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innershell · 07-23-2008, 12:10 PM

Originally Posted by Ben_Edict

I cannot quite recognise the problems with focus. Look at the first image with the rails. It is obviously very near to the camera - so most of the image plain will be out of focus, as at f8 the depth of field is not that big.

And your focus chart is simply very soft, which could be attributed to the lens, but there are other factors as well: The paper is not white, or you underexposed severly. in both cases, the contrast is very low. And contrast is a determining factor of "sharpness", this alone would explain the lack of. On top, test charts are photographed at very close distances, I assume it is the same here (I cannot read any EXIF data). So the depth of field will again be very shallow. On top, the FA 50 is not optimised for near distances, as it is not a macrop lens. So it might perform much better at middle distances and at infinity. I know, this sounds vague – but that is just the result of the simple fact, that the photographs are not conclusive.

You can control for back or front focus by simply comparing photos taken with and without AF. if the latter are visibly sharper, you may have indeed a AF problem.

Ben

Thanks Ben. After much research and looking around, I have concluded that nothing is wrong with either my camera or the lenses for the reasons you have already mentioned above. I also compared some of my better pictures with those of a professional wedding photographer and my pictures are actually sharper.

However, I realize now why I have issues with the softness of my images. Before a dSLR, I've owned several P&S cameras and upon reviewing my older pictures, they happen to be serveral orders sharper than images my dSLR produces today. But the quality of my dSLR picture is on par with others I have seen to date.

In summary, I consider this case closed! Thanks to everybody for all your suggestions and links. They were helpful for a newbie like me.

07-23-2008, 12:10 PM	#20
innershell Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Edmonton, AB, Canada Gallery Photos: 0 Posts: 141	Originally Posted by Ben_Edict I cannot quite recognise the problems with focus. Look at the first image with the rails. It is obviously very near to the camera - so most of the image plain will be out of focus, as at f8 the depth of field is not that big. And your focus chart is simply very soft, which could be attributed to the lens, but there are other factors as well: The paper is not white, or you underexposed severly. in both cases, the contrast is very low. And contrast is a determining factor of "sharpness", this alone would explain the lack of. On top, test charts are photographed at very close distances, I assume it is the same here (I cannot read any EXIF data). So the depth of field will again be very shallow. On top, the FA 50 is not optimised for near distances, as it is not a macrop lens. So it might perform much better at middle distances and at infinity. I know, this sounds vague – but that is just the result of the simple fact, that the photographs are not conclusive. You can control for back or front focus by simply comparing photos taken with and without AF. if the latter are visibly sharper, you may have indeed a AF problem. Ben Thanks Ben. After much research and looking around, I have concluded that nothing is wrong with either my camera or the lenses for the reasons you have already mentioned above. I also compared some of my better pictures with those of a professional wedding photographer and my pictures are actually sharper. However, I realize now why I have issues with the softness of my images. Before a dSLR, I've owned several P&S cameras and upon reviewing my older pictures, they happen to be serveral orders sharper than images my dSLR produces today. But the quality of my dSLR picture is on par with others I have seen to date. In summary, I consider this case closed! Thanks to everybody for all your suggestions and links. They were helpful for a newbie like me.