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Archive 2014 · Canon 1D Mark IV unsharp photographs

  
 
claesto
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Canon 1D Mark IV unsharp photographs


After calibration, things work as expected. Thanks for all The advice

Edited on Aug 25, 2014 at 11:35 AM · View previous versions



Aug 19, 2014 at 11:52 AM
surf monkey
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Canon 1D Mark IV unsharp photographs


I don't see any comments about how you did the MA.
Since you're having issues with sharp focus, I'll assume you did this for all your lenses.
What is your MA procedure?



Aug 19, 2014 at 11:57 AM
Steve Torelli
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Canon 1D Mark IV unsharp photographs


The pic of the bottle was shot at 1/2 second hand held ?


Aug 19, 2014 at 11:57 AM
claesto
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Canon 1D Mark IV unsharp photographs


@surf monkey: sorry, what do you mean by MA?
@steve torelli: all were shot from a Manfrotto tripod, with mirror lockup and 2s. self-timer



Aug 19, 2014 at 12:03 PM
Steve Torelli
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Canon 1D Mark IV unsharp photographs


OK, but even on a tripod with MLU and timer, they won't all be keepers at that SS. I'd bump up the ISO and get more SS and see how it goes before I'd assume a problem.
Good luck.



Aug 19, 2014 at 12:08 PM
gdanmitchell
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Canon 1D Mark IV unsharp photographs


Steve Torelli wrote:
OK, but even on a tripod with MLU and timer, they won't all be keepers at that SS. I'd bump up the ISO and get more SS and see how it goes before I'd assume a problem.
Good luck.


A two second exposure on the tripod in windless conditions should not be affected by vibration, so I think that the OP has made a fair test in those terms. (Any vibrations at the start of the exposure, which would be truly minimal, would comprise a very small fraction of the overall exposure time, and thus not produce the sort of softness that he is concerned about.)

Dan



Aug 19, 2014 at 12:13 PM
Gochugogi
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Canon 1D Mark IV unsharp photographs


Many, but not all lenses, need to be calibrated to focus perfectly with individual cameras. Canon calls the process "MicroAdjustment" and is buried in your menu under AF options. On my 70D, my 70-200 4L IS needed +2 at 70 and +3 at 200. My 15-85 IS USM didn't need any nor did my 40 2.8 STM. Looks like you might need a little tweak. Took me a couple hours to test and adjust each lens.


Aug 19, 2014 at 12:25 PM
Steve Torelli
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Canon 1D Mark IV unsharp photographs


Dan,
OP refers to 1/2 sec. SS for the bottle picture. It's very possible that after only two seconds there would still be some vibration from MLU, especially when viewing at 100%. I wouldn't send my camera off to Canon based on softness of a picture taken at such a slow SS and wide aperture. I'd test it under varied conditions first. Just sayin'



Aug 19, 2014 at 12:29 PM
scalesusa
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Canon 1D Mark IV unsharp photographs


gdanmitchell wrote:
A two second exposure on the tripod in windless conditions should not be affected by vibration, so I think that the OP has made a fair test in those terms. (Any vibrations at the start of the exposure, which would be truly minimal, would comprise a very small fraction of the overall exposure time, and thus not produce the sort of softness that he is concerned about.)

Dan



It all depends on the tripod used, and the surface the tripod is sitting on. Some crank up the center post, place it on a wooden floor, and the vibration will normally result in blurring at slow shutter speeds. If its a sturdy tripod on a concrete slab with center column down, and no trucks, trains, or heavy traffic outside, then it should be stable.

I'd second testing the camera at a proper shutter speed to eliminate any possibility of vibration, even if it is thought to be stable.

I'd also compare a shot with live autofocus to one with phase detect to see if its a autofocus issue.






Aug 19, 2014 at 12:36 PM
Steve Torelli
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Canon 1D Mark IV unsharp photographs


"It all depends on the tripod used, and the surface the tripod is sitting on. Some crank up the center post, place it on a wooden floor, and the vibration will normally result in blurring at slow shutter speeds. If its a sturdy tripod on a concrete slab with center column down, and no trucks, trains, or heavy traffic outside, then it should be stable.

I'd second testing the camera at a proper shutter speed to eliminate any possibility of vibration, even if it is thought to be stable.

I'd also compare a shot with live autofocus to one with phase detect to see if its a autofocus issue."

+1

Good point about the tripod. OP says not all shots are out of focus. With the settings he's using, zoom lens at it's extreme FL and widest aperture, and very slow SS, IMHO you can't expect 100% keepers. There's no point in taking shots of these subjects at those SS unless you're putting the camera and lens combo through a torture test. Again, my advice is to use more realistic settings and then see what you get.



Aug 19, 2014 at 12:56 PM
mogud
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Canon 1D Mark IV unsharp photographs


If these shots were taken on the second floor of a house at these SS's, just walking on the floor will be enough vibration.

It's also difficult to judge sharpness at pixel peeping magnifications of a curved surface like a bottle neck.



Aug 19, 2014 at 01:22 PM
gdanmitchell
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Canon 1D Mark IV unsharp photographs


scalesusa wrote:
It all depends on the tripod used, and the surface the tripod is sitting on. Some crank up the center post, place it on a wooden floor, and the vibration will normally result in blurring at slow shutter speeds. If its a sturdy tripod on a concrete slab with center column down, and no trucks, trains, or heavy traffic outside, then it should be stable.

I'd second testing the camera at a proper shutter speed to eliminate any possibility of vibration, even if it is thought to be stable.

I'd also compare a shot with live autofocus to one with phase detect
...Show more

A 2 second wait period will, with virtual certainly, allow any residual vibrations to settle, whether the center post is up or not and regardless of the surface beneath the tripod. If the issues are vibrations from traffic and the like, no tripod will resolve that issue.

In any case, I'm not seeing motion blur as the issue here.



Aug 19, 2014 at 01:34 PM
Andrew J
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Canon 1D Mark IV unsharp photographs


2 seconds after he presses the shutter button? Hardly.


Aug 19, 2014 at 02:08 PM
Milan Hutera
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Canon 1D Mark IV unsharp photographs


From the test photos you provided, it appears your camera/lens combo is front focusing. Also keep in mind, that 1D IV requires a substantial sharpening in PP (at least that has been my experience so far, I've had the camera for two years now). I, too, found the photos to be quite unsharp, but once I found the LR sharpening formula I'm happy with, I have no problems with most of my shots.


Aug 19, 2014 at 02:11 PM
jcolwell
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Canon 1D Mark IV unsharp photographs


A two second shutter delay on a tripod indoors with MLU and a two-second shutter delay should produce nice, sharp images, provided the shutter isn't being depressed in haste, by a klutz.

You should definitely do AFMA with your lens. My 24-70/2.8L II is +1 on my 1DIV. It takes sharp photos without needing much 'extra' sharpening in PP.



Aug 19, 2014 at 02:27 PM
claesto
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Canon 1D Mark IV unsharp photographs


Thanks for the great advice and tips. I'll definately try to do more test shots and look into the micro-adjustments. Is this something I can do without special software (came across it in another thread) just be feel, or is it worth paying for Reiken FoCal for instance?

I just went out and did some sunset photographs. Playing around with different AF settings and AF point selections.

@Milan Hutera: I do get good results with sharpening in PP with LR. But that often brings up the noise as well. You can use NR, but that softens the image again a bit. I just find it weird that it needs sharpening. As far as I remember from class, when using the enlarger, if your negative was sharp, the enlarger print was sharp as well. No need for "additional sharpening". But I could be wrong.



Aug 19, 2014 at 02:39 PM
Milan Hutera
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Canon 1D Mark IV unsharp photographs


claesto wrote:
Thanks for the great advice and tips. I'll definately try to do more test shots and look into the micro-adjustments. Is this something I can do without special software (came across it in another thread) just be feel, or is it worth paying for Reiken FoCal for instance?

I just went out and did some sunset photographs. Playing around with different AF settings and AF point selections.

@Milan Hutera: I do get good results with sharpening in PP with LR. But that often brings up the noise as well. You can use NR, but that softens the image again a bit.
...Show more

You have to "dial in" some masking as well. The increased noise in areas such as sky or bokeh will be pretty much a history. Then add some slight NR to fine-tune.




Aug 19, 2014 at 02:51 PM
Ernie Aubert
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Canon 1D Mark IV unsharp photographs


You don't need any software (besides a raw converter - assuming you're shooting in raw) to do AF micro adjustment. Just use a sturdy tripod, MLU, and wide-open aperture. Focus at the distance you're concerned about, and take nine shots, with micro adjustment values set to -20, -15, -10, -5, 0, 5, 10, 15, & 20. Look at the files in your raw converter. You'll be able to see the effect of the varying adjustment values. It will be obvious which one is closest; you can then repeat the series with values varying by one, starting from the one that seemed to be closest initially. When you find the one that looks sharpest, use that one. Some cameras allow setting two values for zoom lenses, but I don't think the 1D IV does.

Digital is different from film. With almost all DSLRs, you need to do some sharpening to the files; it's par for the course. There's something called an anti-aliasing filter in front of the sensor (on most DSLRs), and it induces some blurring.

Edit:
Here's a link to a Canon web page that thoroughly describes AF micro adjustment. (It's a bit out of date in that it doesn't reflect the recent availability of two adjustment values (for short and long focal length settings) for zoom lenses), but it's very complete and good:
http://www.learn.usa.canon.com/resources/articles/2011/af_microadjustment_article.shtml



Aug 19, 2014 at 02:59 PM
jcolwell
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Canon 1D Mark IV unsharp photographs


Also see snapsy's "dot tune" process,

https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1187247/0

I use the Lens Align II target to do manual step-changes to the LiveView AF focus results, with the image remote-displayed in EOS Utility on my notebook. There are many ways to do this. The successful ones are those that you approach with sensible caution, and take your time. A lot of time is not required.



Aug 19, 2014 at 03:39 PM
TeamSpeed
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Canon 1D Mark IV unsharp photographs


To do a test, you want all factors in your favor to create the situation where the camera can only be to blame. Bump your ISO up, to make sure your shutter is fast enough, then do your tests. Also, I see a bit of front and back focusing in these tests, so MFA your lenses before the test as well. As for ISO, the 1D4 is actually better at high ISO than the 5D2, at least with the copies I had. The 1D4 was about 1/3 to 1/2 stop better.


Aug 19, 2014 at 05:00 PM
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