Soft Focus?

[TCD photography]

I've noticed that the focus is very soft on the majority of my cloud shots - an aperture problem? Seems fine for evening shots of sunsets with similar aperture settings, but horribly soft during the day. I admit I probably should have experimented a little more with different settings before posting, but I wanted someone else's opinion on the problem.

Here's a couple examples:

1.

Mode:	Program AE
Shutter:	1/1000
Aperture:	f/5.0
ISO:	80

2.

Mode:	Manual
Shutter:	1/1000
Aperture:	f/4.5
ISO:	80

 

[analog.universe]

Circular polarizers are usually the trick for getting definition in clouds... the light comes from too many directions during mid day for the features to stand out.

 

[KmH]

Clouds by their nature don't have edges, so they can never be sharply focused.

 

[TCD photography]

Thanks for your input! My previous P&S seemed to focus fine on clouds, must be the Schneider-Kreuznach glass.

 

[Tomasko]

With P&S, everything is always in focus Do you shoot raw? Jpeg?

 

[chaosrealm93]

try getting another picture for an example.... kinda hard to tell the edges on clouds....

 

[TCD photography]

Do you shoot raw? Jpeg?

Jpeg, the (Canon) SX20 doesn't have RAW shooting capabilities.

try getting another picture for an example.... kinda hard to tell the edges on clouds....

Will do!

 

[Pgeobc]

With this sort of subject, there may not be sufficient image contrast or enough definite lines for the autofocus to work well. Try manual focus.

 

[lyonsroar]

Auto Focus works on contrast. The more contrast, the better the system can function, thus, the more accurate it will be. In a scene just composed of light sky and clouds, there is not much contrast so the AF system has very little to work with.

Either try manual focus, or find a section of the clouds where a white cloud butts up with a darker sky and try to focus there. You might have better luck.
Also, close up your aperture.