Day out with my Girlfriend

[BigFatLenses]

usually i only select 1 focus point, the center one... and use evaluative metering as for now..

 

[hotchoco1ate]

usually i only select 1 focus point, the center one... and use evaluative metering as for now..

its safe as long as you dont use too narrow a aperture.

 

[gymak90]

its safe as long as you dont use too narrow a aperture.

What is to be considered as a safe F no. for recomposition to be done without losing focus. I sometimes find at f2.8, recomposition of the frame will result in losing a bit of sharpness.

So the best bet is still to autofocus using the closest point, once AF locked, recompose and do minor MF adjustments. If under time constraits, then no choice, go wider, use a AF point, lock it and snap.

 

[candleghost]

Originally Posted by candleghost View Post

u don recompose, u compose first what u wan, shift your focusing to her eyes, remember only her eyes, den u snap

buying a 1.4lens or 1.2lens wont help if your shooting techniques is nt correct

i don't quite understand the first bit.. care to elaborate more to enlighten me?

i mean, if i compose first, then shift to the eyes to focus, won't the composition be lost unless i recompose?

most of the camera have more focus point now , esp the mid to high end de, and some crazy cameras have even 51 points which is more than enuff to focus the eyes after u compose your shot

 

[nomads]

I'd add on to bro night86mare's point...

if you don't have a godzillion number of AF points... shifting to the nearest and recomposing slightly is almost always a good way to get better focus... by the way, a good picture is often about good focus... not tact sharpness...

Modern day cams are way too sharp in my opinion... plus any sharpening can be down in post...

If you're starting to pick this up seriously... I'd suggest you try doing a walk-around session shooting at 1/60

Most vocational photogs are quite competant shooting at 1/80 with 1/125 being very comfortable for me.. work on technique, work on 'panning' your recomposition instead of rotating will usually ensure your focus stays relatively sharp.

Another way to get the most of your 50mm, shoot from a farther distance at 1.8
if you want to close the gap, getting a telephoto prime is the way to go.

:thumbsup:

 

[LArdius]

From talking about a photo, it digressed to a topic about lenses! :bigeyes:

 

[bullseyez]

all i can say is practice makes perfect ^^ ok not goin to change lens anymore. try not to re-compose. n use f2 or f2.8

 

[Limsgp]

*sign*.. no one believes that DoF of F1.8 is sufficient to cover the body thickness at a subject distance of 5m for a 50mm lens.. up to you lah.. it's your choice..

 

[bullseyez]

*sign*.. no one believes that DoF of F1.8 is sufficient to cover the body thickness at a subject distance of 5m for a 50mm lens.. up to you lah.. it's your choice..

any way we all wan to take nice photo.

but i do agree with you. just that sometime will lose some detail at lower body part if i focus on model's face

 

[bullseyez]

What is to be considered as a safe F no. for recomposition to be done without losing focus. I sometimes find at f2.8, recomposition of the frame will result in losing a bit of sharpness.

So the best bet is still to autofocus using the closest point, once AF locked, recompose and do minor MF adjustments. If under time constraits, then no choice, go wider, use a AF point, lock it and snap.

i think a safe F no. will b f5.6 and above.

 

[hotchoco1ate]

My advice to you is that you should test it out yourself..
If I'm not wrong, different lenses using the same f number will give different depth of field and bokeh. As for cser who said that f1.8 is good, perhaps he has a lot of practice with his lens already.
So the best way is to try it out yourself and you'll know.

Good luck

 

[VanGogh53]

I'd add on to bro night86mare's point...

if you don't have a godzillion number of AF points... shifting to the nearest and recomposing slightly is almost always a good way to get better focus... by the way, a good picture is often about good focus... not tact sharpness...

Modern day cams are way too sharp in my opinion... plus any sharpening can be down in post...

If you're starting to pick this up seriously... I'd suggest you try doing a walk-around session shooting at 1/60

Most vocational photogs are quite competant shooting at 1/80 with 1/125 being very comfortable for me.. work on technique, work on 'panning' your recomposition instead of rotating will usually ensure your focus stays relatively sharp.

Another way to get the most of your 50mm, shoot from a farther distance at 1.8
if you want to close the gap, getting a telephoto prime is the way to go.

Check out Scott Kelby's books (available in Popular); you can try using a tripod and see whether this will help provided you focus properly. Use the AF if your manual focussing has issue. Yes, increase your DOF by setting at f2.8 instead of f1.8. If all things fail, is the lens having a problem? Enjoy the hobby. You have a very sweet gf, congratulations!

 

[Limsgp]

but i do agree with you. just that sometime will lose some detail at lower body part if i focus on model's face

If the model is in a siting pose for e.g., whereby other part of the body maybe closer to you, then yes, it may lie outside the DoF.. If it is in a same plane, then no reason why it would be outside the DoF.

Btw, I didn't recommend taking at F1.8. I'm just saying that the soft subject is not necessary due to the DoF issue. It could be bcoz the lens is soft at F1.8, or the AF on the camera/len combination not entirely reliable. Personally, I would not use F1.8 for this lens.

But if I have a better lens, say, the 50mm F1.2 or 50mm F1.4, I would certainty use F1.8 or bigger aperture as desired.

In summary, it's not the DoF at F1.8 causing the soft subject at that kind of subject distance.

 

[tirimasu]

Wow! Pretty girlfriend u hav there~

 

[velasco]

ok im in a dilemma of upgrade my 50mm f1.8 into f1.4. dunno will tat help? mayb i did move my body too. mayb i need a single leg stand? lol

Hello all,

I encountered the same blurness with my 550d w 50mm f1.8...dunno why? Isn't the f1.8 supposed to be a good value for money lens

it is a good value for money lens. im still using it, and its crispy sharp with good technique and light OP, there is no need to upgrade i guess. increase your ISO, have proper breathing, focus first, scout for locations with good light, practice. don't need to jump onto the upgrade bandwagon, everytime something disappoints you

 

[horizon_grazer]

Do try with still subjects first, if you still not very clear, whether is lens, f-stop, focus point, etc issue.

At least it is not because your subject moving, that is causing the problem.
You got more time to concentrate on your focusing, without worrying your gf getting frustrated while you are focusing
Lot less disappointment if the test pictures does not turned out well

Give yourself a challenge, able to focus on the area you want on still subjects within 2-3 secs,
be it manual or auto focusing and the pictures come out sharp.

If you able to accomplish that, your focusing during your portrait shoot will be a lot easier.

 

[wootsk]

I think the problem that you get your subject OOF is because the way you recompose after you focus is wrong. I can't seems to find the guide I read last time about how to recompose while reducing OOF cause by increase in the distance from subject to lens due to lens movement and change in the arc angle made. The problem is more obvious with wider aperture size.

You do can read section 6 in http://photo.tutsplus.com/tutorials/shooting/achieving-better-focus-and-sharpness-in-your-images/ for better detail.

 

[wootsk]

Btw, your last photo seems to be centre focus which seems slightly clearer as compared to the previous few (centre focus point should be better as compared to the rest, maybe it's my eye). Btw you do want to try checking for back focusing problem as the focus seems more towards her hair then her eye (unless you aim at her hair). Also, you might want to increase the f-stop as your lens seems soft wide open.

I never used a ef 50mm f1.8 or read much of it's tech review before, my conclusion is base from the photos only.

 

[Tenelia]

With the 50mm on a crop body, and most are full body shots, I presume you're standing > 5m away from the subject in most of the shots?

The DoF @ F1.8 at this distance is > 60cm. I doubt it is an issue of too shallow DoF + recomposing resulting in blurred subject, Unless during recomposing you shifted > 60cm in front or behind, which in practical sense, is quite unlikely.

The 50mm is known to be quite soft wide open, that's one possibility.

Another is the AF of the camera might be unreliable.

*sign*.. no one believes that DoF of F1.8 is sufficient to cover the body thickness at a subject distance of 5m for a 50mm lens.. up to you lah.. it's your choice..

If the model is in a siting pose for e.g., whereby other part of the body maybe closer to you, then yes, it may lie outside the DoF.. If it is in a same plane, then no reason why it would be outside the DoF.

Btw, I didn't recommend taking at F1.8. I'm just saying that the soft subject is not necessary due to the DoF issue. It could be bcoz the lens is soft at F1.8, or the AF on the camera/len combination not entirely reliable. Personally, I would not use F1.8 for this lens.

But if I have a better lens, say, the 50mm F1.2 or 50mm F1.4, I would certainty use F1.8 or bigger aperture as desired.

In summary, it's not the DoF at F1.8 causing the soft subject at that kind of subject distance.

That's pretty good advice the first time round that you gave bro. Coming from a technical standpoint (No longer a photographer, I spend more time with consultancy), I hardly think that shallow dof is the issue. From what I can see, I agree with you too bro. At the distance he is shooting, I think lens softness AND mis-focusing (either back or front focus) is a more probable issue...

 

[wksoh]

Maybe that's probably why an efficient "live view" may be the future of entry level DSLRs. The face is tracked even before half press shutter.

Though I'm used to shooting with Ricoh SLX with OVF decades ago... I'm still pretty impressed with Live VIew technology... :thumbsup: Sony A55 seems like it's making waves in the entry level market...
I do have a concern about loss of light landing on the A55 sensor though.. so will be watching closely the feedback of users..