View Full Version : Sharp Focus
I took this photo at the recetn Williamtown Air Show. Lens used was an EF 75-300mm, What I would like some help with is the sharpness of the photo. I have already used an unsharp mask on the image but it is still too soft for my liking. Any suggestions on how I can improve my focus ability for future photos? Any hints are appreciated. The image was taken hand held whilst trying a panning technique, AI Servo mode utilised with Evalutive Matrix focus turned on.
The first part of your problems are that you were using a shutter speed of 1/60 and a focal length of 105mm.
The golden "rule" is to use a shutter speed no slower than the focal length in use, in your case a shutter speed of 1/125 and above would have given you a more satisfactory result.
Secondly, your camera has chosen an aperture of F/22 and for the subject matter on the day it is a very very small aperture to use.
I would suggest that you investigate running your camera in aperture priority, around F/8 looks as though it would have been reasonable on the day, and making sure that your shutter speed stays high to freeze the action.
I@M
I feel like an idiot...I know all you have said to be correct and it seems so obvious right now. Thanks for giving my brain a kick...will be a bit more thoughtful next time...cheers
Just to add to Andrew's post, if using A priority @f8 or a similar mid aperture you find that you can't get a fast shutter speed (I would be aiming for close to 1/1000 for a jet on a fly by) remember to up the ISO a stop or 2 that will double and quadruple your shutter speed. Just be careful of noise depending upon which body you have.
Art Vandelay
20-09-2010, 8:29am
It's OK to feel like an idiot. There's plenty of us around here. :pirtongue:
Another thing, with Jets, there's no need for a low shutter speed. What you've maybe got in your mind is several articles suggest a low shutter speed for air shows due to prop driven aircraft. In that case you'll need a lower speed (around 125 to 250 max) to get propellor blur rather than freezing it still.
For Jets, just wind it up.
Panning would work to blur the background, but hard to do when learning and with the plane not travelling directly left to right
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