canon 100-400

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looneytunez1024

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These images dont look as sharp as others pictures ive seen with this lens

but my problem is some images ive taken come out sharper than others now my question is is my lens faulty or is it me? I have noticed a few changes in the settings but wouldnt of though they would of made such a big difference but probably wrong

mg1241.jpg

1/250 f6.3 ISO 100

img1238p.jpg

1/250 f14 ISO 400

Would these differences in settings make such a difference or is it me or is it the lens?

These were both done in AV mode
 
I found mine sharpest at f8 at the long end. Maybe diffraction creeping in at higher f stops. On a tripod/beanbag I turned IS off which seemed to improve sharpness. My copy was soft wide open. Hope this helps.
 
We can't judge sharpness from images that size.

Post some 100% crops. Those images were at 400mm 1/250. Are you handholding? At that shutter speed you might be getting a tad of camera shakes.
And shooting through a wire fence isn't going to do the IQ any good either.

Remember that images you see on the web will be processed. Good processing techniques can make images look a lot better.
 
squishy said:
We can't judge sharpness from images that size.

Post some 100% crops. Those images were at 400mm 1/250. Are you handholding? At that shutter speed you might be getting a tad of camera shakes.
And shooting through a wire fence isn't going to do the IQ any good either.

Remember that images you see on the web will be processed. Good processing techniques can make images look a lot better.
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I was handholding. The second one came out sharper than the first which is something i dont quite understand.

How do i do a 100% crop? Sorry for a daft question
 
looneytunez1024 said:
I was handholding. The second one came out sharper than the first which is something i dont quite understand.

How do i do a 100% crop? Sorry for a daft question
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Crop the photograph so severely that the crop is small enough to be displayed at 100% resolution on computer monitors.
Make the crop on an area that you are sure is in focus, pick a section where the details look sharpest.

Lenses, especially zooms, do tend to get sharper when you stop down. The depth of field on the shot at f/14 will be much larger as well.

My 100-400 produces perfectly acceptable images wide open at 400mm, but does get more contrasty stopped down a bit. It's best around f/8.

There are a whole load of other things that could have made the second shot sharper though. The first could have a touch of camera shake, it could be less well focussed, or the out of focus wire that goes right through the tiger's face could be making it look soft.
 
My 100-400 is also sharpest at about f8, I've only used it on a tripod and haven't tried it narrower than this.
 
Hi

For the record over the years I have found from the copies I have hired and now bought one they do vary slightly in their performance. Having said that the #1 image you posted does PP nicely with a tad of contrast boost and sharpening ~ for the record I do not let my 40D doing any incamera sharpening or contrast processing.

If you wish I can upload (to my webspace) the PP checked image I did and then remove it once you are happy to have seen the effect???

PS For the record ~ if you care to take a look at my "Wolf here" thread they were taken with the 100-400 and noted any croping but all were PPed to yield the look you will see there!
 
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Using long lenses well, and consistently well, is not easy at the best of times. Using marginal shutter speeds and shooting through a wire fence is not going to help ;)
 
Brace yourself against anything solid. I use this lens with a 2x HH frequently. It's a big long awkward thing to manipulate but its possible to catch good slices.
 
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That's not lens softness, that's a combination of three things, imho.

Firstly, from the bokeh it looks as though the 'soft' area coincides with a wire from the fence you're shooting through; secondly, there's a degree of camera shake - you need at least 1/750 shooting at 400mm on a crop, and preferably 1/1000. Use the ISO to get your speeds up.

Finally, 600mm at operating distances of 20-30 feet gives you wafer thin depth of field at f/5.6 or even f/8. Use the centre cross-type AF sensor only, and get a good lock on the eyes.
 
I have been considering selling it and getting a 70-200 and adding a extender on it making it the same focal distance but slightly lighter but not sure if I'd be happy with it as I love this lens.

My other worry was the lens was faulty and didn't want to sell it in case it was so based on the comments I'm guessing it's not and it's my fault again I'm heading to Edinburgh zoo next week so will have another try

In order to get faster shutter speeds what sort of iso settings would I need?
 
Box Brownie said:
If you wish I can upload (to my webspace) the PP checked image I did and then remove it once you are happy to have seen the effect???
Click to expand...

sure go ahead I don't mind
 
looneytunez1024 said:
I have been considering selling it and getting a 70-200 and adding a extender on it making it the same focal distance but slightly lighter but not sure if I'd be happy with it as I love this lens.

My other worry was the lens was faulty and didn't want to sell it in case it was so based on the comments I'm guessing it's not and it's my fault again I'm heading to Edinburgh zoo next week so will have another try

In order to get faster shutter speeds what sort of iso settings would I need?
Click to expand...


The newest 70-200 f/2.8L IS USM II with a 2x extender is supposed to be nearly as sharp as the 100-400, and it has more recent IS.
Comes at a hefty price though. But that is seriously great lens without the extender. You wouldn't be doing it justice to only ever use it with a 2x.

The older 70-200 lenses weren't supposed to be brilliant with the 2x.
 
The older 70-200 works great with a 2x, just not quite as good as the 100-400.

Rule of thumb is shutter speed is a function of the length so minimum at 400mm is 1/400th, but as mentioned higher is better.

Did you use single AF point or on all points? the 100% crop is soft so possibly you didn't quite get focus on the eyes. As mentioned, there's definitely camera shake on the pics as you can see double branches (possibly caused by the IS?)

So sorry I think it's you not the lens.
 
My 100-400 is tack sharp open wide.
Three things might affect yours:

1. Not a very sharp copy, rare but it happens
2. It front focuses or back focuses, check it with one of the test pages available online
3. You are using a filter in front of it, I found that most filters on the 100-400 degrade quality significantly

So, in this order, remove the filter if you are using one, test focusing, and take some shots with a tripod to eliminate user error.

Let us know what happens!
 
Okey dokey, please bear in mind these are rough and ready using some default settings that I would normally apply during the process from origial full sized files so doing the same to web sized ones can only illustrate what is possible :)
Your original
mg1241.jpg

Contrast adjusted and sharpened
edited_mg1241.jpg


On the crop
Your original
img1238e.jpg


Just sharpened
editedimg1238e.jpg


I hope that helps and as mentioned by another poster a lot of what you will see on the www is where images have been post processed for showing in web sized files.
 
PS do not beat yourself up over any "pilot error" all lenses have their own characteristics and even in more experienced hands not all 100% are keepers :lol:
 
looneytunez1024 said:
I'm not sure what to do now
Click to expand...

Stick with it :)

It's a great lens. The new 70-200L 2.8 Mk2 comes very close with the new Mk3 extender, and is absolutely fantastic at shorter focal lengths, but it won't better the 100-400L at the long end. And the cost :eek:

I didn't notice you had a filter on. I really don't know why people fit those damn things, especially on a long lens (where they often do most damage) and you've already got a four inches deep lens hood that came free with the lens. No excuses! Throw that bl00dy filter away.

Keep your shutter speeds up. 1/250sec is pushing it even with IS (which is not the best on that lens) but some folks might get away with it. If you can't get that up to 1/500sec with IS (1/1000sec minimum without IS) then shoot several frames. Chances are one with be sharp.

Check your hand holding technique. Take all the weight in your left hand cupped under the lens, left elbow braced gently but firmly against your ribs, stand at 45 degrees to the subject. Be smooth. Focus carefully on the eyes, centre point AF.

Get as close as you can. Don't use all the zoom until you've run out of space. It will probably be sharpest at f/8. If wire fencing is unavoidable, try to shoot between it. It shows up most in the background bokeh (you can see the pattern quite clearly) but it's obviously not helping the main subject either.

As I said above, using long lenses isn't easy. Everything goes against you in terms of shutter speeds and f/number and the ISO you need to get them, plus DoF is usually very shallow and lenses like that are often used on moving targets that really test technique. It's nothing too hard though, just be aware of the danger areas, and be meticulous :)
 
looneytunez1024 said:
I didnt have a filter on i dont have a filter big enough for this lens how and where does it say i have a filter? As i will need to correct this some how
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Oh sorry. I picked that up from Micloi's post. I thought he knew something I didn't. My bad ;)
 
HoppyUK said:
Oh sorry. I picked that up from Micloi's post. I thought he knew something I didn't. My bad ;)
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No worries i was panicing then i went and got the lens just to make sure i didnt have one lol thanks for the advice though ill give it a try at edinburgh zoo next week.

Also i did use mf on the tiger shots and im not very good with mf as i cant tell if its in focus or not (doesnt help being partially sighted and not wearing my glasses) Ill wear them next week and see if i get any better shots
 
Box Brownie said:
Okey dokey, please bear in mind these are rough and ready using some default settings that I would normally apply during the process from origial full sized files so doing the same to web sized ones can only illustrate what is possible :)
Your original
mg1241.jpg

Contrast adjusted and sharpened
edited_mg1241.jpg


On the crop
Your original
img1238e.jpg


Just sharpened
editedimg1238e.jpg


I hope that helps and as mentioned by another poster a lot of what you will see on the www is where images have been post processed for showing in web sized files.
Click to expand...

Looks much better so at least if i screw up i can fix it lol although i should try harder not to screw it up in the first place
 
If it's in warranty they'll do it for free.
 
I don't think the focus is that wrong. If you look at the platform, it is clearly out at the front, out at the back, and about right where the tiger's face appears to be. It's not far off for sure, but hard to tell if it's spot on.

Don't judge the lens by just one picture. Maybe the tiger twitched! It's more likely a tad of camera shake and the fence that is taking the edge of it. Give it another go, on a human subject, preferably not one in a wire cage. Careful focus on the eyes, higher shutter speed, steady hand holding technqiue - it'll be fine. Maybe push the sharpness setting up a couple of notches in picture styles :thumbs: The difference with long lenses is you can't just point and squirt and get away with it as you often can with shorter focal lengths.
 
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squishy said:
If it's in warranty they'll do it for free.
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sadly its not unless they offer a 6 year warrenty i got it off here in sept its a 2004 model i was looking at either calibrating it if i still have problems with it or replace it with a newer model
 
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micloi said:
I agree with Richard, take some shots with a tripod and focus carefully on a static subject first (or even better on a focus test sheet) before you assume the worst!

See the PDF below for instructions:
http://www.focustestchart.com/focus10.pdf
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I took these images yesterday with my 450D and i think they look sharper but could be wrong (Ive put them as links as they are full size images and come out huge)

http://img132.imageshack.us/i/mg1845n.jpg/

http://img819.imageshack.us/i/mg1846.jpg/

Ive rang canon and its £60 ph and they can calibrate the lens with my 60D or just calibrate the lens

how can i test if its my camera or my lens

the reaosn i ask is because images seem to come out clearer and sharper on the 450d than they do on the 60d
 
looneytunez1024 said:
No worries i was panicing then i went and got the lens just to make sure i didnt have one lol thanks for the advice though ill give it a try at edinburgh zoo next week.

Also i did use mf on the tiger shots and im not very good with mf as i cant tell if its in focus or not (doesnt help being partially sighted and not wearing my glasses) Ill wear them next week and see if i get any better shots
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Lou, stop worrying about the lens. There is no firm evidence from that shot that the focus is a problem, rather the opposite actually.

Why on earth are you using manual focus? Nobody beats AF with a subject like that. Maybe you could reconfigure your camera to back-button AF which sometimes gives you more control, using the centre AF point. Everyone who tries it, including me, seems to stick with it that way.

Try some test shots, and I'm sure you will be reassured. And don't go anywhere near any test target that involves shooting an A4 sheet of paper at close range. There are numerous threads about how to do an AF check properly, if you need to. See how it goes first.
 
The shots will look sharper at 100% from the 450D.

The 60D produces higher resolution files, when you view them at 100% you're more zoomed in than you are viewing a 450D file at 100%, so you're starting to strain the resolving power of the lens. Downsize the 60D files to the same size as the 450D files and they should look the same or better.
 
thanks guys for putting up with me ill try the test sheet and try a higher shutter speed and use a tripod and see if i get better images ill also reduce the quality so the same as the 450D and see what happens
 
looneytunez1024 said:
thanks guys for putting up with me ill try the test sheet and try a higher shutter speed and use a tripod and see if i get better images ill also reduce the quality so the same as the 450D and see what happens
Click to expand...

Please see this thread and try the cerial box and ruler as a test target for AF, post #40. It is easiest and most accurate. Shooting a close target will lead you astray - you need to be 3-4m away with that lens at 400mm ;)

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=310467&page=2
 
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