What do i need to change? lens or body?

[chowder.jacob]

I need help! I am still using my ever reliable canon 350d and 50mm 1.8 lens. I mostly take portraits. My dilemma is that i noticed that the pictures are not sharp enough to get those details on the skin. I dont know if its because of my cam or i need a different lens. I need sharp pictures oh BTW is it possible to manipulate and use multiple focus points at the same time? super newbie questions. Please help

From lavigne

[RichardTaylor]

Sharpness depends on;

Your Shooting technique.
(1) No intentional camera movement. Ie shoot at a high enough shutter speed or use a tripod.
(2) No subject movement. Again use a high enough shutter speed.
(3) How accurate is your focussing?
(4) Do you have enough DOF?

Lighting.
(5) Is the lighting "flat" or dull or ok lighting positioned to bring out a texture?

The lens
(6) Are you using a filter on your lens?
(7)How clean is your lens.
(8) Are you using a lens hood to reduce flare?
(9) Are you shooting at an optimum aperture, ie: possibly stopped down a couple of stops from wide open.
(10) and this is the last thing .... is it a "good" lens.

--------------------------
Keep in mind there will only be one distance of super sharpness and this will be the one you are focussed on. You can increase the depth of sharpness by using a smaller aperture.

I almost always just use the centre focus point and focus & recompose if necessary.

[BigFuzzy]

I was pretty much going to say what Richard said. Make sure you get all those other things right before thinking of buying kit. When I was starting off I was thinking the same thing, and I realized it was more my technique than anything.

You should post some examples of photos that you think are a result of your camera / lens, so we can see if we agree. Post the exif with the photos.

The chip in your camera is fully capable of nice sharp images, as is your lens. I still use my 'nifty fifty' 1.8 and get plenty of sharpness.

Again, I really think posting examples would help us direct you better as to what you should do. Honestly, I've never found anyone who's having sharpness issues that wasn't also having issues in one of the areas Richard mentioned.

[inkista]

EF 50mm f/1.8 II is a great lens, but it's sharpest on a 1.6x crop body at around f/4-f/5.

[chowder.jacob]

Yeah i think its more on camera shake but how do you make multiple subjects sharp? If i'm shooting 2 people only one ends up sharp and the other is always blurred (i think is becoming part of the bokeh) i'll be posting some examples

[chowder.jacob]

i dont know how to upload pics here help please!

[inkista]

Originally Posted by chowder.jacob

Yeah i think its more on camera shake but how do you make multiple subjects sharp? If i'm shooting 2 people only one ends up sharp and the other is always blurred (i think is becoming part of the bokeh) i'll be posting some examples

Decreasing the aperture (larger f-number) will increase your DoF, and get more in focus at the same time.

Originally Posted by chowder.jacob

i dont know how to upload pics here help please!

Digital Photography School - Photography Forums - FAQ: Posting Images

[chowder.jacob]

thanks for the instructions here's an example

From kizzie

[chowder.jacob]

this photo is only focused on the forehead

[chowder.jacob]

and this photo too the people at the back blurred like they're the background

From group