Not too impressed with Canon 50mm 1.8 lens

[RebeccaAPhotography]

So I had purchased the nifty fifty lens and I know it was against quite a few peoples discressions. Well I gotta say so far i am not impressed. As the saying goes you get what you pay for. I used it in my friends daughters senior portrait photos and when I was reviewing them on my camera they didn't look out of focus. Well now that I got them uploaded on my comp I'd say 50% of them are out of focus.... I normally have quite a steady hand. I really don't think my hand screwed myself up that badly.....

Any ideas on how to adjust things maybe to get a better in focus shot.... a lot just came out blurry...

 

[tirediron]

Are the images out of focus due to a lens issue, or could be because you were shooting wide open, and, not used to such a shallow DoF, missed the focus? This is a very common problem with people knew to fast lenses...

 

[CCericola]

Can you post a few with the settings you used?

 

[TJ K]

Were you using correct shutter speeds? Maybe you have a little bit of shake in there. Also what aperture were you shooting at? If you have a shallow DOF at 1.8 that could be your problem especially if it focused a little in front of your subject. Do you have any sample pictures showing what your problems were?
TJ

 

[RebeccaAPhotography]

Ok so here are a few pictures... just random ones to show the problem I'm having.


IMG_7473 by Rebecca Andresen Photography, on Flickr
100, f1.8, iso 200. 50mm



IMG_7465 by Rebecca Andresen Photography, on Flickr
100, f1.8, iso 100. 50mm



IMG_7461 by Rebecca Andresen Photography, on Flickr
100, f1.8, iso 100. 50mm


IMG_7440 by Rebecca Andresen Photography, on Flickr
100, f1.8, iso 200. 50mm

Well now that I look back at the info I really didn't do much as far as changing my shutter speed. I am reading understanding exposure... great book learning lots. I've been reading it at work so I haven't been able to do the tests that it says to do but I have the next 2 days off I'm gonna do the tests and jot notes down etc...
Is my shutter speed vs aperture vs iso (traingle) off?

 

[GooniesNeverSayDie11]

The problem is the 1.8 aperture. Its too shallow of a depth of field.

 

[RebeccaAPhotography]

Yea I figured once I acutally looked at my numbers that it was off in that aspect. Dont get me wrong I did get some nice ones that I can use and edit I was just bummed I didn't get more then that!

Yup def not used to going below 4.6 or somewhere near that number hahaha

 

[tirediron]

Very hard to tell with such small images, and when I click on them, I'm redirected to Yahoo! for some strange reason. At any rate, it looks to me like I can see sharp areas in them. When you're shooting at such a large aperture, you really need to be familiar with your DoF tables and I always recommend using a single focusing point and placing that on the point of critical focus (usually the eyes for portraits). Your exposure triangle is okay; the shots aren't perfectly exposed, but they're not bad. Just as an example, assuming a camera-to-subject distance, at f1.8, you have a DoF of less than 1' - somewhere around 9"! That doesn't leave you much room for error.

 

[Josh66]

Hard to tell what the problem is on such small pictures. The links to your flickr (by clicking on the picture) just say that the photo is private. Sorry, but we can't really help with photo's of this size...

 

[GooniesNeverSayDie11]

Also, when you shoot, do you place a focus point directly over the spot you want to focus on, or do you focus with the center point, and then recompose before finishing pressing the shutter? That might be adding to your problems as well.

 

[RebeccaAPhotography]

Yea I need to read more in the DoF I know its in my book im just not up there yet hahaha!

I was using manual focus and changing it with each shot (sometimes forgeting) BUT I was aiming more at her whole face not specifically her eyes. Good to know thank you. Over all it wasn't a total bomb I def feel like I'm growing as a photographer. I was so excited to use my new lens that I didn't use other ones. I can say when these shots ARE in focus I couldn't have achieved what I did in this session 2 or 3 months ago.

When I'm shooting say her whole body where do I aim my manual focus?? Do you think that was some of my prob too? I wasn't picking the right area to focus on her to get the whole body in focus??

 

[Josh66]

Also, when you shoot, do you place a focus point directly over the spot you want to focus on, or do you focus with the center point, and then recompose before finishing pressing the shutter? That might be adding to your problems as well.

Especially using wide open apertures...

Why Focus-Recompose Sucks

 

[RebeccaAPhotography]

Hard to tell what the problem is on such small pictures. The links to your flickr (by clicking on the picture) just say that the photo is private. Sorry, but we can't really help with photo's of this size...

Sorry they came up small... I put the pics on private so none of my friends could see them lol. thats probably why it wouldn't let ya.

 

[RebeccaAPhotography]

Also, when you shoot, do you place a focus point directly over the spot you want to focus on, or do you focus with the center point, and then recompose before finishing pressing the shutter? That might be adding to your problems as well.

Generally I was trying to compose my picture then manually change my focus. I probably did do the reverse a few times but I def remember doing it the other way more

 

[Ryan L]

Yup def not used to going below 4.6 or somewhere near that number hahaha

4.6?? You have some funny stops on your setup.