need help with 50 mm 1.4 lens

[Brit_Ladner]

I bought the Canon 60D in May 2011 to get my photography business started. I was very happy with it to start with, but as I've began to have a better understanding with my wants and needs as a photograpaher, I have become frustrated with it. Mainly that there is no apparent way to get a microfocus adjustment! I'm limited in funds but was able to get the 50mm 1.4 lens which is pretty much what stays on my camera since I mostly do portraits with available light. I'm very happy with the bokeh and sharpness it offers. However, at my wider apertures 1.4 and 1.8 (which I use in almost every shoot in my studio since I shoot with natural light and I love the bokeh it offers) I am having AF issues. With anyone other than kids it's not that big of a deal since i can just MF, but that's not really an option when trying to capture shots of the little balls of energy. I use the center point for AF.

Anyway, I guess my question is "Is there any way to get some kind of focus adjustment for my lens?" . I've become very frustrated with all the blurred portraits when I know for sure that I have my focus placed correctly on the subject. Not a camera shake issue either since I never shoot below 125. I've tried pushing my ISO to allow for a less wide aperture, but then I get too much noise and loose my bokeh that I love. Any help or suggestions would be very very greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[i speak in math]

Its hard to say where the problem lies without an example. Can you post one of the images?

Depth-of-field (DOF) is incredibly small at lower f-stops. I have a 50mm f1.4, and rarely use it with my 15-month old twins. More often than not, I use my 24-70 f2.8 and shoot fairly wide.

For instance, if you shoot at F2 at a distance of 5 feet, your DOF will be less than 3 inches. Depending on the child, that's not much to work with.

But for adults and non-moving objects, that lens is awesome.

[inkista]

Originally Posted by Brit_Ladner

Anyway, I guess my question is "Is there any way to get some kind of focus adjustment for my lens?" .

Sure. Send it to Canon Service to have it recalibrated. Most folks would recommend sending in your camera body and all your other lenses, too, to be recalibrated, since not having the camera calibrated means the lens will just be calibrated to the ideal, and if you only get the lens and your body calibrated, you don't know what that will do to all your other lenses.

There's a reason you pay more to get a camera body with this feature on it.

I would also reckon that it's not the equipment or the calibration that's at fault, so much as user error. The fact that you (self-proclaimed) shoot wide open all the time is a big part of the issue. Your DoF is razor thin and your margin for error is tiny. Add in low light, low contrast, a moving target, and trying to use a single AF point, probably in one-shot mode, and....

...I've become very frustrated with all the blurred portraits when I know for sure that I have my focus placed correctly on the subject.

How do you know you have your focus placed correctly? that tiny little dot/square in the viewfinder is not accurately depicting the size of your AF sensor.

Not a camera shake issue either since I never shoot below 125.

Irrelevant if you don't have great handholding technique, or if your subject is moving quickly. I shoot birds in flight with a 400mm lens, and sometimes 1/1000s is not enough to eliminate subject motion blur. The faster the subject moves, the faster your shutter speed needs to be. 1/125 may not be adequate. 1/focal_length is a rule of thumb, not a guarantee.

I've tried pushing my ISO to allow for a less wide aperture, but then I get too much noise

Are you underexposing? That's more likely to cause noise than a high ISO setting. I shoot at iso 1600 regularly with my 50D and don't have what I would consider to be noise issues. But then, I'm not a pixel-peeper.

...and loose my bokeh that I love.

Well, if you insist on shooting wide open, you do realize you're not exactly using your lens at its sharpest, right? Going down to f/2 or f/4 isn't exactly going to make your image completely background-blur-free, y'know.

[Brit_Ladner]

Originally Posted by Photoboothguy

Depth-of-field (DOF) is incredibly small at lower f-stops. I have a 50mm f1.4, and rarely use it with my 15-month old twins. More often than not, I use my 24-70 f2.8 and shoot fairly wide.

For instance, if you shoot at F2 at a distance of 5 feet, your DOF will be less than 3 inches. Depending on the child, that's not much to work with.

But for adults and non-moving objects, that lens is awesome.

Thank you! haven't really thought about thinking the numbers through. Probably what the issue it.

[Brit_Ladner]

Originally Posted by i speak in math

Its hard to say where the problem lies without an example. Can you post one of the images?

I'll try to get one up after the kiddos are in bed.

[jayson f]

Originally Posted by inkista

Sure. Send it to Canon Service to have it recalibrated. Most folks would recommend sending in your camera body and all your other lenses, too, to be recalibrated, since not having the camera calibrated means the lens will just be calibrated to the ideal, and if you only get the lens and your body calibrated, you don't know what that will do to all your other lenses.

There's a reason you pay more to get a camera body with this feature on it.

I would also reckon that it's not the equipment or the calibration that's at fault, so much as user error. The fact that you (self-proclaimed) shoot wide open all the time is a big part of the issue. Your DoF is razor thin and your margin for error is tiny. Add in low light, low contrast, a moving target, and trying to use a single AF point, probably in one-shot mode, and....


How do you know you have your focus placed correctly? that tiny little dot/square in the viewfinder is not accurately depicting the size of your AF sensor.


Irrelevant if you don't have great handholding technique, or if your subject is moving quickly. I shoot birds in flight with a 400mm lens, and sometimes 1/1000s is not enough to eliminate subject motion blur. The faster the subject moves, the faster your shutter speed needs to be. 1/125 may not be adequate. 1/focal_length is a rule of thumb, not a guarantee.


Are you underexposing? That's more likely to cause noise than a high ISO setting. I shoot at iso 1600 regularly with my 50D and don't have what I would consider to be noise issues. But then, I'm not a pixel-peeper.


Well, if you insist on shooting wide open, you do realize you're not exactly using your lens at its sharpest, right? Going down to f/2 or f/4 isn't exactly going to make your image completely background-blur-free, y'know.

i'm totally agree!