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Far-away shots on 7D w/ 50mm 1.4 look blury

J

JMorton6

Senior member
Why does it do that - does the lens have some sort of maximum focusing length, beyond which everything looks blurry? It's superb for close-up portraits, but sucks for shots from afar.
 
Post some examples. This post is so vague that there could be dozens of things wrong. Also keep in mind that the focus system in that lens is absolutely horrendous, so you will be bound to get some OOF shots.
 
JMorton6 said:
Oh, because I'm always shooting with 1.4 with that one - I just got it. How do I know which aperture to tweak it to?
Click to expand...

Read your camera's manual and use the light meter.


Also, focus helps. You can focus on anything, regardless of aperture. A large aperture like 1.4 will have *less* focus depth (called depth of field) than a smaller aperture. Just make sure you know what you're focusing on. Use single point focus.
 
some people like to call it depth of focus! Not only that, Most lenses are not at their sharpest wide open. When you're shooting your subject far away, you're also focusing on infinity, which also isn't the camera's best sharpest focal point.

But it still can be done, and using 1.4 is definitely a big weakness...
 
JMorton6 said:
Oh, because I'm always shooting with 1.4 with that one - I just got it. How do I know which aperture to tweak it to?
Click to expand...

If your using 1.4 on every shot, what you might be seeing is the results of shooting a lens wide open, things such as Chromatic Aberrations and flare or just general sharpness. Generally a lens performs better being stopped down one or two full stops.

DoF should not be the problem if the subject is at a distance, since DoF is affected by subject distance and magnification, with shorter distance from lens having less DoF. At 13 feet away, f/1.4 you should have 1 foot of DoF, and moving to 2.6 feet of DoF at 20 feet away.

Could it be subject movement or slower shutter speeds? Samples?
 
Try the same shot with Aperture Priority mode and set that at f/8 or higher.
 
corkyg said:
Try the same shot with Aperture Priority mode and set that at f/8 or higher.
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Then his shutter speed will undoubtedly dip below handhold speeds. Av and Tv modes are ridiculous options for new shooters. He needs to be using M only until he understands the basics of exposure and reciprocity.


Then again we all could be wrong because the OP hasn't posted samples.
 
post some examples... i know you don't like posting anything that isn't your best, but we (the community) will be able to help you better to see what's going with your shots!
 
angry hampster said:
Then his shutter speed will undoubtedly dip below handhold speeds. Av and Tv modes are ridiculous options for new shooters. He needs to be using M only until he understands the basics of exposure and reciprocity.


Then again we all could be wrong because the OP hasn't posted samples.
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OP is using a 7D and a 50/1.4, i would hope he doesn't need to be taught the basics of exposure.

and in daylight f/8, 100 ISO should have a shutter speed of 1/400th. even with the world's shakiest hands that's far away from the handholding threshold.
 
angry hampster said:
Then his shutter speed will undoubtedly dip below handhold speeds. Av and Tv modes are ridiculous options for new shooters. He needs to be using M only until he understands the basics of exposure and reciprocity.
Then again we all could be wrong because the OP hasn't posted samples.
Click to expand...

In broad daylight? Set the ISO at 200 and it should have a shutter speed well over 1/30th. It really would help to see a sample or two.
 
angry hampster said:
Then his shutter speed will undoubtedly dip below handhold speeds. Av and Tv modes are ridiculous options for new shooters. He needs to be using M only until he understands the basics of exposure and reciprocity.


Then again we all could be wrong because the OP hasn't posted samples.
Click to expand...

What?! For new shooters, aperture priority or shutter priority are much easier to understand than manual. A or S modes allow the new user to experiment with the effects of one aspect of exposure while allowing the camera to set the other. This way they don't have to think about something like, "if I go from f/1.4 to f/5, I have to adjust the shutter speed to...um..."

Playing with only A mode in particular will allow the new shooter to experience the depth of field effects of shooting various shots at various aperture settings to see that f/22 allows more of the scene to be in focus than f/1.4.
 
Why not learn to use the camera's internal light meter first and then go from there? Like I said, just reading the manual goes a long way.
 
angry hampster said:
Av and Tv modes are ridiculous options for new shooters. He needs to be using M only until he understands the basics of exposure and reciprocity.
Click to expand...

Uh, no. You really don't need to know anything about exposure to get good pictures.

All you basically need to know is high shutter speed = sharpness, low = blur and that smaller f numbers means that there is less area in focus. +EV makes things brighter and -EV makes things darker. None of that requires M.
 
GoSharks said:
Uh, no. You really don't need to know anything about exposure to get good pictures.

All you basically need to know is high shutter speed = sharpness, low = blur and that smaller f numbers means that there is less area in focus. +EV makes things brighter and -EV makes things darker. None of that requires M.
Click to expand...

I agree. Too many photographers think you need a masters level understanding of the zone system before you should be allowed to touch a camera. Some of the best photographers I know are primarily concerned with capturing their shot and far less so with what mode their camera is in. What you listed is more than enough to know to get started.
 
angry hampster said:
Why not learn to use the camera's internal light meter first and then go from there? Like I said, just reading the manual goes a long way.
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And in AV/TV modes, the camera will do exactly the same thing you would do in manual mode using the light meter, only about 1000 times faster.
 
Munky said:
And in AV/TV modes, the camera will do exactly the same thing you would do in manual mode using the light meter, only about 1000 times faster.
Click to expand...

And to get correct exposure, you STILL wind up using EC to dial up or down. Why not eliminate the camera's guesswork and consistently nail exposures?
 
GoSharks said:
Please tell me what is wrong about my statement.
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Most photography enthusiasts are technicians rather than artists.
http://www.amazon.com/Best-Camera-On.../dp/0321684788

"The pictures in the book, all taken with Chase’s iPhone, make up a visual notebook—a photographic journal—from the past year of his life. The book is full of visually-rich iPhone photos and peppered with inspiring anecdotes.

Two megapixels at a time, these images have been gathered and bound into a book that represents a stake in the ground. With it, Chase underscores the idea that an image can come from any camera, even a mobile phone. As Chase writes, “Inherently, we all know that an image isn’t measured by its resolution, dynamic range, or anything technical. It’s measured by the simple—sometimes profound, other times absurd or humorous or whimsical—effect that it can have upon us. If you can see it, it can move you.”"
 
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