Help with focusing

[Winona]

Maybe it’s just my eyes, but I don’t think so. I have been taking senior portraits with my kids and many shots seem soft. I was blaming the dark conditions of the forest we did a while back. Also some shots I use a 50 mm 1.8 without IS. This morning we took some in decent light. Used the canon 80D and both the 50 mm prime and 18-135 w/IS. No tripod. Still seem soft. I have used tripod, but never kept track of which were with it or without it. I used this camera all summer with no issues, but mostly with the 100-400. Maybe I need to turn on AI Servo to keep the girls in focus? Lol.
The woods shot is ISO 250 f5 1/125 0ev 64mm
The field is ISO 100 f5 0ev 1/320 56 mm

both I used aperature priority. Guess I should have tried f8 or so. I was trying for the blurred back ground they wanted.
Should I use manual to get higher shutter speed? I want ISO to stay low.

any tips? Tomorrow I will try different cameras and tripod. But any ideas on settings will help the process. I am running out of time! And she is running out of patience.

I included a recent photo with same camera and lens and focused on the bridge, but the lighting wasn’t good. I think the focus is ok.
Thank you!

 

[Space Face]

Might be worth doing a quick in camera micro adjust for the lenses. I've had to do this a couple of times albeit with long telephoto primes (Canon 400 f/5.6L, Canon 500 f/4L and Sigma 800 EX.....) so the working distances were massive compared to yours but the adjustments mage a helluva difference.

 

[wfooshee]

To me it looks like the sweater, near the center of the frame, is in good focus. When you shoot, do you focus on her eye and then frame, or are you just framing and then shooting, relying on the autofocus to do what it needs? Your AF should not be on AI Servo; that mode is designed to track moving subjects. You should be on single-focus (do they call it one-shot?) half-press the button to focus on the eye, then frame and shoot, without releasing the button. If you release the button, just start over on the eye.

 

[Winona]

Yes, I was using spot centered focusing and on the eye. I use back button focus on this particular camera. I was going to play around with the cameras and lenses to see what was what, but prefer to do it when it isn’t windy.

worked on college applications and FAFSA instead. Yippee. 2 going to college at once. Thanks for the ideas.

 

[Photo Lady]

Beautiful sweet daughter... love the white sweater..everything crisp on a fall day

 

[zombiesniper]

what are the camera recommendations for minimum distance for focusing? On the lenses i have, they have a hard time focusing with AF under that minimum distance, but when i flip the lens itself to manual i can focus under that distance just fine.

The Canon 80D as with most DSLR's do not have listed minimum focusing distance. Only the lenses do and the images above are beyond the minimum focusing distance since the closest part of the shoulder appears to be in focus.

I understand you are trying to help but I think you need to learn more before trying since this is the second time you have offered incorrect or misleading information.

 

[ronlane]

Question about the Nifty Fifty. Is it the new USM version or the old version? I tried about 3 different copies of the old version and HATED it. I couldn't get a sharp portrait with them even at f/5.6 or f/8. I got the new 50mm f/1.8 USM and was determined to make it work and practiced with it and now use it for portraits at f/2.8 or even f/2.0 and it produces sharp images.

As mentioned, the lens may be back focusing or front focusing on you and causing the eyes to be out of focus. On a 50mm, at f/5 with some distance between you and the subject, I would expect the eyes to be reasonably in focus.

I hope this helps, just know that the 50mm was a tough lens for me to shoot with for a long time.

 

[Winona]

Ronlane-I’m not sure if it’s the old or new version. I’ll have to look into it. I do plan to see if it needs some micro tuning, but I just haven’t had time or the right conditions.

 

[Designer]

I do plan to see if it needs some micro tuning, but I just haven’t had time or the right conditions.

Ordinary portraits should not need micro tuning.

 

[Winona]

Designer-please clarify. Maybe I misspoke. Any lens can have a calibration issue, correct? Shouldn’t we check all our lenses for back focus, etc. I’m not sure I’ll be brave enough to fine tune them myself.

This particular lens does not have IS and it could be ALL ME. But, need to run some tests.

 

[jcdeboever]

Something not mentioned... not sure of your camera model but some have touch screen lcds, your nose could changing your focus point location.

 

[Designer]

Designer-please clarify. Maybe I misspoke. Any lens can have a calibration issue, correct? Shouldn’t we check all our lenses for back focus, etc. I’m not sure I’ll be brave enough to fine tune them myself.

This particular lens does not have IS and it could be ALL ME. But, need to run some tests.

In my experience of making micro adjustments to the AF, it sure isn't much of an adjustment. More like a few millimeters one way or the other. When you are making a portrait, your DOF will be something like 12 inches or more. Hardly anything that micro adjusting would change.

Yes, of course I have checked all my lenses on each of two bodies I have, and nearly all of them needed something, but as I said, only a few mms at the most. I actually have one lens that did not require any adjustment at all.

Sure, go ahead and check your lenses, but as to micro adjustments, I think you may have some other issue that is not discovered yet.

Good luck!

 

[Designer]

I’m not sure I’ll be brave enough to fine tune them myself.

This is not difficult, just need to set aside some free time, and do it.

Get yourself a target (they can be found for free on the internet) and set up on a table. I use my dining room table because it is long enough. I mount my camera on a tripod, and get good light on the target. I use the overhead dining room light that is 500 watts when cranked all the way up.

The hardest part for me is knowing (or guessing - ha-ha) which way to move the adjustment. It only takes a little, but if you move it the wrong direction, then you have to do it again the other way. LOL!

Actually, each lens/body combo should take only a few minutes, not counting the setup.

Have fun!

 

[Strodav]

FWIW, first check your camera and len(s) with a made up target. I suggest a higher quality magazine page with a lot of text, not so many pictures. Set it up at about a 30 degree angle in good light, i.e, the part of the page toward the camera lower and the page making a 30 degree angle with the table. Mount your camera on a tripod, set a distance so the page fills the frame (or as close as the lens will reasonably allow), use the timer or remote release, base ISO, manual with wide open aperture, adjust shutter speed for a good exposure spot mode AF on the middle of the page, make sure AF locks. Take a few shots and pixel peep 1:1 on your computer monitor and evaluate. Is the focus point nice and sharp? Is it back focusing or front focusing? Once you've got that figured out, you can decide what to do next.

 

[ronlane]

When you are making a portrait, your DOF will be something like 12 inches or more.

Good luck!

Designer, I'm not sure that is correct. A lot of people use that 50mm f/1.8 at 1/8 or 2.0 for portraits all the time. At 1.8 or 2.0 the DOF will not be 12 inches Even if you step back a ways, which on a 50mm, you won't need to back up that far. Using a DOF calculator, using f/5.0 on the 80D to get a 12 inch DOF, would be 7 feet from the subject. Which might be close where she was, but looking at the two portrait images posted, it just seems to be she was closer than 7 feet. As I was typing this, I thought it is possible that the images were cropped tighter and it could be the degradation from that, but at ISO 320 or less, I don't think that is the issue.

Granted micro adjustment is just that, small adjustments. Which is why I asked about what version of the 50mm she had. Again, I HATED the version one of the Canon 50mm, (The old nifty fifty). I sold two copies of it and used about 3 others copies that I just did not like nor could I produce a good image with them. When I got my version 2 copy and spent time with it, I was much happier with it and actually use it at times even used it tonight for a BTS image of a shoot we did.

After all of that, I would still be tempted just to check the focus of the camera and lens using a ruler set on an incline just to see. I still think that it is either back or front focusing, probably not the entire issue of soft images.

OP, just keep practicing with it, and if you get a chance, try another copy of that lens to see if it is doing the same thing. Oh and just know that practicing with that lens will help you get to know how to use it. (In my opinion, you have to learn to shoot with prime lenses vs zoom lenses)