help me with my 50mm 1.8 .....

ob_3

So i was taking some shots of my son a couple weeks ago at the beach and, although i think he is the cutest thing in the world, i am not seeing the 'sharpness' that i think i should be having with this lens. I think i shot at 1.8 or 2.0 with this pic.. Should i be upping the f stop to get him sharper ?

please advise, thanks

gus

ob_3 wrote:

So i was taking some shots of my son a couple weeks ago at the beach and, although i think he is the cutest thing in the world, i am not seeing the 'sharpness' that i think i should be having with this lens. I think i shot at 1.8 or 2.0 with this pic.. Should i be upping the f stop to get him sharper ?

please advise, thanks

ob we really need to see the EXIF info for the photo. Also what ..if any processing have you done to the photo ?

photogmomma

I don't have the Nikon version, but I used to have the Canon one... I used to have to keep the fstop at around 2.8ish to get really crisp, clear photos most of the time. Also, make sure your shutter speed is high enough - at least 125 (my thoughts, anyway! others disagree, I know) for kids.

Also, if you are focusing on his nose or knees (or the lens is not focusing dead on the eyes), the rest of the image will look poor because the eyes aren't in focus. And at such a shallow DOF, it's really hard to get the eyes tack sharp unless you're really steady - and your lens is accurate! (My Canon 1.8 wasn't that accurate - I get much better results with the 1.4)

finally, when you attach a photo, as you did, the quality is going to go down even more. If you can upload to SmugMug or some other host and link from there, it's going to be a better image for people to make comments on.

Also, try bumping the contrast on this. And maybe run sharpen - that helps with some minor softness like you're seeing! It's worth it for such a nice photo.

Very cute shot.

ccpickre

ob_3 wrote:

So i was taking some shots of my son a couple weeks ago at the beach and, although i think he is the cutest thing in the world, i am not seeing the 'sharpness' that i think i should be having with this lens. I think i shot at 1.8 or 2.0 with this pic.. Should i be upping the f stop to get him sharper ?

please advise, thanks

Typically, the smaller the number for aperture, the shallower the depth of field. So 1.8 or 2 will have VERY narrow depth of fields. I shot field hockey at 2.8 one day, and it didn't take long for them to exit the focal plan, I can only imagine what 1.8 is like.

Try doing it at an aperture of 8 or 9

niimo

I've shot a lot with the Canon 50/1.8 and was never disappointed, always impressed with the sharpness. I would just emphisize what has already been said.

1. Watch your shutter speed.
2. Watch where you are focusing, if using AF, I believe you want to focus on the eyes, maybe try manual focusing instead? This is important because as photogmomma said, the DOF is very narrow at 1.8. If you are using the technique of focusing and then re-composing, then shooting, it could be throwing off your focus.

Do some more testing, let us know what happens.

LiquidAir

I have done a lot of shooting in the f/1.4 to f/2 range and it is definitly an acquired skill. Focusing with the DoF that shallow requires great care and some strategy. I shoot with the Canon 50/1.4 (along with a stable of other fast primes), so I don' know what you should expect with it. That said, I it is worth doing a test to see what you should expect from it.

Put the camera on a tripod.
Choose a focus target with lots of detail that is flat and parallel to the film plane.
Test with plenty of light.
Take test shots at all the aperture values from f/1.8 to f/4.

You should see the image get progressively sharper as you stop down. You can use these shots as a baseline for what the lens is capable of. Then when you are shooting real subjects you can compare against your reference image to determine whether the problem is technique or just the limits of the lens.

ob_3

thank you everyone ... i am going to take all your suggestions and practice a little more this weekend if the weather holds up..

regards

tom

k2butter

Cute boy!!! Great tips everyone, I am taking note too!

ob_3

k2butter wrote:

Cute boy!!! Great tips everyone, I am taking note too!

thank you... we think he is a keeper

time to break out the tripod i think too.... I am looking forward to the weekend