Is it me? Or the lens?

[autofocus]

Robb, I have this lens for my Canon, and like it a lot. I've also heard there are good ones within the line, and some that may come off the line less good...and probably true for many manufacturers. I pretty much agree with Ken...they really don't look that bad. My question is are you shooting with your camera set up for continued focusing, or single shot focusing? If the latter, any slight change or movement on the part of the subject or you will effect the focus which would have been locked in when you pressed, and held down your shutter initially. You might want to check that out...I'm not sure what they call it on Sony's, but I'm sure it's there.

Vinnie

[bulldog413]

Thanks. I didn't really try to be great on these shots, just testing the lens. I would think that at any f stop that the lens offers would give me a chance at what I want. I guess that's not so true.

Thanks for the input. Like I said, I'm mostly concerned with the reproduction part. It may look good in its original form... but when I enlarge in Photoshop (or loop in aperture) The bigger I get, the more out of focus. I know this would happen, but it just makes me concerned because I'm looking at blow ups of the original shot (and yes, I'm shooting in RAW). I sent two other shots off to be printed to get an idea, and like the advice of others, I made sure I sharpened the image from raw format.

Thanks again.

[bulldog413]

Thanks Vinnie. I didn't know that this would be a problem. I thought that using single shot was the right choice for portrait/head shot pics. I'll give it a try.

Again, I can't thank everyone enough for your insight. A thousand gold coins to you all (in my head)...

[autofocus]

Originally Posted by bulldog413

Thanks Vinnie. I didn't know that this would be a problem. I thought that using single shot was the right choice for portrait/head shot pics. I'll give it a try.

Again, I can't thank everyone enough for your insight. A thousand gold coins to you all (in my head)...

It can be as long as you or your subject does not move

[bulldog413]

Thanks again. I switched settings to your recommendations, and did not have this problem using the 50mm lens. I will give it a go with the Tamron when I have a subject to shoot.
Thanks tons

[jdepould]

I took a look through your stream, and this one jumped out at me. Notice how the hair above his ears is sharper than the eyes? That's a focus problem. Try using manual focus, see if that corrects it.

[DogHeadGod]

A bit of advice I picked up the other day is to take a photograph of a ruler. Focus on a particular number and take the shot then get the image onto the PC and make sure the number you intended is in focus. Some cameras (or lenses, I'm not sure) have a thing called "back focus" which means they don't autofocus where they should.

[kencaleno]

Try this: www.focustestchart.com/chart.html It is basically a Nikon D70 test chart but can be used for any brand Regards, Ken

[work2well]

My take is that, particularly in the close-up photo, with a large aperture as that, you've got a really shallow depth of focus, and the camera seems to have focused of her fringe, so the nose, eyebrows and fringe are sharp , but everything else, are progressively softer.
A slightly smaller aperture might help.

[Elmo]

A few general comments:
1) a prime will always be sharper than a zoom.
2) all lenses are at their orst wide open
3) all zooms are at their worst at both extreams of their zoom range.