Soft?

[Pehpsi]

Hey.

Got a few screenshots at 100%, OOC. They look way too soft, and I think they should be much sharper considering the high shutter and AF/S?

What do you reckon?

D70 + 70-200VR - 1/1000s, f2.8, 200mm, AF/S.

[Alpha_7]

Are they both at 2.8, you're not going to have a huge DOF with at 2.8 I would think ?

[Pehpsi]

Good to see you've got the christmas spirit in your avatar

Yeah I guess 2.8 doesn't help. Just thought when looking at them they should be a bit more crisp. I like to think I have a pretty steady hand. Might run a few tests tomorrow and see what I get..

[sirhc55]

Soft as, and as Craig said f/2.8! Even so at f/2.8 they should be sharp as if the focus was correct.

Nothing appears sharp so it could be caused by something else

[Hudo]

Pehpsi,

We have the 80~200mm f2.8 non VR & the 70~200mm f2.8 VR lenses. I have found the VR version is much "softer" @ f2.8 than the other lens. Mainly shooting models and it's a visual observation we have made over the past 3 months since having both lenses....

Hudo

[Glen]

James,
According to http://www.dofmaster.com at 10 metres with a 200mm 2.8 DX body you would have 28cm of DOF. At 20 metres it rises to 112cm. I agree with Chris, nothing looks in focus. Were you using continuous focus?

[Pehpsi]

Thanks.

I made sure I was using the AF-S focus mode and had a decent shutter.

I'm gonna take it out soon and shoot some shots with the same settings and see how I go.. I'll let you know what the deal is

[Oneputt]

I agree with Chris. On close examination nothing appears in focus, perhaps a combination of wide open shutter and a little movement?

[ATJ]

I made sure I was using the AF-S focus mode and had a decent shutter.

That would be your problem. You should be using AF-C. By the time you acquired focus and actually taken the shot, you may have lost focus but the camera would still let you take the shot.

[MATT]

That would be your problem. You should be using AF-C. By the time you acquired focus and actually taken the shot, you may have lost focus but the camera would still let you take the shot.

The other thing I found with AF-C was that by default my D200/300 would take an image whether it is in focus or not. This caused many missed shots.

I changed it and have a better keeper rate. I have not shot panning drag cars though.

MATT

edit:- was these images before or after you dropped it???? Maybe time to do some testing focus may be off.

[Pehpsi]

Yeah AF-C lets you take shots even if the subject is not in focus.

I use AF-C for panning, and switch to AF-S for static shots. Even if the car was moving slightly in these shots I would think that a shutter of 1/1000 would be quick enough to freeze any motion?

I also have the 'beep' turned off that lets you know when you have focus, might tun it back on

I'll take some test shots soon and post the results..

Cheers.

[bwhinnen]

That would be your problem. You should be using AF-C. By the time you acquired focus and actually taken the shot, you may have lost focus but the camera would still let you take the shot.

The other thing I found with AF-C was that by default my D200/300 would take an image whether it is in focus or not. This caused many missed shots.

I changed it and have a better keeper rate. I have not shot panning drag cars though.

MATT

edit:- was these images before or after you dropped it???? Maybe time to do some testing focus may be off.

At least the D200 lets you decide if you want it to take a pic in AF-C mode if it is in or out of focus according to the AF...

[ATJ]

I use AF-C for anything other than really static subjects (buildings, parked cars, etc.) and if the camera is stable (tripod or similar).

This is from the D300 manual:

Choose singe-servo AF for landscapes and other stationary objects. Continuous-servo AF may be a better choice for erratically-moving subjects. Manual focus is recommended when the camera is unstable using autofocus.

Yes, you may get more shots that are out of focus using AF-C, but you will also get more total shots. In my experience overall you get more in-focus shots. With AF-C the camera keeps adjusting the focus right up until the shutter goes.

[Pehpsi]

A few more screenshots @ 100%:

Same settings as the car shots: 1/1000, f2.8, AF-S, Handheld, OOC.







They look better to me. They were closer though, so maybe that helps.

[ATJ]

Try on a tripod and see what difference you get.

Also try stopping down and see what difference you get.

Both of these will help you understand where the problem may be.

[bwhinnen]

I've got the same combo as you so can take a pic if you want so you can compare. My 70-200 on the D200 show no sharpness issues at all, I've not tried it on the D70 so will see...

[Pehpsi]

Yeah that would be great

What's the most accurate way to test this kind of stuff?

[bwhinnen]

Well it was getting a bit gloomy when I finally got time to take some pics.

D70, 70-200 VR, f2.8 1/320 200mm about 15m distance, VR on active, ISO800, spot metering, EV -0.3. Focus point was the safety cap on the star picket.

Both shots below are just converted straight from RAW to JPEG via Capture 4 and then moved to PS and converted to sRGB and saved for web.

100% crop


800px resize.


Cheers
Brett

[Pehpsi]

Thanks heaps for your efforts It looks quite good I think for the settings used.

I did some more tests myself and got some normal results, with a few odd ones. I'm confident that things are close to normal, and never use pics at 100% anyway, so I'll just keep snappin' away..