Help with EF85mm 1.8 Lens

flyfish1 · Jan 26, 2009

Hello to all. I need some help with my new canon EF85mm 1.8 Lens. The 2nd pic is of my friend and his dad. My friend looks to be in focus but his dad looks soft. The pic was taken at 1.8, ISO 1000, shutter speed 1/200, and at 85mm. Now I was only about 8 feet away. Why didn't both he and his dad focus correctly? Now the other problem I have is the black under my son's eyes in the first pic. This is a new lens and I'm sure I'm doing something wrong. Please help.

goodoneian · Jan 26, 2009

i'm not really sure about the picture of your son, but with the picture of your friend and his father i believe it is a depth of field problem. since 8 feet is relatively close at 85mm, the depth of field at f/ 1.8 would be pretty shallow. it looks like the man on the left is a little closer to the camera than the man on the right. and since you focused on him, it would cause the man on the right to be slightly out of focus. to counter this stop the lens down some. maybe a stop or so?

Sarah23 · Jan 26, 2009

I dont know what happened in that first one. The white balance is VERY VERY off...and the picture is soft.

In the 2nd one, your friends dad was probably just barely out of the focal plane. The DOF is SO thin at 1.8...its really not recommended to take shots of more then 1 person at this aperture. I would have stoped it down a couple stops and had a wider DOF.

Mgw189 · Jan 26, 2009

Whoa not sure what is giong on with the first shot at all. Something is really not right there. It looks more like a PP or posting issue than a lens issue. The second image is much better. Keep in mind that when you are shooting at f1.8 your DOF is going to be pretty thin. Looking at the amount of light that looks like was in that room I dont think you needed to be shooting at f1.8 especially given the shutter speed.

flyfish1 · Jan 26, 2009

Thank you for the reply. So If I was to stand further away and took the the pic at let's say 4.0 I would get a better result?

The first pic of my son I can't figure out I hope it's not the lens as it's brand new. If anyone has seen this happen please reply.

goodoneian · Jan 26, 2009

flyfish1 said:
Thank you for the reply. So If I was to stand further away and took the the pic at let's say 4.0 I would get a better result?

The first pic of my son I can't figure out I hope it's not the lens as it's brand new. If anyone has seen this happen please reply.

f/4 should probably be okay, yeah. as long as the two subjects are as equal distance to the camera as possible.

did the picture of you and your son come straight out of the camera looking like that?

flyfish1 · Jan 26, 2009

Mgw189 said:
Whoa not sure what is giong on with the first shot at all. Something is really not right there. It looks more like a PP or posting issue than a lens issue. The second image is much better. Keep in mind that when you are shooting at f1.8 your DOF is going to be pretty thin. Looking at the amount of light that looks like was in that room I dont think you needed to be shooting at f1.8 especially given the shutter speed.

MGW189,
That first pic is right out of the camera. There have been many more like this and I'm getting a little nervous that it might be the lens. If it is I'll have to return it to B&H.

Mgw189 · Jan 26, 2009

Not quite sure how the lens would create that issue. Do you notice it on a specific setting say manual aperture shutter speed auto? I am more inclined to think it is a camera issue than a lens issue.

flyfish1 · Jan 26, 2009

Mgw189 said:
Not quite sure how the lens would create that issue. Do you notice it on a specific setting say manual aperture shutter speed auto? I am more inclined to think it is a camera issue than a lens issue.

This has only happened on this new lens. It's never happened before on any others.

Mgw189 · Jan 26, 2009

I would say after looking at the exif data that the problem lies with the automatic red eye reduction. Turn that off and see if you get the same results. It looks as though the camera is not reading the red eye right.

dxqcanada · Jan 26, 2009

Hmm, that first shot was at 1/8s - f/4 ... with flash @ 400 ISO
The second shot was at 1/200s - f/1.8 ... with flash @ 1000 ISO.

Did you manually set the ISO or was that auto ?

Did you set the flash for fill flash ?

Something does not seem right with the camera setup.

flyfish1 · Jan 26, 2009

dxqcanada said:
Hmm, that first shot was at 1/8s - f/4 ... with flash @ 400 ISO
The second shot was at 1/200s - f/1.8 ... with flash @ 1000 ISO.

Did you manually set the ISO or was that auto ?

Did you set the flash for fill flash ?

Something does not seem right with the camera setup.

I was in AV mode for both shots and the ISO was set manually. I set the flash to go off.

flyfish1 · Jan 26, 2009

Her's the same pic. I tried to fix it in Elements 6 but it didn't work. I'm kind of lost here.

Mgw189 · Jan 26, 2009

Its happening from the red eye reduction. That is why it is black. Turn off the flash or turn off the red eye reduction and I think your problem will be solved. The issue is with the way the camera is reading the red eye I am pretty sure. The new lens may be contributing to the issue but I dont think it is the issue.