why are my photos "soft"?

Timothy · May 1, 2010

so i have previously posted a few photos on here, and amoung the comments have stated that the images look soft.

i do agree with most of them, but i don't know how to make them more sharp, i try aiming at the eye to get a nice focus, but they still seem to think they are soft.

anything i can try to make them better?
here are 2 examples taken a few months apart *please note that these are both unedited versions*
1.

2.

ababysean · May 1, 2010

Are you shooting in "green" button mode or are you using A or S? or other manual modes?
I have found that once I get off that green button, my images get crisper.

table1349 · May 1, 2010

It could be one of several things. Please post your, shooting mode, focusing method, 1 focus point, multi point etc., also the gear used, body and lens. Do you have a protective filter on the lens? More info will help determine the cause(s).

Timothy · May 1, 2010

in both instances i was shooting in A mode, not sure what you mean by focusing method, as i had a look on my camera and could not see a way to change it, but i just put the middle focus point over the eye and af on that, sometimes a few other points light up. gear was canon 450d (rebel xsi) with 18 - 55 F3.5 -5.6 for the first image and the 55 - 250 F4 - 5.6 for the second, just the twin kit lens really

table1349 · May 1, 2010

Timothy said:
in both instances i was shooting in A mode, not sure what you mean by focusing method, as i had a look on my camera and could not see a way to change it, but i just put the middle focus point over the eye and af on that, sometimes a few other points light up. gear was canon 450d (rebel xsi) with 18 - 55 F3.5 -5.6 for the first image and the 55 - 250 F4 - 5.6 for the second, just the twin kit lens really

Get our your manual and read it. Especially the section on focusing modes. (Page 60 & 61) I almost always shoot a single focus point. (Only one lights up) and I select the focus point I want to use usually after framing the shot, selecting the point that is on the area I most want in focus. When shooting sports I usually am shooting the center point only. While you don't have a rear thumb wheel on the 450D like my Canon bodies do, there is a way to select which point you want to use.

When you use multiple focus points the camera is going to try to focus on a blend of those points. Photo #1 looks like the the nose is the sharpest point of the image.

As for the lenses you were using, I can not comment on them, I have never shot them and don't know if they tend to be a touch soft or not. Maybe someone that shoots those lenses can tell you what IQ issues there are, if any.

mdtusz · May 1, 2010

I think the issue is more the lens than focus mode. I borrowed my dads 55-200 today which is a common(ish) second "kit" lens and when I looked at my pictures, I thought I had missed the focus entirely, so I went and took a picture of a paper with writing on it and saw, it is in focus, the lens just is super soft. I don't know about the canon lenses too much, but the Nikon 55-200 seems to really suck and the 18-55 isn't great by any means either.

KmH · May 1, 2010

mdtusz said:
I think the issue is more the lens than focus mode. I borrowed my dads 55-200 today which is a common(ish) second "kit" lens and when I looked at my pictures, I thought I had missed the focus entirely, so I went and took a picture of a paper with writing on it and saw, it is in focus, the lens just is super soft. I don't know about the canon lenses too much, but the Nikon 55-200 seems to really suck and the 18-55 isn't great by any means either.

I used to have both of those Nikon lenses and had no problems when I used them in their optimum aperture range for sharp focus.

Even expensive lenses perform best when use at a couple of stops off of their max and min apertures.

Timothy,

You have to always be aware of the image sensor plane.

For instance in the first image you posted one eye is further from the image sensor plane than the other. With the DOF you used there was no hope of having the far eye in focus and your lens was likely wide open, an aperture setting that doesn't usually promote sharp focus on anything.

Also, here is a good read about how a camera auto focuses:

http://focustestchart.com/focus21.pdf

mrpink · May 1, 2010

mdtusz said:
but the Nikon 55-200 seems to really suck and the 18-55 isn't great by any means either.

Taken with a Nikkor 55-200mm....

I do not see any softness in this photo.

p!nK

gsgary · May 2, 2010

The first shot is down to shutter speed, too slow for the focal length used

scorpion_tyr · May 2, 2010

Follow gryphonslair99's advice. The kit lenses aren't great, but you can make them work if you know how. A smaller aperature, good use of flash, and a good shutter speed can get you better DOF.

Ryan L · May 2, 2010

mdtusz said:
I think the issue is more the lens than focus mode. I borrowed my dads 55-200 today which is a common(ish) second "kit" lens and when I looked at my pictures, I thought I had missed the focus entirely, so I went and took a picture of a paper with writing on it and saw, it is in focus, the lens just is super soft. I don't know about the canon lenses too much, but the Nikon 55-200 seems to really suck and the 18-55 isn't great by any means either.

Either way, he has the Canon XSI with a canon lens kit. I don't really think we can classify our lenses by focal ranges and judge the quality.

I am sure you have already checked, but sometimes we overlook the obvious. Since you have 2 lenses doing it I wouldn't think you have anything on your lenses...Since they are both 55mm, you don't use the same UV or other filter for both lenses do you? IF not maybe you have something on your sensor? If not I would go with gryphonslair99's advice.

c.cloudwalker · May 2, 2010

I'm surprised no one mentions PP as a possible part of the problem. Since the OP doesn't mention it either I would think he doesn't do any.

Timothy, I am pretty new to digital photo but one thing I've gathered from forums is that images are softened by the built in software of the camera and every image needs a bit of sharpening.

Hopefully, someone who does PP will explain this better than I can.

mdtusz · May 2, 2010

Ryan L said:
mdtusz said:

I think the issue is more the lens than focus mode. I borrowed my dads 55-200 today which is a common(ish) second "kit" lens and when I looked at my pictures, I thought I had missed the focus entirely, so I went and took a picture of a paper with writing on it and saw, it is in focus, the lens just is super soft. I don't know about the canon lenses too much, but the Nikon 55-200 seems to really suck and the 18-55 isn't great by any means either.

Click to expand...

Either way, he has the Canon XSI with a canon lens kit. I don't really think we can classify our lenses by focal ranges and judge the quality.

I am sure you have already checked, but sometimes we overlook the obvious. Since you have 2 lenses doing it I wouldn't think you have anything on your lenses...Since they are both 55mm, you don't use the same UV or other filter for both lenses do you? IF not maybe you have something on your sensor? If not I would go with gryphonslair99's advice.

It's not my sensor. All my images with my 50mm, 18-70, and any time I have borrowed my friends 70-200 are super crisp and I don't have the problem. Even stopped down a bit on the kit 55-200 (f/11ish mostly that day) all the pictures came out soft. I don't use UV filters on any of my lenses so that's not the issue either. I can only narrow it down to the lenses glass or it's focussing mechanisms within it. No problems with other lenses.