Why do my photos not look sharp pic included....

[coreyhkh]

HI guys I picked up a 7D and a 400mm 5.6 but I am having trouble getting sharp images. I also have a Pentax K5 and have no problems getting tact sharp with that.

for example here is a bird pic I took today I over exposed it because I was told to with the 7d to fix noise and such.  I croped it a bit to lower the image size.

the settings I used was ISO320, 400mm, f5.6, 1/250 and I was using a tripod.
https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=DD2F380E99727744!1314

[neuroanatomist]

Did you use a cable release (or timer) and mirror lockup?  Have you done an AF microadjustment?

[SiliconVoid]

That is simply not in focus.
Hard to tell whether it is a calibration issue with the body (corrected through micro adjustment) or the lens itself as the scene does not leave much to discern a focal plane anywhere.

If you have used the lens on other bodies with desired results, then you could first try changing the focus modes in the 7D.. and work your way to a micro-adjustment for that lens.

If you literally have no sharp images with this lens combination (any subject, any distance) you may want to send both into Canon for lens calibration adjustment.

[coreyhkh]

thanks I have some kinda sharp images but I am not sure if they could be sharper, my K5 just seems sharper.
I will look into focus adjustments.

I didn't use a cable I don't have one.

Here is another one I took today does it seem sharp?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54773292@N07/7811570996/#

[Mt Spokane Photography]

The first one is front focused, your shutter speed of 1/1250 sec was fast enough, it should have been ok.
I'd try to test your lens for accurate AF on a static object about 50 feet away.  Use a tripod and take 5 or 6 photos normally, resetting the lens to infinity before each shot.
Then put the camera in live view using live focus, and take another 5 or 6 set the lens to infinity between shots.
If the live focus shots looks sharper, then your camera, or your lens, or both need autofocus Micro adjust.
By doing the tests above, you will know for sure if the focus is accurate.  Live focus is always the best possible focus, it uses the contrast of the image under the selected AF point to adjust focus.  Its slow, but accurate.

[brad-man]

With a shutter speed of only 1/125 sec @400mm added to no remote shutter release...

[mb66energy]

Do you have taken that photo on a hot day? If that is the fact, the unsharpness might
be an effect of atmospheric turbulence which affects a super tele much more than a standard
focal length - the 400mm are in fact 640mm!

Turbulence leads to a "patterned unsharpness" which I see in your photo. Nothing
is really sharp, some small areas seem a little bit sharper than others in the same
(focal) plane etc. The "wobbling" air can be observed on a sunny day, a well structured
non movable object (house) with live view ...

Try to use the lens under conditions where the temperature has been stable (+/-5 degree
centigrade) in the last several days and use objects which are not above water to
check what the lens delivers in terms of IQ.

If you use the Canon EF 5.6/400 L - I love that lens because of IQ potential but it's
me and hard physics which limits IQ in real world. In movies turbulence can add
very interesting effects, especially when used with the 400mm and the 3x digital zoom
of the T3i/600d (400 x 1.6 x 3 = 1920mm!).

Best - Michael

[Kernuak]

Do you have taken that photo on a hot day? If that is the fact, the unsharpness might
be an effect of atmospheric turbulence which affects a super tele much more than a standard
focal length - the 400mm are in fact 640mm!

Actually, it's still 400mm whether you use it on crop or full frame, so the affects due to atmospheric conditions remain unchanged regardless of sensor. It's only effectively 640mm, due to the field of view, you'd get the same effect if you cropped to the same view on a full frame in post processing. However, with all that water, you are right about possible heat haze and moisture in the air causing sharpness problems. Due to the high pixel density of the 7D, it magnifies every problem.

[bluenoser1993]

Shooting across water has given me problems as well.  The Tall Ships were leaving my home port at noon, unfortunately, on a very hot, sunny day.  The pictures taken across 2000 meter of water are shot with 70-200 2.8 II with 2xTC III on a 7D (effectively similar situation) and are soft with poor colour, but if you look closely it is not just poor focus.  The straight lines of city buildings in the back ground are actually wavy from the heat haze.  I have gotten very sharp images from this combination wide open, but even being stopped down this day did not help.  I attached an example that is cropped, but un-edited. 


Added:  Sorry, I would have just attached the whole image had I known it was going to down size the quality so much, but waviness is still visible along most of the straight edges, even at this resolution.

[Wilmark]

You didnt say what lens you were using, are you using a teleconverter on a 200mm? Are you using any filters like an ND filter. How far away was the bird. was this pic cropped. Pics i have taken with the above combination give this kind of result especially if there is anything in the atmosphere. The pic of the herron is in focus. Its just a little hazed because of the distance between you and the subject.

[DCM1024]

Prior to purchasing my 7d, I had used 40d, 5d2, xt and t2i without issue. The 7d has a more advanced af system which can cause issues if you haven't used it previously, and required more tweaking to get a satisfacory result. I did alot of research on message boards, uploaded images to canon and ultimately went from about 50% usable images to 85%+. I can give you a rundown of my adjustments if you want. I'm very happy with my 7d now. Good luck!

[AprilForever]

You are backlit in noonisgh light. Your picture will not come out well.

[coreyhkh]

Thanks guys I took some shots today an they came out better, I did some quick tests with the af and I think its right.

I think my big problem is just camera shake my tripod head is crap, when I upped the shutter to 1/2000 it got sharper. You can see full size version at my flicker page http://www.flickr.com/photos/54773292@N07/





I still think my K5 is sharper but we will see as I take more with this combo.

[bdunbar79]

Reading many 7D reviews and having used it myself, if you shoot jpeg, they will be soft.  You have to set the sharpness to 2 or 3 in your picture style.  If you shoot RAW then you're fine.  I think you just had one bad shot.  The rest of your photos are sharp.  If only I could shoot such that I only ever had ONE bad shot

[keithfullermusic]

Your tripod isn't crap - 400mm just intensifies any shake.  It's basic trigonometry.