Help with focusing on Ef 85mm f/1.8

GorillaJJitsu

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Hello all,

My first post. Sorry if this isn’t the right place to post this. There are a million threads.

I have A canon 6d markii and with my 85mm i have An nd filter. I notice With the filter or even without it, my images are a little soft or even seem to look “cloudy”? If that makes sense then I’m sure you know what i mean. If you have any tips I would appreciate it. I have My first maternity shoot tomorrow morning!!
 
Is the REAR element of the lens immaculately clean?
 
Hello all,

My first post. Sorry if this isn’t the right place to post this. There are a million threads.

I have A canon 6d markii and with my 85mm i have An nd filter. I notice With the filter or even without it, my images are a little soft or even seem to look “cloudy”? If that makes sense then I’m sure you know what i mean. If you have any tips I would appreciate it. I have My first maternity shoot tomorrow morning!!

Yea i checked
 
Are the images "cloudy" at f/5.6, or they "cloudy" at f/1.8? Could you post a sample to show us what you mean?
 

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I can see no EXIF info, but it looks like the aperture is wide-ish, like f/1.8 to f/2.5 or so...I think the shot looks dreamy... where the focus/depth of field is good, it is SHARP..look at her left eyebrow: SHARP, each hair is revealed, clearly.
 
Do NOT use the lens wide open.
A FAST lens with a shallow Depth of Field has to be used carefully.
The shallow Depth of Field will give your subject the same problem; mom's face in focus but baby out of focus.
You NEED to put both subjects in the same focus plane, or only one will be in focus.

Too late but, you NEED to learn and practice LONG BEFORE an important shoot, not the evening before.
 
Do NOT use the lens wide open.
A FAST lens with a shallow Depth of Field has to be used carefully.
The shallow Depth of Field will give your subject the same problem; mom's face in focus but baby out of focus.
You NEED to put both subjects in the same focus plane, or only one will be in focus.

Too late but, you NEED to learn and practice LONG BEFORE an important shoot, not the evening before.

Been practicing plenty buddy
 

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There are some good answers above but I would also add to take note of your shutter speed. A longer focal length will need a faster shutter speed to negate hand shake, etc. Also the heavier the lens the faster your shutter speed will need to be. You will get to know your equipment and how you can handle it as you play around with it.
 
As an idea
I sometimes shoot pics of a rule or tape measure at different f stops to get idea of the lenes’ DOF
 
I think Derrel pretty much nailed it. Looks like you were working with a very narrow DOF, plus it looks to me that it might be about 3/4 of stop underexposed. The bright window in back can throw off your exposure.

You say it's a maternity shoot, to clarify is this prebirth....just the mother, or mother and baby??? If it's just the mother, before you decide on settings you need to get some feedback from the mother. Ask questions, is she overly sensitive about some things, things she doesn't want shown, or things she does want to be featured, what does she envision? What about light, will it be ambient, what about the location (next to a window, or dark room), will you need reflectors, or will you need strobes/flash. Once you know more about what she wants, and the conditions you'll be shooting under then make your settings and lighting setups appropriately.

Unless its an exception, most of the time when shooting kids, I'm generally at f/8 for it's deeper DOF. Kids/babies, generally have super delicate smooth skin free of pores, and such that need to be hid with a shallow DOF. Having both eyes, nose and mouth in focus is usually a requirement from Moms and Grandmas. Also, be mindful of your exposure, little one's skin tend to have a lot of red in it, keeping your exposure light and airy as opposed to underexposed or dark, will go a long way toward eliminating it in camera saving a lot of time post. With babies, I'm not a believer in flashing a strobe in a newborns face, so I look for a good ambient light location. Large windows and reflectors can provide beautiful soft light.
 
What the photo of the little girl shows is something that many people refer
To as "veiling glare", which is a form of low image contrast,typically only present at the widest openings of the lens.

With many 50 mm F1.4 lenses there is a pretty high degree of veiling glare when the lens is used wide open, but by stopping down to f/2 or to f/2.8, contrast usually goes upward markedly, and by F4 most 50 mm lenses are performing very well. 50mm lenses of f/1.4 aperture are probably the most well-known offenders for veiling glare at maximum aperture, but it's fairly common in other lenses as well.


It is Saturday at 11:30 on the West Coast, so I assume that your shoot has already begun or has already finished. I hope you got some good shots. In my opinion the photograph of the little girl is pretty good.
 
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