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03/24/2006 05:58:52 PM · #1 |
i dont know if its just me or if its my camera, but i seem to never have gotten as sharp a focus straight out of camera as i'd like. i have several lenses, including the canon 100mm 2.8 macro, the canon 50mm 1.8, a sigma 18-125mm f/3.5-5.6 DC, and a 75-300mm canon 3.5-5.6 is. using autofocus at any focal distance results in photos that aren't as sharp as i'd like them to be.
do others with rebel xt's have similar issues or am i doing something wrong? or is it perhaps my camera?
if its just me, do you have any tips to improve sharpness out of camera?
thanks in advance, all... |
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03/24/2006 06:19:49 PM · #2 |
A picture can say more than a 1000 words...
Show us what you mean.
Are the pictures soft, or clearly out of focus?
If they are soft, then more USM could be your friend, or adjust the sharpness setting in the cam.
If they are OOF, then it could be your camera...
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03/24/2006 06:37:36 PM · #3 |
Typically, all dSLR shots require sharpening in post processing. You can set your sharpness settings to "high" in your camera, but it's really better to do this in Photoshop if you have it; it's a smarter algorithm. If you're shooting RAW, the image that's delivered to you is totally unsharpened and you definitely need to sharpen it, whether in the converter or in PS.
Bear in mind that what you see on the compouter screen is a bad simulation of the sharpness you actually have, because the dot pitch of the screen is much coarser than a print would be. To see what I mean, use your magnifier to soom in on an image and watch it get "sharper" as the details cross the threshold.
Unless, of course, you DO have an example of the 350xt that has backfocus issues... we need examples.
Robt.
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03/24/2006 06:46:22 PM · #4 |
| The issue shouldn't be too much with your rebel xt. It's more about your lens and technique. I have the 100mm macro and it can produce really sharp images. Maybe try taking a couple of pictures on a sturdy tripod and see if there are any differences. If there is a difference it may be due to the shutter settings or your handheld technique. Hope that helps. |
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03/25/2006 05:41:16 PM · #5 |
its not the XT, mine is sharp as a tack unless I do something technically wrong.
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03/25/2006 05:43:05 PM · #6 |
What were the specs of the photos in question? Mainly shutter speed and focal length.
Were you using a tripod?
Message edited by author 2006-03-25 17:44:20.
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03/25/2006 08:30:13 PM · #7 |
i'll try to post a photo at some point. i've tried pretty much all settings from iso 100-1600 and from shutter speeds 1/2000 to 1/100. its good to hear that dslr shots need sharpening in post processing. i'll give the tripod a shot.
thanks all. |
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03/25/2006 08:47:27 PM · #8 |
My first post-processing steps with my 350D are:
* Open, Sharpen, Unsharp Mask, 300%, 0.3 Radius, 0 Threshold
This is as per Canon's recommendation, and does work well.
* Final web size images are converted to Lab color, switch to lightness channel,
run same USM again, the edit, fade, and bring down to around 20% or so, then switch back to RGB
All digitals are soft, and best sharpened after taking it, rather than in-camera.
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03/25/2006 09:21:12 PM · #9 |
Originally posted by BradP:
My first post-processing steps with my 350D are:
* Open, Sharpen, Unsharp Mask, 300%, 0.3 Radius, 0 Threshold
This is as per Canon's recommendation, and does work well.
* Final web size images are converted to Lab color, switch to lightness channel,
run same USM again, the edit, fade, and bring down to around 20% or so, then switch back to RGB
All digitals are soft, and best sharpened after taking it, rather than in-camera. |
it seems like after i convert to web size, the 300%/0.3/0 USM is too much (images look too sharpened)... using a 640x427 image... maybe less sharpening? |
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03/26/2006 10:00:20 AM · #10 |
^^^
You need to do the 300/0.3 USM on the photo right when you open it into photoshop. if you do that ammount of sharpening on a 640 image it will kill it.
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03/26/2006 10:51:43 AM · #11 |
One thing I noticed last night when playing around w/ RAW images and converting them to TIFF in RawShooter Essentials is that on certain ones if I used the "apply sharpening" check box during the conversion process, they looked really noisy/grainy when I then went to do some work in PS7.
This didn't appear to be the case across the board though. On the ones that did look this way, I unchecked the box and did all sharpening in PS7 and they look great.
I'm no expert w/ post processing, but just sharing what I saw, hope it is of use. |
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03/26/2006 12:31:02 PM · #12 |
Per Canon...
I felt the same way when I went from Peashooter to dSLR.
If you are in the early days with your camera, give your lenses a chance. I probably ebayed some good lenses in the early days because I thought they sucked.
Get to know the camera. If you want sharp out of the camera, change the parameters, A click or two of sharpen, and maybe fuss with contrast a bit.
ED: Typos
Message edited by author 2006-03-26 12:35:32.
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03/26/2006 04:59:52 PM · #13 |
| that diagram is excellent, thanks. |
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