low light af problems

B

Bryanpic114

Messages
58
Edit My Images
No
Hi everyone

It seems that my photos from my 7D are coming out soft and blurry (especially at 100% crop). I have been shooting only in low light and indoor conditions. When I autofocus, the camera confirms that its in focus, then when I review the photos, its a hit and miss as to which photos are in focus (mostly miss, by them being soft). Is it because I have been shooting in these conditions as to why i am getting a lot of softly focused pictures?
I see many of my photos are not clear in their focus points. I have been using spot af, 19point af, zone af, point expansion, and the other (basically all of the af modes on the 7D) and none seem to work better than the others. When I review the images on the LCD screen they look somewhat sharp at their focus points, but when I put them on my computer that is not the case. Can anyone offer some advice? Maybe you went through this same problem with your 7D? Thanks. And like everyone else, I just want a camera that works, and that doesn't work YOU. Thanks again.
 
Post some of the images, then we can offer more help...
Might be all manner of things.
 
Possibles (in order of likelyhood):-

1) Slow shutter
2) Shooting with wide apperture and camera not focusing on what you think it's focussing on
3) Subject (or you) moves slightly after focus aquired and takes subject out of plane of focus
4) High ISO - noise itself or in-camera noise reduction will soften the image
5) Lens front or back focusing

Could be lots of things but a picture and exif will help :)
 
Nothing ever looks sharp at 100%, and the more pixels you pack on to a small sensor the worse it gets.

You have 18mp on a sensor the size of a postage stamp. What are you looking at things at 100% for? That's like looking at a street poster.
 
Bryanpic114 said:
Hi everyone

When I autofocus, the camera confirms that its in focus,
Click to expand...

That should be "the camera tells me it thinks it's in focus" which is a very different matter.

I have only ever seen one Canon definition of "in focus" and it related to viewing a 6*8 inch print and deciding if it was sharp or not!!. I'm sure they must have it one of their White Papers but low light, 7D and 100% do not sit well together if you are looking for pin sharp results.

As said above post a few shots with EXIF and we'll all try to help out.

HTH

David
 
HoppyUK said:
Nothing ever looks sharp at 100%, and the more pixels you pack on to a small sensor the worse it gets.
Click to expand...


Most of my photos look very sharp at 100% and I am sure that is not an exception but the way it should be. Sometimes I have to think if am looking at 100% magnification or a preview. When things go bad, then they are not sharp. That would also explain why some people sell gear as excellent when in fact it is not.
 
Post us an example as there could be many reasons for the softness...

:thumbs:
 
daugirdas said:
Most of my photos look very sharp at 100% and I am sure that is not an exception but the way it should be. Sometimes I have to think if am looking at 100% magnification or a preview. When things go bad, then they are not sharp. That would also explain why some people sell gear as excellent when in fact it is not.
Click to expand...

You have a 1DsMkII, with 16.7mp on a full frame sensor, the OP has 18mp on a crop format camera, with an area 2.6x smaller. Basically the OP has about treble your pixel density.

So when you look at a 100% image, the data you are comparing is three times greater. Of course it looks better, but it's not the same thing at all.
 
Bryanpic114 said:
I'm using a canon 50mm 1.4


And sorry everyone about the wait I'll be posting the photos soon. Thanks for the help
Click to expand...

Ah right then ;) Taking bets that it's a shallow depth of field mis-focusing problem, ie user error. Possibly with a bit of camera shake thrown in.

Post a pic, with exif details (shutter speed, f/number, ISO) to confirm, plus some ways of avoiding it :)
 
Hey guys,

I'm having a bit of trouble posting the photos. Can anyone offer some help on getting the photos up on my gallery then posting them here? Thanks everyone.
 
Just resize so they are 800 pixels on the longest edge of the image then upload to photobucket, copy the direct link provided then click on the picture icon here and paste the code.. when done hit submit.

Frankly I'm surprised with it hunting in low light, my 50mm 1.8 focuses fine, and yes it can hunt a little but the 85mm 1.8 doesn't.
 
I put mine on photobucket and then link to here.

Do you have a photobucket account or one on a similar site?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top