I've come to the conclusion that.....

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stratocaster72

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Focus and recompose doesn't work.

To save time i've been using the centre focus point, aiming at the eyes (for example), setting focus by hitting the back button (where I moved the focus lock to) then moving down to frame the whole scene then click.... Soft focus on the eyes when I edit later.

I'm not drastically altering the focus plane, say eyes then full length at 8ft away.......

Why is it not working for me?
 
I'd say it'd depend on the aperture..... if you're shooting with a big aperture then a small amount of movement could make the intended focal point look OOF.

Also could be shutter speed related too, slight movement blur could look like soft focus too.

Maybe some examples of this with EXIF intact could help better diagnosis.
 
Maybe your camera is set to continuous focus - so it's refocusing on the "new" target? When you say you're using the back button to focus - have you disabled focus on the shutter button? (If you can)
 
There's a number of things, but you could start by, ruling out/in the recompose by taking a test shot prior to recomposing.

If the test shot is not sharp, it could be due to the lens focussing on the eyebrow, or a misfocussing lens, or camera/subject movement.

If the test shot is ok and the recomposed image is still unsharp, then it's down to either too shallow a dof or perhaps you'd do better with one of the other focus points, to minimise movement due to the recompose.
 
stratocaster72 said:
Focus and recompose doesn't work.

To save time i've been using the centre focus point, aiming at the eyes (for example), setting focus by hitting the back button (where I moved the focus lock to) then moving down to frame the whole scene then click.... Soft focus on the eyes when I edit later.

I'm not drastically altering the focus plane, say eyes then full length at 8ft away.......

Why is it not working for me?
Click to expand...

It's extremely unlikely that you would get any noticeable error from focus-recompose technique at 8ft distance. So it's much more likely to be some kind of user error.

Can you describe your technique exactly, equipment and settings? Post a pic if you can.

You're not zooming in to the eyes first, and then zooming back, are you?
 
try taking a shot without recomposing. So, centre focus point on the eyes and click. That will tell you if it's your fault or not. (Assuming there is sufficient shutter speed for your focal length and aperture) :thumbs:
 
Im not zooming in or out, not on continuous focus, focus is disabled on the shutter button.

Im using 1/125 with studio strobes, f8 to f11 mostly.


I really dont know why its like this..... best example i can use is if im photographing a person i will focus on the eyes by pressing the back button, then i let the button go and move down a little to get all of the person in the frame, then click the shutter button.
 
at f8 -f/11 on most lenses even with a slight movement should render good focus.

Say 50mm focal length @f/8 thats 3.7ft in focus, even considering you may sway and your subject moves a tad. There should be pelnty breeathing space in 3.7ft
 
stratocaster72 said:
Im not zooming in or out, not on continuous focus, focus is disabled on the shutter button.

Im using 1/125 with studio strobes, f8 to f11 mostly.


I really dont know why its like this..... best example i can use is if im photographing a person i will focus on the eyes by pressing the back button, then i let the button go and move down a little to get all of the person in the frame, then click the shutter button.
Click to expand...

Just throwing this out there.....

Could it be that the part of the lens where the eyes end up after recomposing is softer than the centre where the focusing happens?

Can you change the position of the focus point so it's nearer to the eyes but still allows you the desired composition?
 
stratocaster72 said:
Im not zooming in or out, not on continuous focus, focus is disabled on the shutter button.

Im using 1/125 with studio strobes, f8 to f11 mostly.


I really dont know why its like this..... best example i can use is if im photographing a person i will focus on the eyes by pressing the back button, then i let the button go and move down a little to get all of the person in the frame, then click the shutter button.
Click to expand...

It can't be focus then. Any movement involved? Some studio flash durations are a lot slower than they claim.

Guess you'll have to post a pic.
 
Im using a Canon 60D, 15-85mm lens.
Its sharp if i focus on the eyes and dont move.....

I feel it might be some stupid thing im doing (like for example, should i keep the back button held in after pressing it to focus).
 
stratocaster72 said:
Im using a Canon 60D, 15-85mm lens.
Its sharp if i focus on the eyes and dont move.....

I feel it might be some stupid thing im doing (like for example, should i keep the back button held in after pressing it to focus).
Click to expand...

I must admit that using the same lens on the 7D I don't seem to have that problem.

How about setting the "normal" shutter button back to focus/meter/shoot and seeing if that makes any difference?

Unless back focus and shutter release are set correctly the shutter button would still be trying to do the focusing too.....
 
When you recompose do you mover vertically or swing the camera in an arc. I saw a Canon USA video where the guy demonstrated the latter technique and said it was all wrong as the image would definitely be out of focus. He even said it was wrong to swing horizontally too.

Matt
 
stratocaster72 said:
Im using a Canon 60D, 15-85mm lens.
Its sharp if i focus on the eyes and dont move.....

I feel it might be some stupid thing im doing (like for example, should i keep the back button held in after pressing it to focus).
Click to expand...

No. Pressing the back button to start AF, and the releasing it, should lock focus at that point. Holding it down means that the AF remains active and it will refocus as necessary.
 
Hmmmm..... I wonder if I did turn it off the shutter, I don't think I thought about that.
Let me go check
 
For portraits, I always find AF to be slightly off, even when focus point is definitely on the eyes, so I take a basic AF at the start, switch to MF, and make small adjustments to get it spot on. Even with great technological advancements in the area, I still don't trust it 100% ;) although, I'm finding my eyes aren't 100% anymore. Maybe need to book that eye test at some point..
 
Ok heres what's happening.

I've got the shutter on metering only, back button on AF lock.
however, I can see that the focus is definately in the centre of the pic rather than my original setting.
Tried just now, focus on eyes, press the back button, looks good in viewfinder. Move slightly down to frame the shot, so the waist of the person is now centre of the viewfinder.
Click, check pic... The waist is in great focus, the eyes less so.

What's causing that? It's a canon 60d,, what cn function number should I be on? It's on one just now.
 
stratocaster72 said:
Ok heres what's happening.

I've got the shutter on metering only, back button on AF lock.
however, I can see that the focus is definately in the centre of the pic rather than my original setting.
Tried just now, focus on eyes, press the back button, looks good in viewfinder. Move slightly down to frame the shot, so the waist of the person is now centre of the viewfinder.
Click, check pic... The waist is in great focus, the eyes less so.

What's causing that? It's a canon 60d,, what cn function number should I be on? It's on one just now.
Click to expand...

It sounds to me like you're mixing up the focus start button with back button focussing. If you were using back button AF, once you'd stopped pressing the back button the camera wouldn't re-focus.

You need to set a custom function to stop the shutter button from activating AF, then you can choose to focus using the * button (poss use the focus button too, I don't have a 60d). Try the manual for assigning functions to buttons.
 
stratocaster72 said:
What's causing that? It's a canon 60d,, what cn function number should I be on? It's on one just now.
Click to expand...
It works on my 60D. C.FnIV 1=1.

Are you remembering to press SET after changing the setting? That has caught me out before now. The bottom line on the screen should start with a "1" in blue to indicate the non-default setting.
 
As above. It definitely sounds as if your camera is continuing to focus after you release the back button, so you may be continuing to hold the button down when you recompose - which keeps the AF active - or it isn't set up correctly to separate AE and AF.

I have a 30D and I don't know if the 60D works the same way, but I imagine it's similar. I use Custom Function 4 and Setting 1 for this. Check that you have selected the right setting, and save it by pressing the 'Set' button; then make sure you release the button after you focus and before you recompose.
 
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