5D mkii & 70-200 f/2.8 still poor results - I could cry, please help

jetpack

jetpack

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Lyle
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Guys,

Please help!

I'm holidaying up in Scotland, the thing I look forward to more than anything in the year - more than Christmas!

We stay in a lodge in the middle of the forest and the wildlife is spectacular. However, I'm frustrated to hell with the shots I'm getting and although I've posted on here before see this link I'm still not getting good results, despite making changes to my camera.

I'm starting to seriously think it's the camera, or the lens or both. I had better results from my 550d...

Take a look at this shot I took today, I was 5 feet away and used the 70-200 with x1.4 extender. It's extremely disappointing:

IMG_5096-2.jpg


I compare it to something like this and I just feel like I'm a million miles away.


Crested Tit in Snow on Scots Pine Branch by Margaret J Walker, on Flickr

Any ideas people? I'm at a complete loss.
 
have you tried calibrating it?

also iso 6400 is quite high and f5.8 is wide open
esp with the tc i would try for f8 ish

i had a thread on here recently testing my sigma 70-200 and tc
have you tested the sharpness on static object first?
 
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what was the shutter speed, aperture etc?
 
Thanks again for the responses. Details:

Focal Length: 370.0mm (35mm equivalent: -21...
Exposure Time: 0.0010 s (1/1000)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focus Dist.: 9.77m
ISO Equiv.: 6400

Image Stabilizer was on.
 
Is this a Mkii or MkIII extender and is it ok without the extender?
 
it's a mk2 extender and I don't get much better results without the extender. This was taken today, it was pretty dark hence the high ISO:

IMG_5021.jpg


Focal Length: 200.0mm (35mm equivalent: -21...
Exposure Time: 0.0001 s (1/8000)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focus Dist.: 11.90m
ISO Equiv.: 6400
 
Did you have the focus distance limiter set to 2.5m-∞?
 
That tiger pic..............it couldn't have been that dark, the shutter speed is 1/8000th!
 
jetpackjack said:
Thanks again, this was on a tripod so even more disappointing that it turned out the way it did.
Click to expand...

jetpackjack said:
Thanks again for the responses. Details:

Focal Length: 370.0mm (35mm equivalent: -21...
Exposure Time: 0.0010 s (1/1000)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focus Dist.: 9.77m
ISO Equiv.: 6400

Image Stabilizer was on.
Click to expand...
I extremely rarely use tripod's myself but don't you turn IS off if your using one as it tries too counter the shake which is non existent on a good tripod :thinking:

Feel free too correct me anybody if im wrong :D
 
So...you think I need to set to 1.2m if it's approx 6-10m away?

It was quite shaded where the tiger shot was taken, I suppose our definitions of dark may differ...do you think those settings for the tiger shot were right!?
 
jetpackjack said:
Thanks again, this was on a tripod so even more disappointing that it turned out the way it did.
Click to expand...

jetpackjack said:
Thanks again for the responses. Details:

Focal Length: 370.0mm (35mm equivalent: -21...
Exposure Time: 0.0010 s (1/1000)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focus Dist.: 9.77m
ISO Equiv.: 6400

Image Stabilizer was on.
Click to expand...

If you are using a tripod then IS MUST be turned off.
Give it another go with the IS turned off.
 
As mentioned try IS off when using a tripod and looking at the tiger focus looks on the grass so it appears a little off being more towards you this might be if you've moved yourself some or that your lens needs abit of micro adjustment too set it up right really.
 
jetpackjack said:
So...you think I need to set to 1.2m if it's approx 6-10m away?

It was quite shaded where the tiger shot was taken, I suppose our definitions of dark may differ...do you think those settings for the tiger shot were right!?
Click to expand...

Set it to 1.2m to eliminate any distance issue.

Your shutter speed on the tiger shot was 1/8000th..........that's the limit, it can't go any higher so you should have reduced the ISO.

ISO 6400 seems too high for both these shots.

What focus points were active and were you using A1servo?
 
jetpackjack said:
I've heard that but I've been getting much worse shots with IS on and using handheld.
Click to expand...

Could be that you need to MA your camera/lens combination.

Is the camera brand new or did you buy it second hand? If second hand then it is possible that the previous owner micro adjusted and that it throwing your lens off, so check that.

You can get software to help in micro adjusting your camera/lens combination.
Have a look here.
 
Tbh my gear seems ok but i'll keep it bookmarked incase i have any potential doubts on new lens or bodies i might get in the future, Cheers for the info :thumbs:
 
I would say the only things wrong with these pics are the settings and the set up.
Hi ISO when not needed, IS on when on a tripod, etc.
As I always got told and still do, use the lowest ISO you can get away with, the shutter speed should equal or be higher than the focal length, so in these shots you could have used a much much lower shutter speed, also was 2.8 really necessary, lens are not normally at their sharpest when fully open, try using a higher F number as well.

I am no expert and do not pretend to be but the settings are just all wrong IMHO

spike
 
Just looked at the Exif. It says you used a 2x extender, not a 1.4. Not that that should make that much of a difference.
 
Whereabouts in Scotland are you holidaying? This issue is getting to me so if you are not too far away I may be prepared to visit with my 5DII and 70-200 & extenders for a comparison!!! Personally, I'm thinking your extender isn't right, but you say it's the same without it.:thinking: I've noticed that neither of my 1.4x (MkII or MkIII) seem to work well on the 300F4L, but I've not seen problems on the 70-200. I'm also intruiged why you are using the extender at 5ft from the subject?
 
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FourRingCircus said:
Whereabouts in Scotland are you holidaying? This issue is getting to me so if you are not too far away I may be prepared to visit with my 5DII and 70-200 & extenders for a comparison!!! Personally, I'm thinking your extender isn't right, but you say it's the same without it.:thinking: I've noticed that neither of my 1.4x (MkII or MkIII) seem to work well on the 300F4L, but I've not seen problems on the 70-200. I'm also intruiged why you are using the extender at 5ft from the subject?
Click to expand...

Exif says was 9.77 metres away, so 32ft!
 
jetpackjack said:
Take a look at this shot I took today, I was 5 feet away and used the 70-200 with x1.4 extender. It's extremely disappointing
Click to expand...
I'm reading posts - not studying data I can't actually see.;)
 
FourRingCircus said:
I'm reading posts - not studying data I can't actually see.;)
Click to expand...

Yep I see where you are coming from but it does make a big difference.

From 5ft away the image posted would be pretty much the whole image but from 32ft away it is a heavy crop. Makes a big difference to how far out of focus the subject is. The actual focus point may not even be in the image posted :)
 
OK, how much of a crop are the images you posted (bird and tiger)?

If the tiger is not cropped, then something it badly wrong with your autofocus calibration.

Try some more controlled tests. Do one with the camera autofocus then then do one where you focus with live view. Live view uses a different af system and in theory should be totally accurate. If you get better results in live view then your camera/lens combo need calibration.

The 70-200mm II only really delivers the best results with the Mk3 2x converter.
 
I'm sure the focus point wasn't in the bird-feeder image! (Limiter was wrongly set)
And why was ISO 6400?
And why was the tiger photo at 1/8000sec and still overexposed?
Why was IS-on while using a tripod?
If you answer these questions your photos will get better as if by magic.
 
Ploddles said:
Yep I see where you are coming from but it does make a big difference.

From 5ft away the image posted would be pretty much the whole image but from 32ft away it is a heavy crop. Makes a big difference to how far out of focus the subject is. The actual focus point may not even be in the image posted :)
Click to expand...
I understand this completely. All I'm saying is that I can't see the Exif so I have to believe what I read.;)

The other stuff I'm reading suggests that my tag line of 'all the gear and no idea' is not quite true. I've a lot better idea than I thought when compared to some of the settings being used here!!!:lol:
 
Guys, thanks you very much for the responses. Sorry I haven't responded sooner, I've just enjoyed a nice venison supper. I a currently sat in a wooden lodge in the middle of a forest in the Cairngorms, just outside of Kingussie - life doesn't get much better than this.

On to the photography...Ok so I get that the ISO is too high, I guess I played around with the settings and found that I got the best results from that. Here's a shot with a lower ISO but I don't feel it's any better than the shots taken with 6400. What do you think:

IMG_4903.jpg


I'm very keen to get this right but seriously thinking about moving across to Nikon as I feel I may get better results and when I've invested £2.5k in to my hobby I would hope for better results. I'll give things another go tomorrow with the following:

-lower ISO
-no IS if I use a tripod (although I'd prefer to get better results without a tripod)
-1.3 instead of 2.5 on the lens

Anything else?

Cheers,

Lyle
 
The squirrel is a lot better than the crested tit, but it's not perfect. Without knowing the details of the settings I can't comment further.

I'm sorry to say that moving to another manufacturer isn't going to help if the problem is behind the camera. I'm not trying to be offensive, just stating a fact.

Try keeping the ISO below 800. If it's a nice sunny day, you ought to be as low as possible, 100-200 being optimum.

Here is another suggestion. Remove any filters, remove the extender and put the 70-200 on the camera in full auto (green square) mode. See what you get from that and we can take it from there.:thumbs:
 
Don't worry about being offensive, I need to learn.

Ok so there aren't any filters so that removes that issue. Thanks for the ISO tip, I'll keep it a low as I can. I'll try it on full auto and see how I go. I'll report back tomorrow. I'm here until Saturday so let's hope I can crack it with your help guys.

Thanks for the help guys.
 
Hi

Took the liberty of down loading one hope that was ok any way just wondered are you using raw odd thing just thought when i take an odd shot for say e bay i change for small jpeg. I know it should still be sharp and it won't sharpen in CS5.

Have you got any noise reduction turned on in the camera,really odd one also on a 40D once had an issue where it would not look sharp it was the sensor had a thin film of oil if the camera is new could it be that.

Great place you are at hope you get sorted i would be gutted

Allan
 
Help us out here?

Are you cropping these images at all? This is vital in understanding what we are seeing.
 
and we need to know the focus points used!
 
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