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Soft or Out of Focus #11968 12/09/07 07:26 PM 12/09/07 07:26 PM
Joined: Jul 2007 Tucson, Arizona, USA Tucson Jim OP Old hand
Tucson Jim OP Old hand Joined: Jul 2007 Tucson, Arizona, USA	I took this image at Joshua Tree NP using an Asahi Pentax SMC Takumara f4/300mm lens mounted on an Olympus Evolt E-510 with appropriate adapter. Camera settings were Aperture Priority mode, f22 at 1/125th ISO 200. Picture mode = Natural, Gradation = Normal, Sharpness = -1, Noise Filter & Noise Reduction = Off, WB = Auto (RAW + HQ) I focused manually and double checked using the depth of field guide on the lens. Post Processing - Adjusted WB from 3950K to 5400K, added a tiny bit of fill light and increased overall brightness and contrast very slightly. Resized to 640x480 for web. The image looks slightly out of focus to me, or is this what folks mean when they say a lens produces a soft image? I went with f22 looking for the largest depth of field I could get. Would I have been gotten a sharper image at say f11? Your suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Re: Soft or Out of Focus [Re: Tucson Jim] #11969 12/09/07 08:16 PM 12/09/07 08:16 PM
Joined: Feb 2006 Donner Summit, CA glamson Veteran
glamson Veteran Joined: Feb 2006 Donner Summit, CA	Quote: I took this image at Joshua Tree NP using an Asahi Pentax SMC Takumara f4/300mm lens mounted on an Olympus Evolt E-510 with appropriate adapter. Camera settings were Aperture Priority mode, f22 at 1/125th ISO 200. Picture mode = Natural, Gradation = Normal, Sharpness = -1, Noise Filter & Noise Reduction = Off, WB = Auto (RAW + HQ) I focused manually and double checked using the depth of field guide on the lens. Post Processing - Adjusted WB from 3950K to 5400K, added a tiny bit of fill light and increased overall brightness and contrast very slightly. Resized to 640x480 for web. The image looks slightly out of focus to me, or is this what folks mean when they say a lens produces a soft image? I went with f22 looking for the largest depth of field I could get. Would I have been gotten a sharper image at say f11? Your suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Jim, There are usually two edges to a sword and I think you've hit one here for your lens. I understand the thinking for using f/22 to get max DOF, but the other edge of the lens resolution sword is diffraction. Rather that try to explain it here, I refer you to the following link which I have found extremely useful when trying to maximize lens and camera resolution. It's a bit technical but the calculator at the bottom is very useful. http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/diffraction-photography.htm Some of my best http://www.lamsonweb.com/Galleries/Photography http://lamson.zenfolio.com/

Re: Soft or Out of Focus [Re: glamson] #11970 12/09/07 10:30 PM 12/09/07 10:30 PM
Joined: Jun 2005 TN Julie Addict
Julie Addict Joined: Jun 2005 TN	You probably would have gotten a sharper image at F11. Oly cameras do not handle small apertures well and I don't think I would use F22 on them. http://JuliePoole.com

Re: Soft or Out of Focus [Re: glamson] #11971 12/10/07 12:46 AM 12/10/07 12:46 AM
Joined: Jul 2007 Tucson, Arizona, USA Tucson Jim OP Old hand
Tucson Jim OP Old hand Joined: Jul 2007 Tucson, Arizona, USA	George: Thanks for the response and the link. The Cambridge in Colour Tutorial is one I have visited several times in the past. But, I must admit that, although I read and "kind of" understood the section on diffraction, it obviously was not running through my brain when I pressed the button on the remote. I learned two important lessons here. The second one is, I should have made several different exposures. I'm sure I'll pass that way again some time in the future. Now, if I can just get it to snow.

Re: Soft or Out of Focus [Re: Julie] #11972 12/10/07 04:20 AM 12/10/07 04:20 AM
Joined: Jul 2007 Tucson, Arizona, USA Tucson Jim OP Old hand
Tucson Jim OP Old hand Joined: Jul 2007 Tucson, Arizona, USA	Quote: You probably would have gotten a sharper image at F11. Oly cameras do not handle small apertures well and I don't think I would use F22 on them. Julie: Thanks for the info. BTW, great shots with your new E-3! I enjoyed your Field Review. Jim

Re: Soft or Out of Focus [Re: Tucson Jim] #11973 12/10/07 06:41 PM 12/10/07 06:41 PM
Joined: Mar 2005 Florida Jim Garvie Addict
Jim Garvie Addict Joined: Mar 2005 Florida	Jim, as George says, the smaller the aperture the greater the impact of diffraction on muddying up the images. Most lenses have a sweet spot in terms of optimum sharpness and it's usually 2-3 stops down from maximum. Personally, I like to shoot at F8 or F11 for scenics because it gives me good depth-of-field and good sharpness without any diffraction effects. There are reasons for closing a lens down -- usually when shooting macro or extreme wide-angle -- but for most lenses, try to shoot at the sweet spot. Jim Jim Garvie www.jagphoto.biz

Re: Soft or Out of Focus [Re: Jim Garvie] #11974 12/10/07 11:21 PM 12/10/07 11:21 PM
Joined: Feb 2005 Montana Tony Bynum Pooh-Bah
Tony Bynum Pooh-Bah Joined: Feb 2005 Montana	I think that the points raised here are good ones. The one not mentioned but is no less important with telephotos, and in your case long telephoto, and a landscape stretching across many miles, is limited DOF no matter what f stop you choose. long focal lengths dont have much DOF period. . . So compression has limits. . . www.tonybynum.com Tony Bynum Photography www.glacierparkphotographer.com

Re: Soft or Out of Focus [Re: Tony Bynum] #11975 12/11/07 02:31 AM 12/11/07 02:31 AM
Joined: Jul 2007 Umea Sweden T Treeblackburn Wanderer
Treeblackburn Wanderer T Joined: Jul 2007 Umea Sweden	Hi Jim I am probably one of the least experienced here but i will also hazard a thought, with an effective focal length of 600mm and a shutter speed of 125th even with a cable release it is possible there has been some sort of vibration issue connected with mirror slap etc.... Even with a good tripod head and tripod bracket for the lens:-) I can't remember whether there is the option to lift the mirror early with he 510 (Olympus call it anti shock on the E1) but if nothing else the self timer can surfice for this sort of landscape shot.

Re: Soft or Out of Focus [Re: Treeblackburn] #11976 12/11/07 05:27 PM 12/11/07 05:27 PM
Joined: Jul 2007 Tucson, Arizona, USA Tucson Jim OP Old hand
Tucson Jim OP Old hand Joined: Jul 2007 Tucson, Arizona, USA	Thanks Jim, Tony, & Mark. Mark, I don't think it was camera shake. I used a good tripod, solidly planted, mirror was locked-up, & there was no breeze. I think Tony, Julie, Jim and George hit the nail on the head. Wrong lens & wrong f/stop. The same shot with the 40-150mm kit lens at 150mm & f/10 produced a much sharper foreground. What a great learning experience this has been! Thanks to all who responded. Tucson Jim

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