothes is in the focus point.
Note to self: Tell subjects to NOT wear BRIGHT clothes to a portrait type shoot.

 

[ac12]

Also when shooting close with shallow DoF, with a subject with deep set eyes, you need to make sure that the AF is on the EYE, and not the eye brow.

This is similar to the discussion of focusing on the CLOSEST eye, when the head is turned slightly away from the camera.
With a shallow DoF, only ONE of the eyes will be in focus.
Example, in this case I would focus on the right (her left) eye. It is also the eye that is most visible.