Nooooooooo

Tacey

Tacey

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Stacey
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I think my camera has come to the end of its days :(

It's a 400d, I've had it about 4 or 5 years now and it's been well used... I've noticed everything being a little soft lately but put it down to being the kit lens that I've never replaced. Today my nice new tamron 17-50 arrived and the images are still soft. :( (I tested the lens on my mums 5d mII and it was perfectly sharp).

Does anyone know if there could be anything easily fixable that might be causing this? Or is it just a sign of the cameras age? I can't afford to replace it sadly.

Here is a comparison of the same lens on my camera and my mums camera. I used a tripod and the same settings as far as I'm aware.
These are two photos of a wood pattern -zoomed the lens to 50mm and 100% crops.

My cameras photo... soft! -
mycamera.jpg

Mums camera (obviously a much better camera than my 400d but still) -
mumscamera-1.jpg


I'm not imagining this am I!?
 
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mycamera.jpg


Hi

Here your shot,just sharpen it a bit in pp,as you can see not to far of your mum shot.

Its very hard to compare camera,your being older 10millon crop frame,your mum being an 22 millon full frame.

Do you shoot j-peg or raw ?
 
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Looks like a focus alignment issue to me. The 5D2 has microadjust which means you can alter the relative place it focuses. The 400D doesn't. However, someone like Canon should be able to calibrate the camera if the results are consistently out. It will cost, but should be cheaper than a new camera.

To test, use a setup like in this post: http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=2961973&postcount=22

with the cereal box dead square to the camera and the camera focusing on some detail of the box. Aperture mode, widest aperture (I think it's f2.8 on the Tamron) and take a set of pictures with autofocus on the tripod.

Look at the photos and see which bit is in focus on the ruler. If you have a section in focus that is not at the same plane as the cereal box and it is consistently in focus at that point in a number of images, you have a back/front focus problem (depending on whether the area in focus is in front of or behind the box).

You need to be a reasonable distance away (at least 25x the focal length, preferably 50x) from the box and have all image stabilisation switched off.
 
arad85 said:
Looks like a focus alignment issue to me. The 5D2 has microadjust which means you can alter the relative place it focuses. The 400D doesn't. However, someone like Canon should be able to calibrate the camera if the results are consistently out. It will cost, but should be cheaper than a new camera.

To test, use a setup like in this post: http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=2961973&postcount=22

with the cereal box dead square to the camera and the camera focusing on some detail of the box. Aperture mode, widest aperture (I think it's f2.8 on the Tamron) and take a set of pictures with autofocus on the tripod.

Look at the photos and see which bit is in focus on the ruler. If you have a section in focus that is not at the same plane as the cereal box and it is consistently in focus at that point in a number of images, you have a back/front focus problem (depending on whether the area in focus is in front of or behind the box).

You need to be a reasonable distance away (at least 25x the focal length, preferably 50x) from the box and have all image stabilisation switched off.
Click to expand...

I will try this, thanks :)
 
simonblue said:
Hi

Here your shot,just sharpen it a bit in pp,as you can see not to far of your mum shot.

Its very hard to compare camera,your being older 10millon crop frame,your mum being an 22 millon full frame.

Do you shoot j-peg or raw ?
Click to expand...

I'm aware I can sharpen it but that's not really the point, I need the camera to be able to take sharp photos!
 
Tacey said:
I'm aware I can sharpen it but that's not really the point, I need the camera to be able to take sharp photos!
Click to expand...

I suggest you look up anti aliasing filters and their effect on imaging.
All digital images require sharpening only the amount changes so a necessary step regardless.
You can also adjust the amount of in camera adjustment hth.
 
B1ts said:
All digital images require sharpening only the amount changes so a necessary step regardless.
Click to expand...

I disagree with ''all images needing sharpening". I have taken plenty of photos previously which I have not felt needed any sharpening.

I want my photos in focus. If they're not then there is a problem with the camera. Just sharpening them on Photoshop is not the answer.
 
does look like a focusing problem with camera try Andy's suggestion the focus test
there will be differences between the 5d mII and yours as its full frame and more megapixels which makes direct comparisons difficult but the shots from yours should be still sharp, have you tried focussing manaully ?
 
I'm no expert on this, but I think It's worth checking the focus in live view compared to when you use the view finder.

If focus is better when using live view, then it is possible that a service centre may improve the situation by calibrating the focus.

Chris
 
Foxbat Flyer said:
I'm no expert on this, but I think It's worth checking the focus in live view compared to when you use the view finder.
Click to expand...
The 400D doesn't have live view....
 
Tacey said:
I'm aware I can sharpen it but that's not really the point, I need the camera to be able to take sharp photos!
Click to expand...

Sorry was just trying to help,what I was trying to say is you can not just measure,to diffrent sensor for sharpness.

Say your shooting just J-peg,then sometimes you need to set the sharpness in the camera.

If your shooting raw,sometime they do come out a bit soft,and need a bit of sharping in pp.

It could be a focusing issue ?

Plus you say it's had 4/5 years old,and it's been well used.
Maybe time for a service,or replacement

:)
 
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LCPete said:
does look like a focusing problem with camera try Andy's suggestion the focus test
there will be differences between the 5d mII and yours as its full frame and more megapixels which makes direct comparisons difficult but the shots from yours should be still sharp, have you tried focussing manaully ?
Click to expand...

I focus manually when I do macro photos and have not noticed the problem then, but have been noticing it for a while when I use auto-focus. I think it must be a focusing problem. I did try the focus test but only had a rubbish short transparent ruler so it didn't go very well :lol: However I placed another cereal box a little in front of the one I was focusing on, and the one in front was most definitely coming out sharper, so this must be the problem.

Phil Young said:
Another agreement for focusing.

I had the same issue on my d7000, had it fixed and is now perfect.
Click to expand...

Hopefully mine can be fixed too! :) Did it cost you much to have it fixed?


simonblue said:
Sorry was just trying to help,what I was trying to say is you can not just measure,to diffrent sensor for sharpness.

Say your shooting just J-peg,then sometimes you need to set the sharpness in the camera.

If your shooting raw,sometime they do come out a bit soft,and need a bit of sharping in pp.

It could be a focusing issue ?

:)
Click to expand...



Sorry didn't mean to sound snappy :) Yeh I'm using JPeg.
Was just comparing to my mums camera to ensure I wasn't going completely mad... I think it must be the focus alignment as has been suggested. It never used to be like this.
 
Ask your mum to swap, failing that send it to Canon at Elstree for a service

Probably going to charge the set price of about 150 quid, so think hard if its worth paying up or putting towards a new or secondhand camera
 
I believe it is the case that after a few years, a thin film of oil from the moving components can build up on the sensor and cause a slight softening to the images. Getting a proper sensor wet clean may improve things.
 
Tacey said:
I disagree with ''all images needing sharpening". I have taken plenty of photos previously which I have not felt needed any sharpening.

I want my photos in focus. If they're not then there is a problem with the camera. Just sharpening them on Photoshop is not the answer.
Click to expand...

Disagree all you like, as I said try looking it up and you will see I am correct.
Whether that is the problem or yours has an actual focussing issue, it remains true that sharpening is still needed, nature of the beast whether you like it or not ;)
 
B1ts said:
Disagree all you like, as I said try looking it up and you will see I am correct.
Whether that is the problem or yours has an actual focussing issue, it remains true that sharpening is still needed, nature of the beast whether you like it or not ;)
Click to expand...

I'm afraid you're completely missing the point.
 
Tacey said:
I'm afraid you're completely missing the point.
Click to expand...

By a mile I'd say. Some (not all) images may (in part or in whole) require sharpening in editing due to the effects of the anti aliasing low pass filter but any amount of sharpening due to a proper focussing issue is completely pointless and not an answer.

The point of this thread is evidently due to a focussing issue and any suggestions of sharpening is skipping this issue.

The point is to fix the root cause not the symptom.

Regards
 
:plusone:
 
So what have you done with the camera Tacey? Sent it back to Canon for a recalibration?
 
400D second hand though isn't worth a lot. MPB are currently selling them at £169 It might be more cost effective to look for another/body upgrade?
 
Digifrog said:
By a mile I'd say. Some (not all) images may (in part or in whole) require sharpening in editing due to the effects of the anti aliasing low pass filter but any amount of sharpening due to a proper focussing issue is completely pointless and not an answer.

The point of this thread is evidently due to a focussing issue and any suggestions of sharpening is skipping this issue.

The point is to fix the root cause not the symptom.

Regards
Click to expand...

Thankyou! :)

arad85 said:
So what have you done with the camera Tacey? Sent it back to Canon for a recalibration?
Click to expand...

Byker28i said:
400D second hand though isn't worth a lot. MPB are currently selling them at £169 It might be more cost effective to look for another/body upgrade?
Click to expand...

At the moment I'm just using my mums old 20d with my new Tamron lens which is giving me nice sharp images. I'm not going to bother getting the 400d fixed as it doesn't really seem worth it, and it's probably time I upgraded anyway... so I've decided to save up for a 60d. :)
 
Cool :)
 
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