Liverpool Waterfront at Night - Advice please

Stuart-M

I took this shot a couple of weeks ago.

Camera 5D2
Lens 24 1.4 II - Hoya Pro 1 UV filter fitted
f: 5.0
Shutter 1.0s
ISO 800
Tripod mounted, triggered using shutter delay setting

Some processing and sharpening has been done in Aperture.

I'm pleased with the image, but the one thing that concerns me is how it gets less sharp towards the left and right. I guess the buildings towards the edge are a bit further away than those in the middle of the frame, but on the other hand, the Catholic Cathedral (crown shaped building right of centre) is much further away and that looks sharp. So I think it's the lens being less sharp towards the edges?

I didn't expect that to be a problem at f/5.

Any advice much appreciated.

JC

Stuart-M wrote: »

I took this shot a couple of weeks ago.

Camera 5D2
Lens 24 1.4 II - Hoya Pro 1 UV filter fitted
f: 5.0
Shutter 1.0s
ISO 800
Tripod mounted, triggered using shutter delay setting

Some processing and sharpening has been done in Aperture.

I'm pleased with the image, but the one thing that concerns me is how it gets less sharp towards the left and right. I guess the buildings towards the edge are a bit further away than those in the middle of the frame, but on the other hand, the Catholic Cathedral (crown shaped building right of centre) is much further away and that looks sharp. So I think it's the lens being less sharp towards the edges?

I didn't expect that to be a problem at f/5.

Any advice much appreciated.

Most lenses have edge and corner softness, but even the center of your image doesn't look nearly as sharp as this lens should be.

Why the UV filter at night on a tripod with no reasonable expectation of debris or damage? Hoya are ok filters, but it's an additional piece of glass on an L lens.

If you are using a tripod, why hamstring your image at ISO 800, and f5? I don't have that lens, but you should have a few stops to go for maximum depth of field before you start getting diffraction blurring. What do other websites say is the sweetspot aperture for that lens? And why ISO 800? You've got a tripod, there are no boats on the water....

Stuart-M

kolibri wrote: »

Most lenses have edge and corner softness, but even the center of your image doesn't look nearly as sharp as this lens should be.

Why the UV filter at night on a tripod with no reasonable expectation of debris or damage? Hoya are ok filters, but it's an additional piece of glass on an L lens.

If you are using a tripod, why hamstring your image at ISO 800, and f5? I don't have that lens, but you should have a few stops to go for maximum depth of field before you start getting diffraction blurring. What do other websites say is the sweetspot aperture for that lens? And why ISO 800? You've got a tripod, there are no boats on the water....

Thanks for your suggestions. This sort of photography is pretty new to me, so I'm all ears.

The reason for the filter was I didn't think to take it off, I'd been shooting a wedding that day, and never noticed it causing a problem in that situation, but this is a very different type of image, so maybe that it the problem. I'll do some testing tomorrow to see if that's it.

I figured f/4 plus should be pretty sharp on a f/1.4 prime, but maybe I should have gone to f/8?

I could have used a longer shutter (might have blurred out the ripples in the water though), but I don't think the ISO is causing the softness as the centre s fairly sharp.

JC

can i post an image in your thread?

(edited)
I'm going to anyway, i gotta go get off my computer.

JC

100% crop from the center of a similar image, I was a little closer than you, and slightly more zoomed in.

ISO 100
35mm ( with the 35mm f/1.4 L lens, love this lens)
f16
20 seconds
SOOC, only raw conversion.

ISO 100 for minimum 'grain'
f16 to maximize stars and depth of field over any diffraction effects. Kept stopping down until I really liked the stars.
20 seconds to fit the exposure to the other variables, may have slightly overexposed. I wished to have a night with a moon, but I couldn't choose the night.
(Avanos, Turkey)



I'd try your shot in daylight, at iso 100, on a tripod, ideal aperture, to see how sharp your lens actually is. If you think the edges are still really bad compare it to some of the tests of that lens online. If it's within the tolerance of that lens, but you still don't like the edges, make a panoramic mosaic so that you can lose the edges of the individual frames.
then try the night shot again.

ForceGhost

To be honest man, i love it and cant even notice any softness unless i am trying to look for it.

Good job man!

Stuart-M

Thanks for the feedback so far. I did some experiments this morning and got some interesting results. It's more of a gear issue than a landscape photography issue so I think I'll start a new thread on the Accessories Forum.