Help getting clear photos.

[Ysarex]

focal length = 18mm
f3.5
iso=100
shutter speed 1/350

The grass in the foreground is much sharper than the children. Check your camera's auto-focus settings. If you have multiple focus points active the camera will typically lock on the point closest to you.

Joe

yes I think 7 of the 9 focus points were selected

Then the camera focused on the grass in the foreground. With multiple focus points active the camera will usually lock on the closest point. Turn off the extra focus points and make sure the active focus point is on the kids.

Joe

 

[zombiesniper]

Okay in the next 2 images we can see some of the issues.
First in the meta data we can see you have multiple focus points on with a cluttered scene.

This is letting the camera decide what is important to shoot. If we look at the line that says AF Points in Focus we can see 7 AF points in focus. Now lets look at where these are in frame.

The AF Points with the red dots are the ones in focus.
Now the camera can't possibly have each of those points in focus at F3.5. Just not possible so it is likely averaging the focus of these 7 points.

In this situation I would choose One AF point, usually centre but not always. Put that AF point on the eye of one of the subjects and you should get a perfectly clear image.

Hope this helps.

 

[ac12]

I think Auto = closest subject.

 

[zombiesniper]

Not necessarily.
As you can see in the post I made there are 7 AF point that are indicating in focus. Where the camera actually focused is really a guess without 100% pixel peeping.

 

[rosh4u]

As I saw picture, the focus is not there because it is not set properly. The second thing which affected is you chosen zoom lens but I would recommend that for wide angel shot, we have to use a primary lens.

 

[480sparky]

Not necessarily.
As you can see in the post I made there are 6 AF point that are indicating in focus. Where the camera actually focused is really a guess without 100% pixel peeping.

Appeared to me to be focused on the grass in front of the kids.

 

[zombiesniper]

we have to use a primary lens.

First I've heard of this.
Care to explain why?

Appeared to me to be focused on the grass in front of the kids.

I agree it is somewhere there but the previous statement that auto always equals the closest subject is to simplistic an answer.

 

[ac12]

I don't know about the 60D, but the T3 manual says "in basic zone modes, the camera will normally focus the closest subject automatically."

That is the same as on the Nikon D70 and D7200, auto = closest subject. Which is why I never use the Auto setting, I want to control where the camera focuses.

 

[Derrel]

18mm wide-open at f/3.5 on the 18-135mm zoom....Ughhh....wide-angle zooms are often only marginal wide-open at their shortest focal length. The short lengths of wide-ratio zooms are often rather dismal, optically. And even at 25 feet at 18mm, there is NOT "all that much" depth of field, so if the focused upon area is not the desired subject,well, the picture might be undesirably soft on the ostensible main subject.

Had this been shot at f/6.3, it's highly likely you would have made a sharper, crisper picture. One of the problems with short focal lengths is the rather wide physical space that the AF squares can subtend...sometimes, the focus squares cover a pretty sizable area!

 

[Braineack]

regardless, still looks like an issue with the lens and/or AF module


if you have a clear UV filter on the end of the lens, please remove it and proceed to throw it away.

 

[AndyH]

regardless, still looks like an issue with the lens and/or AF module


if you have a clear UV filter on the end of the lens, please remove it and proceed to throw it away.

No, I don't have any filter on the lens. I also have a 70-300mm lens and when I use it, the pictures still aren't that clear.

 

[Dave442]

I only see two issues. One is the focus point - in this case you know the kids are the main subject so just use a single focus point and focus on them. Second is the exposure settings - you wanted most of the scene in acceptable focus so you know you want a small aperture.

The camera gave you an exposure of f/3.5 at 1/350 and you were using ISO 100. One way is to first drop the aperture to around f/5.6 or f/6.3 and see if your comfortable with a shutter speed of 1/125 or 1/100 (at 18mm you should have no problem at 1/60 with a still subject and basic camera holding technique). If the subject is not completely still or you tend to shake the camera then boost the ISO a stop or two and increase the shutter speed a stop and also the aperture if you went two stops on ISO. As you have a zoom lens you will want to watch the shutter speed if you zoom out the long end so if you just use ISO 200 and then the shutter speed at 1/200 your covered for camera shake and slight subject movement and the f/6.3 will give a decent DOF at 18mm and normal subject distance for people shots. Another way is to just see that it is a cloudy day and go straight to ISO 200 or 250 when you pulled out your camera and then do the shutter speed and aperture adjustments for the scene.

 

[Designer]

What focus settings were you on?

one shot auto focus

The one shot setting doesn't affect focus, but "auto" focus does. Set your focus mode to be one area only, and this one can be selected from any of the 9 options.

In the example photo, the center area is almost on the girl's face, which is probably where you would want the focus due to the position of the children relative to the entire scene.

However; before you try a similar shot in the future, test the focus of your AF system and the lens. Some lenses have an issue, and likewise the AF system in the camera. Verify that you can achieve good focus, and if not, something needs to be adjusted.

 

[Cortian]

Perhaps a case of the blind leading the blind, as I'm new, very new, to DSLR photography, myself, but, were I trying to do what you were I would've stopped the aperture down a couple stops (for depth of field) and bumped the ISO to get around 1/125 (for camera shake).

My Canon doesn't have a multiple-AF-point focus mode like you have (had?) yours set. One-or-more of my past cameras had something like it. I experimented with them. IIRC, they never did what I wanted/expected, so I never used it. I've always used single-point focus or manual.

Can't speak to the lens. That's an area in which I have no expertise, even newbie "expertise," at all.

 

[zombiesniper]

What Canon model do you have?