Why is this out of focus?

[R Pier1]

Please ignore the pained look and the forced smile on my son's face - I know this is not a good picture - but it demonstrates a problem that I'm repeatedly having. The eyes are not sharp and are slightly out of focus. I focus on the eyes before shooting and I believe that I choose a proper exposure. I have three good lenses - one is an L series - and it happens with all three so I'm starting to think it may not be the lenses fault.

Any advice would be appreciated. It is so frustrating when it looks nice and sharp on the back of the camera only to be disappointed when I put it on the computer.

Thank you!

Exif
Canon 5d Mark II
50 mm 1.4
f: 5.6
1/250
iso 200

[RichardTaylor]

Your shooting info looks ok to me.
Nothing in the pic looks sharp to me.

Some thoughts.
(1) Are you using a filter?
If so the remove it and see how it goes.

(2) There is a fair amount of flare there which may be degrading the image.
Are you using a lens hood?
If not then try one & see how it goes.

(3)Are you sharpening during PPing - especially important if shooting RAW..

[R Pier1]

Hi Richard,

Thanks so much for the info. No filter or lens hood used - I'll try the lens hood and see if that helps. I didn't pp that photo at all - I shoot RAW and then sharpen after - but sharpening isn't going to do it for an image like that. What really perplexes me is that I took several other pictures in that same group with the same exact settings that came out nice and sharp. I just don't know what I'm doing wrong in the photos that come out like this.

[Cola]

Could this be a back focusing issue?

[MrJones]

can you please explain and describe the exact process you take while focusing? are you using the middle focus point and than recompose?

[R Pier1]

I use the autofocus points and focus on the closest eye. I usually try to use the center autofocus point but I can't say for sure whether I did in this photo. I always place the point directly on the eye - but again a majority of the photos the eyes aren't in focus.

I'm thinking of trying manual focus but I'm concerned with kids I'll never get the picture since they rarely hold still.

[private]

If the others in the set came out nice and sharp then it probably is something that you are doing - it might be that you took a breath at the wrong time and threw things off. Its kind of like shooting a gun, breathe out then shoot - everything seems to be steadier when that is done.

[RLucas]

I think the flare may have something to do with it, as well as the depth of field, and the angle this was shot at.
How far away from him were you when you shot it?
It looks like an inadvertent misfocus issue. The railing seems fairly sharp from the right side of the frame, and it seems to fall off right behind his hair line.