dissapointed 6d 100mm f2 and 24mm 2.8 (non l)

[RLPhoto]

A few tweaks in CS3. You need to tweak the RAWs to get what you want.

[drmikeinpdx]

Not enough info so far to give much useful advice beyond what Mt. Spokane offered. but one thing I've learned is never to take off on an important vacation with a brand  new camera.   I have sometimes needed a thousand or more exposures to figure out how to use a new camera body, even with my old lenses.

[Skirball]

so you shouldnt take a photo at f10 for a landscape shot?

No, it's fine.  Diffraction shouldn't be any issue.  In fact the spec for the 6D technically is f/10.5, but this is just a mathematical calculation.  But it says that diffraction should start to have an effect at f/10, but that doesn't mean it's noticeable yet.  I don't know much about the 24mm, but it any lens should be very sharp at f/10 on a 6D.

[neuroanatomist]

FWIW, I'd have used a CPL on the shot, which would have boosted saturation and contrast in a way that PP can't really match.

[jimjamesjimmy]

i should have added, i did use a cokin CPL on a lot of these shots including this one.

[weixing]

Hi,
   May be it's the high temperature that cause the issue?? I once going for birding under a very hot afternoon and most of my shots come out either soft or out of focus, so when I use live view to try to focus, I realize that it's the heat wave that cause the problem... can clearly see that the image in and out of focus in quick succession... like shooting through a wave of water.

    Have a nice day.

[Marsu42]

so you shouldnt take a photo at f10 for a landscape shot?

You should the aperture that covers the depth of field you want to have in focus (2/3 in front, 1/3 behind the focus you tell the camera) - if it's f10 that's what it is, diffraction only really shows at much smaller apertures depending on the lens maybe f16+ ...

... but if you have the choice or want to evaluate sharpness take the shot at the aperture your lens is sharpest at, and that very much depends on the lens but is afaik always <f10 even on lenses that need to be stopped down. In your shot, I don't think f10 was necessary, because the both subjects quite far away so the area covered by the dof will be large ... cheaper or older cameras even have an a-dep mode to tell you what aperture you need.

i should have added, i did use a cokin CPL on a lot of these shots including this one.

I'm hesitant to use a cpl as a general color pop filter, but for removing haze (your shot) or reflections - esp. with wider angles you quickly get sky color differences that are impossible to remove in post, ymmv.

[mb66energy]

Not enough info so far to give much useful advice beyond what Mt. Spokane offered. but one thing I've learned is never to take off on an important vacation with a brand  new camera.   I have sometimes needed a thousand or more exposures to figure out how to use a new camera body, even with my old lenses.

+1 !

I am just learning to use my 40D right and get the most out of it - I bought it in 2008 ! O.k., I am no professional shooter but I do reflect what I am doing deeply and have some extended knowledge about technical details of photography, electronics, etc. (as every physicist).
For me it is a joy to use an instrument over half a decade or a decade because I learn to master the tool - instead of being masterd by the tool ...

[neuroanatomist]

i did use a cokin CPL on a lot of these shots including this one.

I see...in that case, a little softness at f/10 (which should be quite sharp, otherwise) doesn't come as a surprise.

[Canon-F1]

i suggest you do a bit of reading about RAW files.

RAW files need to be EDITED to look good.
it´s no suprise an unedited RAW will look flat and colorless.

there are a few good books and tutorial videos out about RAW editing.

uninspring..

well no camera will help you with that.

[hgraf]

i suppose it is the focus, i only used the centre point and recomposed, but so many the focus is off, i was in egypt so light wasnt a problem, and i was also trekking in uganda and the landscape shots just lack punch. the colours and contrast just seem a bit wrong. out of 1000 pictures and some extensive sharpening, there arnt that many im happy with!

id upload a few shots but frankly im embarresed. i feel a bit cheated out of money spent.  im gonna have to rent an expensive l lens and compare, but at the moment, im really disheartened.

OK, there are 2 issues here.

First is focus: you mention alot of light, were you shooting wide open? It's possible your focus and recompose is affecting your focus if you're shooting wide open, especially for objects that are closer.

As for "punch", are you just looking at the raw images? Those will lack punch and contrast, that's something you adjust in post. You posted a short of the pyramids and yes, that lacks "punch", but then you didn't do any post on it, so it's what I'd expect.

When you open a "raw" image it will seem quite flat, that's normal.

Can you upload a few of the raw images so we can have a look? If your landscapes are being shot at narrower apertures and they still look out of focus I'd say the problem is probably the equipment.

[hgraf]

so you shouldnt take a photo at f10 for a landscape shot?

As with everything it depends.

On the one side, at f10 with a FF camera you are starting to hit the diffraction limit, so there might be a little more softness in your image then at f8 or f5.6. Of course there are a TON of other factors at play here, your lens is one of them.

OTOH if you need to have a wide DOF you don't really have a choice, it depends what you're doing. If you taking a pictures of mountains in the distance and want the grass field in front of you to be in focus you might have to sacrifice some sharpness to get the DOF wide enough to catch everything.

[bear]

It is impossible to take picture in hot air at big distance. Even perfect camera, lens, focus and exposure will not help. Wait for colder weather or wake up early morning to take better picture on places like this.

[ishdakuteb]

i should have added, i did use a cokin CPL on a lot of these shots including this one.

what type of cokin did you use? (i.e. cokin a, p or z)

[Marsu42]

OTOH if you need to have a wide DOF you don't really have a choice

You do - use focus stacking.