40 D soft???

sparky675

I have had my 40 D since March. When I go to servo and highspeed shooting[6fps]my shots go soft.. they are just not sharp. Single frame shooting they are fine. this is shooting with af and usually center spot focus.This is with the 24-105 and my 70-200f4 canon lenses. Am I missing a adjustment or what. any thoughts. I guess I should add they are not out of focus just not sharp like I am expecting.

Andy

Without examples (100% crops or Originals) how can we help?

sparky675

here is an example

sparky675 wrote:

I have had my 40 D since March. When I go to servo and highspeed shooting[6fps]my shots go soft.. they are just not sharp. Single frame shooting they are fine. this is shooting with af and usually center spot focus.This is with the 24-105 and my 70-200f4 canon lenses. Am I missing a adjustment or what. any thoughts. I guess I should add they are not out of focus just not sharp like I am expecting.

I hope this shows an example of what I am talking about..

Tee Why

looks out of focus to me, what was he focal length?
You may also have some camera shake as well shooting at 1/125 sec.
For stationary subjects like this shot are you using AI Servo over One Shot AF mode for any reasons?

sparky675

sorry, info here

Tee Why wrote:

looks out of focus to me, what was he focal length?
You may also have some camera shake as well shooting at 1/125 sec.
For stationary subjects like this shot are you using AI Servo over One Shot AF mode for any reasons?

shot at iso 400,1/180th, f6.7. it was very cloudy with some snow flurries. used high speed shooting because of the 2 dogs that were not being cooperative. oh yes shot at around 70 mm with canon 24-105 lens.. I do the focal tests with fixed objects and the tripod ok.. but when I go to high speed shooting they just are not as good as they should be.. I know I am still learning the canon system I am just looking for a little help.. thanks Sparky675

Tee Why

By high speed shooting, I'm assuming you mean auto advance at 6 fps right?
Is the first shot sharp or are they all soft.
If this was shot at 1/180 at 70mm, the shutter speed should be fast enough to prevent camera shake. I was wondering if it was that.

Does this happen with one shot auto focus and auto advance or only with Continuous Auto Focus and auto advance (6pfs).

To me it sounds like some sort of mis focus right now.

Scott_Quier

The 24-105 has IS ... do you have it turned on? If yes, have you allowed it to stabalize before you make the first exposure?

Here's my thought process on this one

• You get good focus when one a tripod, so I'm assuming you have IS turned off
• Hand-held, you have IS turned on - as you should (in most cases)
• IS is activated when you press the shutter 1/2 way
• You can make an exposure before the IS finishes stablizing the image.
• It's a mechanical process, so it can take a second to settle

Try this as a test ... With IS on, press the shutter release button 1/2 and let the IS settle. Now, press the shutter release all the way home and take as many images as you would like.

Another test - turn IS OFF and, with a suitable shutter speed, repeat the process that created your posted image.

Between these two tests, I think you should be able to

• Confirm your IS is working as expected
• Confirm your IS is not working correctly
• Confirm a need for improved technique
• Confirm I'm all wet, that IS is not a player and you need to look at something else for a answer

BTW - Once IS is on, it stays on a second or three after the exposure so, if you like, you can take one exposure, release the shutter, take a second, repeat as necessary ... without having to worry about the IS being settled into place.

sparky675

Tee Why wrote:

By high speed shooting, I'm assuming you mean auto advance at 6 fps right?
Is the first shot sharp or are they all soft.
If this was shot at 1/180 at 70mm, the shutter speed should be fast enough to prevent camera shake. I was wondering if it was that.

Does this happen with one shot auto focus and auto advance or only with Continuous Auto Focus and auto advance (6pfs).

To me it sounds like some sort of mis focus right now.

I appreciate all comments.. first it is every shot that I use 6 shots per second with drive on servo.. as far as what Scott said on the is.. the is works unbelievable great on the 24-105 on single frame shooting.. I really am at a loss .. thanks Sparky..

Scott_Quier

sparky675 wrote:

I appreciate all comments.. first it is every shot that I use 6 shots per second with drive on servo.. as far as what Scott said on the is.. the is works unbelievable great on the 24-105 on single frame shooting.. I really am at a loss .. thanks Sparky..

That's good to hear, but there's still the test of triggering the IS, let it settle, then start the firing. Have you tried that?

Tee Why

So it sounds like this is happening only at high speed continuous drive and using AI Servo AF Mode.

The image you had look just out of focus to me and I don't think it's shutter speed since it was fast enough and it does not look like the AF failed to follow/track a moving subject since he looks relatively still.

In which case, I'd say the AF may be off or there may be a bug and I'd consider having it checked out by Canon.

John Mueller

Also try slowing it down instead of the 6.5fps