When focus does not lock correctly

alaios

Hi all,
I was editing today one of my shots and I have noticed that it had a "weird" look. After looking carefully I have found that the focus point was off. Instead of having eyes sharp the focus went even further and I have sharp hair at the back side of the face (Shot at the bottom of the thread)

1. Typically when I go for portraits I used center focusing, as is not that big on my nex camera and shoot it at the face.. something like the nose so I wonder still why my focus ended up so off

2. What is the best way to find that the focus have missed during the "shooting period?".. If I want to keep use the live view ... where should I look to to make sure that I have the right focus? Zooming in all the way to the eye`?

I would like to thank you in advance for your reply

Regards
Alex

kdog

alaios wrote: »

Hi all,
I was editing today one of my shots and I have noticed that it had a "weird" look. After looking carefully I have found that the focus point was off. Instead of having eyes sharp the focus went even further and I have sharp hair at the back side of the face (Shot at the bottom of the thread)

1. Typically when I go for portraits I used center focusing, as is not that big on my nex camera and shoot it at the face.. something like the nose so I wonder still why my focus ended up so off

Nice shot. Looks like you shot at a pretty wide aperture so you've got a nice shallow DOF which of course requires precise placement of focus. Your problem is most likely the use of the center focus point. Since his eyes are not in the center of the photo, you must have focused on the eyes, then recomposed your shot. That becomes an issue on shots with shallow DOF and is consistent with the focus being further back on his head than you intended (back-focused). The solution is to use an offset focus point so that you don't have to recompose your shot.

Here's a nice explanation on why focus-recompose can cause issues. http://visual-vacations.com/Photography/focus-recompose_sucks.htm

2. What is the best way to find that the focus have missed during the "shooting period?".. If I want to keep use the live view ... where should I look to to make sure that I have the right focus? Zooming in all the way to the eye`?

Yes.

alaios

Hi, you are so right. I think that the center focused point focused correctly at the middle of the face.. but as I moved the camera to recompose that moved the focus point. I guess I have to use the flexible spot focusing and move it directly on the eyes.
Thanks a lot
Alex

pathfinder

If you want the eyes critically in focus, you need to use 1 single AF point, placed over the eye without moving the camera before exposure. Just like kdog said.

"Focus recompose" worked "ok" in the film days, but folks were not nearly as critical then, as they are now, with the ability to see images large on their monitors.

alaios

Cool.. specially thanks for the last sentence.. I did not know that

pathfinder

I think your portrait above is pretty nice, I like the composition and the color, and the person's expression.

I don't really notice that it is terribly out of focus. Is is not critically sharp in the eyes, yes, but so what, it is still a nice image at the size I see it here on the web. If it was shot with film 30 years ago, most folks would have been perfectly satisfied, unless they were a professional who needed a large print - bigger say than 8 x 10 inches.

Digital lets us be so much more discerning in evaluating our image's technical quality, yet technical quality is not really the most important part of an image. Content, color, composition, and gesture all play a larger role in an image's attractiveness. Sharpness may be important for some images, and for others, not a critical factor. There are countless famous published images of less than stellar technical quality, which still capture the viewer's attention and stimulate an emotional reaction.

I am all for good technical skills and image quality, yet that alone will not create compelling images.