Why my photo is not sharp??

[ypurcaro]

I've been practicing everyday and reading other people's photos and shooting technique for the sharpness. Yet, I still couldn't get the sharp photos as other. This one I shoot with my 250mm. The EXIF data as follow:

Camera: Canon
Model: Canon EOS REBEL T1i
ISO: 800
Exposure: 1/250 sec
Aperture: 5.6
Focal Length: 250mm

Please tell me what should I do. Thank you.

[natek313]

Well, you're shooting at ISO 800. High ISO will definitely start to affect sharpness. Also, it might be your shutter speed. You're shooting at 1/250 second at 250mm on a cropped sensor. That means your essentially shooting at 400mm. That's quite a long focal length for 1/250 second, and I am going to go out on a limb and say you didn't use a tripod.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

[ypurcaro]

Originally Posted by natek313

Well, you're shooting at ISO 800. High ISO will definitely start to affect sharpness. Also, it might be your shutter speed. You're shooting at 1/250 second at 250mm on a cropped sensor. That means your essentially shooting at 400mm. That's quite a long focal length for 1/250 second, and I am going to go out on a limb and say you didn't use a tripod.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

You are right! I didn't use a tripod because I thought we use tripod only when we shoot macro. OK, what is cropped sensor? So, you mean I should have faster shutter speed?

Thanks.

[RecurrentNerve]

Personally I think it is pretty sharp, around the 'back edge' of the flower. You just have a wide aperture coupled with a long focal length, which equals a shallow depth of field - in other words, only a tiny bit of the flower can be in focus. To get the entire flower in focus you will need to close the aperture a bit.

Closing the aperture will mean a longer shutter speed which means you will either need to use a tripod or increase the ISO. A high ISO won't really affect the sharpness of the image, just noisiness - they are different things. Still, noise is not good, so the tripod is the preferred method.

[bbtom10]

My suggestion is just to get up close and personal with your subject - the closer you are, the less you have to rely on the longer focal lengths and wide apertures - for this shot to be really sharp like some of those you see on this forum, I suggest you should be no more than 50cm to 1 metre (2 feet to a yard in old money) away from the subject - give it a go, photo some coins on a table or a newspaper front page and see how the depth of field changes, but look where your focus point is.

It always amazes me how photos can blur even at such high shutter speeds - get close, get fast, get bright.

Tom

[OsmosisStudios]

This is actually a case of being TOO close. THe flower has moved in the frame (after focus was set) and so it's too close to the lens to be in focus. Move back an inch or two.

[ypurcaro]

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

This is actually a case of being TOO close. THe flower has moved in the frame (after focus was set) and so it's too close to the lens to be in focus. Move back an inch or two.

Do you think I should set it to "Macro"? I'll try it again. Thanks.

[ypurcaro]

Originally Posted by bbtom10

My suggestion is just to get up close and personal with your subject - the closer you are, the less you have to rely on the longer focal lengths and wide apertures - for this shot to be really sharp like some of those you see on this forum, I suggest you should be no more than 50cm to 1 metre (2 feet to a yard in old money) away from the subject - give it a go, photo some coins on a table or a newspaper front page and see how the depth of field changes, but look where your focus point is.

It always amazes me how photos can blur even at such high shutter speeds - get close, get fast, get bright.

Tom

Tom, thanks for the informative feedback. Now, when you said "50cm to 1 metre ", is that the distance between me and the subject?

[ypurcaro]

Originally Posted by RecurrentNerve

Personally I think it is pretty sharp, around the 'back edge' of the flower. You just have a wide aperture coupled with a long focal length, which equals a shallow depth of field - in other words, only a tiny bit of the flower can be in focus. To get the entire flower in focus you will need to close the aperture a bit.

Closing the aperture will mean a longer shutter speed which means you will either need to use a tripod or increase the ISO. A high ISO won't really affect the sharpness of the image, just noisiness - they are different things. Still, noise is not good, so the tripod is the preferred method.

I think I should start using tripod from now on. Thank you for your suggestion.

[bbtom10]

Originally Posted by ypurcaro

Tom, thanks for the informative feedback. Now, when you said "50cm to 1 metre ", is that the distance between me and the subject?

Yes - you should get as close to your subject as your lens will allow, but if you're shooting with a 250mm focal length then I would imagine you are standing 3 or 4 metres away - keeping the camera steady at that distance from the object, regardless of shutter speed, is a challenge.