Canon 7D + Tamron 70-300 LD DI Macro.

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Matthew
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Hi all, I mostly do Motorsport Photography and recently purchased a lovely Canon 7D and the Tamron 70-400 LD DI Macro lens.

I have used this lens a few times now when at a Motorsport event and I have to say I can't get a single sharp shot from it?! I used to own a Sony A200 and the Sigma 70-300 and I could get some lovely shots from it. I have moved onto this and read all about the AF system on the Canon but can't get a nice shot from it. Really annoying!

I have the 50mm 1.8 and this is a beautiful lens that can take some sharp shots. I try with the telephoto and not one shot, sure there must be some way of getting some nice shots out of it?

If anyone could help me with settings or tips with this camera and lens I would be greatful. Thanks alot!

Matthew
 
Just a thought, but are you having front/rear focusing issues? Adjustments can be made in camera for this, specific to the lens (I assume this works for non-canon lenses).
If you get this months PhotoPlus mag, there is a "how to" on this.
 
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Post some sample shots and let us know the settings you used!

By 'not sharp', do you mean generally out of focus, or is it a case of motion blur?
 
Is that the old Tamron 70-300 rather than the much newer VC model?

If so best advice I can give is bung it on Ebay if its anything like the one I obtained, got it as part of a job lot which I purchased primarily for the camera body.

Tried it out of interest and sold it for something like 40 quid or so, less than impressed and the 18mp of your 7D requires something much better and unfortunately expensive with it. The higher pixel count tends to show up weaknesses in a lens much more than a camera with a less densely populated sensor.

The new Tamron 70-300 VC is supposed to be very good, about the 350 quid mark I think or bite the bullet and get something like the Canon 70-200 in whatever guise suits your available funds. The Canon 55-250 IS is also very good for the price and worth looking at, without sounding harsh your current pairing is a mismatch and to get better results its paying out time i'm afraid
 
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Kind of front/rear focusing issues yes!

Ok i'll try and dig some out.

It's a bit of both really, blury and out of focus. The cars aren't even going fast. It is on AI servo and I can feel it adjusting the focus.

Here is one I took yesterday the settings are.

Aperture: f5
ISO:320
Shutter speed: 1/400th which I think is not slow.
Ive taken many shots here and they have been in focus and pin sharp.

It looks like a focusing issue to me.

IMG_3519.jpg



Thanks, Matthew.
 
tijuana taxi said:
Is that the old Tamron 70-300 rather than the much newer VC model?

If so best advice I can give is bung it on Ebay if its anything like the one I obtained, got it as part of a job lot which I purchased primarily for the camera body.

Tried it out of interest and sold it for something like 40 quid or so, less than impressed and the 18mp of your 7D requires something much better and unfortunately expensive with it. The higher pixel count tends to show up weaknesses in a lens much more than a camera with a less densely populated sensor.

The new Tamron 70-300 VC is supposed to be very good, about the 350 quid mark I think or bite the bullet and get something like the Canon 70-200 in whatever guise suits your available funds. The Canon 55-250 IS is also very good for the price and worth looking at, without sounding harsh your current pairing is a mismatch and to get better results its paying out time i'm afraid
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No it isnt. Well, I only got it in January so I may be able to take it back and get the 120 quid back I spent on it! I don't have much money to spend at the minute so the best budget telephoto I could get would be good.
 
Is that at 300mm? if so think you might be better off at around 200mm and stopping down a bit
Shutter speed should be high enough to avoid camera shake, have read that the 7D takes some getting used to especially the AF system.

Perhaps try the Canon 55-250mm I mentioned, think you would notice the difference especially with the IS, not sure of the current price, but probably obtainable for around the 150 mark
 
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A bit difficult to say but there doesn't seem to be nay part of that shot that looks sharp, so that would seem to indicate that it isn't a misfocus error, rather a poor quality lens or possibly poor technique. The 18mp will emphasise movement more than a lower MP sensor. Have you tried some lens testing with a stationary target.
 
Like I said a stationery target with good contrast and the camera secure on a tripod to eliminate other causes of the softness you are seeing.
 
Might be wrong, but doesn't the Sony have in body stabilisation or whatever they call it?

That could be a big part of the problem and if so using a tripod would help a lot, daresay its not that practical at a race circuit though
 
Do you have a UV/protection filter fitted? If you do then try removing it and see how things turn out.

As far as tripod testing goes, I'm all for that, in order to eliminate as many variables as possible, but I wouldn't take it to a race weekend. Is there any chance you can perform some basic testing before then?
 
I could be wrong, but looking at the image you posted, the focus seems to be on the track behind the car. Are you panning / tracking, or pre-focusing on the track?
 
We were discussing the actual lens of the OP on the 7D and how 18mp could accentuate any flaws in his lens.
So it could appear to be better if used on a 400D than on his camera, sure your pictures are sharp and it wasn't a criticism.

As another poster commented the higher mp will also show up any movement to a greater degree than a lower mp count body, so I think my comment was relevant.
 
tijuana taxi said:
We were discussing the actual lens of the OP on the 7D and how 18mp could accentuate any flaws in his lens.
So it could appear to be better if used on a 400D than on his camera, sure your pictures are sharp and it wasn't a criticism.

As another poster commented the higher mp will also show up any movement to a greater degree than a lower mp count body, so I think my comment was relevant.
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Not taken as a critisism I had just never heard of the concept of more pixels showing up movement more than less pixels
 
CaptainPenguin said:
Sorry but what's that got to do with image sharpness
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b****r all when resizing for the web or making small prints, but potentially quite a lot if pixel peeping files at 100% or thinking that more pixels mean you can crop tighter in post. When viewing at 100% the higher pixel density means....

- poor lens IQ will be revealed more easily;
- poor focus will be revealed more easily;
- DOF will become shallower;
- camera shake will be more evident (if there is any);
- subject blur will be more evident (if there is any);
- diffraction will begin to appear at wider apertures.

All in all, to get the most from a camera like the 7D vs the 400D you may need better glass, better technique and to pay closer attention to setting up your equipment for maximum performance. That includes making sure that AF calibration is spot on and that your camera settings are optimised more carefully. Cameras with lower pixel density are more forgiving of errors/problems in the photographic process because they don't reveal those errors so easily. Cameras with higher pixel densitites are like examining your work through a magnifying glass, albeit a modest one. The cracks show sooner.

I know from my own experience of upgrading from 30D to 40D to 50D to 7D that my own skills have had to be improved, otherwise the 7D just captures the sloppy mush that my trembling hands create when the shutter speed isn't fast enough, and by fast enough I mean way faster than the usual rule for handheld photograpy suggests. I'd say that for the 7D files viewed at 100% the minimum recommended shutter speed for handheld unstabilised photography should be around 1/(focal length x 5). So for a 200mm lens we're talking shutter speeds of 1/1000 and up. For a 400mm lens we're talking 1/2000 and faster. Of course the use of IS, a tripod or monopod will influence those figures, as will natural talent or ineptitude, but they're a good rough guide.

Just to quantify all this, when viewing 7D files at 100% vs 400D files at 100% the files from the 7D will be enlarged by a factor of 5184/3888 = 1.33X or 33%. That means that your 7D shots need to be 33% sharper at the moment of capture in order for the files to look equally sharp. You don't get your shots to be 33% sharper without making some changes to your photography. You need the focus to be 33% more accurate and your blur and shake to be reduced by 33% too.

If all you will do is resize down to 800 or 1024 pixel web images then forget all that - it won't make a jot of difference between the two cameras.



I still haven't seen an answer to my question about a filter. Is there one fitted?
 
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To chuck my 2p in.....

How have you actually set up AF on your 7D? Do you use the focus button on the rear of the camera?

I've watched one of the many videos doing the rounds on here about setting up the 7D's AF system and from what I can tell you really need to nail this to get the best results.

I would say with something like motorsport, using anything bar a single focus point could lead to the AF looking in the wrong place, although using a single point with assist points and changing the tracking sensitivity might be worth while.

However, as others have said, try and get some solid shots of some stationary objects and go from there :)
 
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